Customer Reviews

Doctor In The House (Harlequin Next)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was so impressed with this book. It's my first ever read Harlequin Next, and I was not disappointed. I thought Marie Ferrerella did a fantastic job of portraying this genius neurosurgeon, "Ivan the Terrible" and his ego, and at the same time, she gave that curious hint of his vulnerability that made you want to go much further into his psyche, and uncover him. Bailey was full of spunk, and I loved the way she gave as good as she got. She worked really well with his character, although once in a while I wanted him to get a little more of his due. Mostly though, I really enjoyed the writing of this book, and was enthralled by the story, and also the detail. Ferrarella did a great job of portraying a surgeon who is so highly talented, and yet has absolutely no people skills. It was easy to sympathize with him, given the background on his childhood, and what was hiding behind his hardened exterior persona. I also liked how frank Bailey was, and how she stood her ground time and time again with him.

This book was horrible. The hero was never, at any point in the book, a likable character. I can handle heroes who have murky pasts, and who have a surly attitude towards love. But at some point in the book, the hero obviously has to change a little in order to end up with the heroine in the end. The hero never changed. Up until the very end, he was still mean, sarcastic, and stand-offish. He never even tells her he loves her at the end of the book! And the heroine needed to get a grip. There is no way any self-respecting woman would have kept smiling and shown that much compassion to a man that spoke that horribly to her.
This is a book that definitely needed an epilogue. It ended much too abruptly, with no clear idea how happy the couple will turn out (on account of the lack of emotion from the hero). I wanted to see a few years down the road how the couple was getting along...or at least if he had worked up the nerve to say "I love you" yet.

This is my first time reading a Harlequin Next, so I went in with an open mind hoping to find a little treasure. There were really nice gems in this book but there were also diamonds in need of some polish too.

What makes this novel memorable is the dialogue. Neurosurgeon Ivan Munro is brilliant, sarcastic, rude, and boorish but he does have a way with one liners. He is a cold hearted person almost devoid of emotions. From the little background given, the reader surmises his aloof persona started when his sick friend committed suicide over twenty five years ago.

To help his with his bed side manner, he is given a resident, Bailey Delmonico who is bouncy, exuberant, perky and confident. She is a missionary kid with a failed marriage (an uncommon background for a modern romance). She longs to be a neurosurgeon and she is going to tackle Dr. Munro even though he is less than enthusiastic about her presence.

These two have a typical resident mentor relationship; residents notoriously have short tempered bosses but Dr. Munro takes it a little further with his cutting remarks. There are some inconsistencies here especially within some of the dialogue between the two leads regarding medical procedure. During the first operation that Bailey observes, she talks to Dr. Munro about a tumor looking like an octopus but does not use proper anatomical terminology for which part of the brain the tumor was located in and where it had encroached. I wasn't looking for a medical analysis but I fully expected there to be a little more medical verbiage used. Also Bailey used the word Sir a lot rather than Dr. Munro when she spoke to him. I found that off the mark too. Bailey is also a bit naive about the military. Her brother is a Chaplain and she seems to think he can opt out of his orders to Iraq (the author never specifies where he is going only to where the fighting is, very vague).

Sunny Bailey gets under Dr. Munro's skin and what do you know, the doctor has a heart that is used for more than pumping his blood. This novel was actually better when these two were at cross purposes than when they come together romantically. Their romance just wasn't overly believable it seemed to lack the spark that happened whenever they were butting heads over patients or procedures.

Should have listened to my own instincts, since I usually avoid serials like the plague.

This had both good reviews and bad, so I took a chance. Boy, I wish I hadn't. I already know this is a waste of my time. If one sets out to write a medical romance, one can at least spell the name of the most eminent medical school in the country correctly. JOHNS Hopkins, for Christ's sake, not John Hopkins. What a ridiculous gaffe that completely undermines any credibility to the medical aspect of this book. That's not to mention the dozens of other typos throughout. Before any story can be enjoyable, it has to have a good edit job, and this definitely does not meet the standard.

He's abrasive with no people skills. She's happy and optimistic about life. He's a brilliant neurosurgeon. She's the new intern who was forced on him by his superior. She wants to learn. He doesn't want to be bothered by her.

How she breaks through all the walls he has around himself is the basis for this engaging book. The humorous dialogue can't be beat. Both of the characters in the book are likeable in their own ways. It's up to Marie Ferrarella to get them together and she does this in an extremely entertaining way.

Enjoy!

Neurosurgeon Ivan Munro is also known as "Ivan the Terrible". People can not stand him and he doesn't mind in the least. He is rude, cold and has no relationship with his fellow doctors or his patients. He is nearing fifty and has no wife or children and his work is his only purpose for living. He has a huge ego and believes he can play god with people's lives.
He is in for quite a shock when he is told he must be a mentor to a new resident, Bailey DelMonico. Bailey looks on the bright side of things and loves being a doctor. She is the total opposite of Ivan from being half his age to always smiling and being chipper. Ivan's goal is to make Bailey's life miserable that is until she gets under his skin. Bailey can see past Ivan's rudeness and why he acts the way he does. Soon Ivan doesn't mind Bailey and the coldness around his heart thaws into something more when it comes to his sunny intern.
Marie Ferrarella has written a wonderful and cute novel about the gruff and rude doctor and the woman who shows him love and happiness. Ivan and Bailey's relationship begins on shaky terms but than grows into respect, friendship and finally love. This is one well written romance with an older man and his new found feelings for the younger woman who arrives suddenly in his life. Doctor in the House is as close to a perfect read as you can get.

Katiebabs