The Doctor’s Secret by Heidi Cullinan

Narrated by Iggy Toma

I’ve enjoyed several of the audio collaborations by the author/narrator team of Heidi Cullinan and Iggy Toma, and was pleased to learn that the pair would be joining forces again for Ms. Cullinan’s new series of small-town medical romances. While I generally enjoy medical dramas on TV and I cut my romance-reading teeth on medical romances, I haven’t really read any for years, so I was looking forward to The Doctor’s Secret, in which we meet brilliant young surgeon Hong-Wei Wu as he boards the plane on the last leg of his journey from his home in Houston to a new life and job in the small town of Copper Point in northern Wisconsin.

Burdened with guilt at not meeting his family’s high expectations, and more than a little burnt out by the pressures of his residency at the prestigious Baylor MC, Hong-Wei – who could have had his pick of any number of high-profile positions at the best hospitals in the country – has opted to join the staff at a small hospital in the back of beyond in an attempt to get his life back on track and make a fresh start. He’s expecting to be met at the airport by some of the bigwigs from St. Ann’s Medical Center, so is somewhat surprised to discover that instead, he has a welcoming committee of one, an attractive young man who introduces himself as Simon Lane, the hospital’s surgical nurse.

Simon wasn’t too thrilled when he was asked to drive to the airport at the end of a long shift, but couldn’t refuse a personal request from the new Human Resources director. His first sight of Dr. Wu banishes tiredness from his mind however; the new surgeon is gorgeous and looks like he’s stepped straight out of one of the Asian dramas Simon loves – and he’s dazzled. Then a little embarrassed, because he knows he’s not the welcome the man had expected. Simon finds himself babbling nervously, but Hong-Wei quickly puts him at his ease and takes up Simon’s suggestion that they stop for dinner somewhere on the way back to town.

Both men are smitten from the get-go, and Hong-Wei decides to take Simon up on his offer of helping him get settled in order to get to spend some time with him. He’s never had much time for relationships and isn’t sure what he wants here, other than to get to know Simon better and see how it goes. But there’s a fairly big stumbling block in the way in the form of the hospital’s new non-fraternisation policy which strictly forbids hospital employees to date each other or become romantically involved with one another.

This is the only source of conflict in the romance, and to be honest, I found it… implausible to say the least. I’ve never been in a job where such a thing was policy; maybe it’s different in the US, but in the novel, it felt so completely manufactured that it was nigh on unbelievable. And not just the policy itself, but the characters’ reactions to it – Simon’s especially – seemed totally disproportionate. Simon’s best friends and flatmates – Owen and Jared (heroes of the other books in the series) – are both doctors, Hong-Wei is the hospital’s golden boy, and it seems the policy isn’t so rigidly applied to them, but Simon is so terrified of falling foul of it that at first, he tries to ignore the attraction growing between him and Hong-Wei, and then, once they’ve both realised they want to be together, is equally terrified of being found out. Seriously – he’s so scared, he’s described as shaking with nerves or terror or bursting into tears over it. I get that he didn’t want to lose his job, but he’s a highly skilled, highly trained surgical nurse who could surely get a job anywhere. And yes, he’s strongly rooted in Copper Point and doesn’t want to leave his family, but when push comes to shove and it comes down to a choice between staying somewhere and being miserable, or going somewhere else and being happy with the one you love? He’s a grown man (early thirties) and I just wanted him to act like one. In fact, the portrayal of Simon is something I had issues with in general. I liked him – he’s cute, a bit nerdy, generous and sweet – but he’s so often presented as being weak, nervous or scared that had he been female, I suspect readers/listeners would be irritated by such a regressive presentation. As it is, Hong-Wei utters things like:

“You don’t have to be strong, Simon. Let me be strong for you. Let me protect you. Let me take care of you and cherish you.”

Which, aside from being cheesy, seem to depict Simon as “the little woman” who needs a big strong man to look after him.

I did like some of the things about the story. While Simon and Hong-Wei’s relationship progresses very quickly – it’s insta-love, really – they’re cute together; I liked Simon’s relationship with Owen and Jared, Owen’s combative relationship with Erin, the HR director (their story is up next in The Doctor’s Date), the strong setting and sense of community among the hospital staff and even the climactic confrontation – which had that whole “Captain, my Captain” feel about it. (Yeah, more cheese, but then I like some cheese more than others!)

I suspect I may have enjoyed this one less if I’d read rather than listened to it, because Iggy Toma’s voice sort of lulls me into that place where I’ll go along with just about anything if he’s reading it to me! As I’ve come to expect, he delivers an enjoyable, expressive and well-paced performance with a nice variety of vocal characterisations – so that no two characters sound too similar – and effective differentiation throughout. I particularly liked his portrayals of both principals, which fit them really well. Hong-Wei is softly spoken in the way of a man confident in himself and his authority who knows he doesn’t need to raise his voice, and Simon’s open, sunny nature is conveyed by a slightly higher pitch, faster delivery and the sense of there being a smile in his voice (when he’s not terrified, that is!), and the warmth and affection between them is expertly conveyed.

So the narration definitely falls into the positive column, but when it comes to the story, I felt like I was caught somewhere between a-not-especially-good episode of ER and a 1970s Mills and Boon (that’s Harlequin for those of you on the other side of the pond!) medical romance. The Doctor’s Secret might suit if you’re prepared to risk cavities as a result of its sugary sweetness, but while the narration is excellent, I can’t quite recommend the audiobook as a whole.

Caz

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