Yeah, Diana Palmer is not my favorite as her heroes, insert eye roll, can be big fat jerks. Per Jacquiline's review, this is not your typical DP hero.
Noreen, a nurse, is the Mary Sue-iest Mary Sue you've ever read at the beginning of the book. Ramon, excuse me, Rah-moan is her cousin's widowed husband. He's an uber handsome, mega masculine, Cuban heart surgeon who can cuss bilingually. He is a big fat meanie to Noreen in part because he thinks she abandoned Isabella, the cold-hearted, slutty wife he professes to adore so she ended up dying of pneumonia. Yes, we have a Grace has Bob's dead wife's heart! moment here. What is the other part of why he is such a big, fat, meanie? Read a couple of hundred romances, and you tell me why. In addition to Ramon blaming the h, Isabella's incredibly shallow parents do as well. Why not, they used Noreen like a modern-day Cinderella when they had to take her in.
When we first meet our little h she is one of the most annoying of h's. She's a mealy-mouthed martyr that doesn't say boo to Dr. Ramon when he makes rounds. Everybody knows he can't stand her. He ups the ante when she starts faltering in her nurse of the year role. Turns out that the h has a heart problem which leads to emergency heart surgery by... guess who, then a stint of rehab at his apartment.
Suddenly, the book turned from a 2 star into windbreak. Miss Mary Sue turns into a feisty, defiant spitfire.
Cutting to the chase, we find out more about Ramon, and, flutter my fan, he's a Cuban heart surgeon who can cuss bilingually and emote like nobody's business. When he lays it on the line, he brings out the inner Barbara Cartland heroine in me..Oh Tarquin. Yep, he's not so much a sexy talker as a romantic talker. We just don't get that anymore. He is more interested in talking about souls than how tab A inserts nicely into slot B although he expresses interest in that as well.
Nicely done. Not quite a 4 star, but close.