Solid start

When I saw that Cullinan was releasing this book I was salivating. I love hospital dramas and Cullinan is one of my favourite authors so had really high hopes for The Doctor’s Secret.

Hong-Wei is a hot shot surgeon. He can pretty much choose where to work and what to do. But after the pressure from his residency he wants some peace and quiet the small hospital in Copper Point offers. He didn’t plan on falling for Simon, his surgical nurse – or worse expect the no dating staff policy the board recently implemented at the hospital.

Parts of this story I really loved, and other parts I didn't like as much. Let’s start with a few things that made this book for me; the characters. There were so many great ones, both main characters and the supporting ones. I loved the friendships, the vibe of the town and how close they all were. I also loved how being gay, bi or lesbian was a non-issue for (I think) everyone. That it was all part of everyday life and just was. There were no raised eyebrows, stares or snide comments. It was nice to say the least.

The relationship between Simon and Hong-Wei didn’t feel quite right. I mean I can see the attraction between them and they fit together. I just feel that Cullinan missed the mark a little with these guys. The pacing felt off, at first there were stolen glances and shy words – both afraid to be seen together. Then, they were both all in, in the “following you to the end of the world” kind of way. There was no middle ground, no real building of their relationship. It was also a lot of telling how they felt, how their relationship developed but we were never really there for it, didn’t experience it. I missed that.

One of the things I really disliked about this story was the whole "no dating co-workers" rule. I mean come on! This is the 21st century and firing people depending on who they date just don't feel right - at least not to the point where people don't riot against it and just accepts it. Let me give you an example, there was a couple that had been together for five years, the relationship policy was implemented and poof they were both fired. !! Their relationship pre-dated the stupid rule and they still get sacked? Maybe I'm an idealist, but that shit just isn't done. It was hard for me to get passed it. And this stupid policy was the root of most of the issues for Simon and Hong-Wei so that made me even more mad.

Then there was the ending - I wasn't a fan it (I don’t mean the HFN ending, but how they got there). I mean Hong-Wei and Simon deciding to leave Copper Point felt like giving up, letting the board and their stupid policy win. I mean I get that it's not always possible to slay the dragon - especially when power-hungry men loving to exact control is in charge. But they didn't even try, try to put up a fight, try to change the policy. Fight for each other. If they can’t fight to stay together, how can they hope to last? To top it off, it was all magically resolved on its own, mostly. It felt anti-climactic to say the least. For have caused so much trouble and drama and to have it all fizzle out.

Iggy Toma did a great job narrating this book and drew the listener into it. He’s not only a narrator but a performer as well. One who adds so much feeling to Cullinan’s words that it made you walk the halls of the hospital beside Simon and Hong-Wei, meeting patients and hanging out with friends. I also came to realise one of my previously unknown biases, and I'm grateful to Toma for that.

Toma has different voices for his characters - just like he always have. However, in the beginning I wanted him to have switched the voices between the Simon and Hong-Wei. I wanted Simon to have the deeper voice and Hong-Wei to have the lighter one – that was how I heard them in my mind. At least until I realised that was because of my bias; where Asian's (and yes, I'm generalising here) have lighter voices. So Hong-Wei having the deeper voice felt wrong. Until it didn't. When realising this I have to say that I'm glad Toma narrated the voices this way - breaking the norm and daring to be different.

The Doctor’s Secret had a lot of potential and many great characters, so while this book wasn’t among my favourites I am still looking forward to what else this series will bring.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

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3 people found this helpful

LOVED IT

I LOVED listening to this!

The dual third-person POV works so well, the themes of found family, Asian culture, and the progression of Simon and Hong-Wei's relationship is on point...everything just works so well and flows so easily, and is so beautifully performed by Iggy Toma, that I just absolutely loved this. Strong character voices, a great pace, his timing on fire, Toma infuses his performance with humor and passion.

I loved it, would absolutely recommend listening to it, and will definitely be adding it to my re-listen list.

I'm even more excited for the rest of the series now!

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Great Story to get lost in!

Easy story to get lost in. Well done! I’m looking forward to the other books in this series. Excellent narration.

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2 people found this helpful

emjoyed it

📖 Story comment: good pace, likeable characters, interesting plot.
What I call an "easy listen" - easy-going plot that's good to listen to while doing something else without losing the story.
Characters are well written and the environment felt real. I liked the way any type of sexuality was just part of "normal" with no real issues, the "no dating co-workers" policy was a bit of a stretch in this day an age, and I get it was the catalyst for the story - I'm just not sure I entirely bought into it.
Overall though, an entertaining story that was a good length and I would be happy to listen to again.

🎧 Narrator comment: Iggy Toma was a good choice for this series, he suits the characters. has good cadence, inflections and intonations and it's easy to distinguish the characters from each other.

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 7
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in multiple formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]

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Heidi and Iggy forever!!

I am a HUGE fan of all of Heidi’s books! I loved this story so much. I enjoyed learning about Taiwanese and Asian culture. Iggy did a superb job with this narration. I can’t read a Heidi book without imagining Iggy’s voice!!

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Take A Stand

Even though I had already purchased the ebook when I saw this was available at Audible I picked up the audio version. The narration is well done and doesn't distract from the story at all.

There is much these men must overcome. Each has their own baggage and on top of that they must deal with the rules of the hospital board. I get the idea that you need to "keep secrets" or be less than your true self in the interest of holding down a job and it really made me feel for both of these men. I also like the fact that once they are all in they don't look for the easy way out. I like how they were ready to fight but also have a strong backup plan. I also like the way the other characters start to stand up to board for them even when they hadn't been willing to do it for themselves. Can't wait for the next installment in this series.

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A Lovely Romance

I enjoyed this book immensely. Heidi Cullinan is a wonderful author, and this book was no different than her other books when it comes to the quality of her writing. The characters were well-rounded and interesting, and I enjoyed their interaction and the development of their relationship. The medical aspect of the book was exciting and well done.

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contrived plot

I liked the story a lot, but I never fell into it. the anxiety was higher than it deserved.

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2 people found this helpful

Great listen

Heidi Cullinan and Iggy Toma are my dream team in MM romance. I wish they had more releases to satisfy my addiction. The story was great, though I was hoping for a bigger bombshell on the secret premise. I respect the authors decision to not make it any heavier than it was though. Not everyone has a love for all things dark and bitter. Iggy did an amazing job of conveying Simon's shy and hopeless romantic personality in his voice and the characters were all around very well written. 10/10

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starts strong but main point of contention was weak

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. The second half was about how people can pull together to create change, which was good, but… the policy that needed rescinding was new. There was an attempt made to show that The Powers That Be could be contemptible jerks who could and would enforce the messed up policy with impunity, but it still felt like overturning a new policy would be an easy fix. That might be on me, because it was so obviously a dumb policy. Part of the point was about WI, in reality, decimating unions and in the story it took a group of friends uniting then town unity to overcome TPTB.

I appreciated how the problem wasn’t anti-gay sentiment and the town rallied for their brown gay surgeon & his boyfriend, treating their relationship as valid as any other couple’s. (Although the surgeon had to be a magical minority to get this treatment…) I just couldn’t buy that the board would be on the verge of losing 4 key staff and still be jerks about a brand new policy. Ok, so TPTB wanted mostly to be able to control the hotshot new surgeon, via the policy, but it never had real support or history to entrench it, so I spent the second half of the book being annoyed when I was supposed to be pleased about people rallying in defense of people over policy.

There is a lot of good community building in this book, and Iggy Toma is a great narrator, so it’s worth a listen, but it was a bit frustrating.

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1 person found this helpful