About Bad Case of Loving You
by Laney Cairo
142 pages / 56000 words
ISBN: 1-934166-11-1, 978-1-934-166-11-6
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback
Matthew is a medical student, trying to ignore his various roommates' wild parties and get through his classes. Andrew is his instructor, a doctor at a prestigious British hospital. They're not supposed to be attracted to each other, but they can't deny their undeniable chemistry.
They come together with a heat that surprises them both, and through doctor's strikes, dealing with Andrew's teenaged son, and hospital red tape, Andrew and Matthew learn to live, and love together. Is their relationship just what the doctor ordered?
Review
Jodi Payne, author of String of Pearls and co-author of the Deviations series, writes: When Dr. Andrew Maynard is saddled with the dubious honor of giving the university's medical students some hands-on training at the hospital, he finds himself asking 'why me?' He's so bored by the prospect that he is about to gouge his own eyes out with one student's PDA when he is caught off-guard, and quite pleasantly so, by another student's compassion for a patient, and subsequently his smooth skin, dark, curly hair and long, elegant fingers. Despite the niggling ethical issues, Andrew gives him more than a passing glance.
Matthew Blake, the curly-headed student, is a typical neophyte in the medical field; hopped up on caffeine and buried in books and diagrams and note cards. But what's not typical of Matthew is that while there are some things he may need a mentor for, sex is not one of them. He's Dominant in the bedroom, no question, and he's as intrigued as we are at just how submissive Andrew can be. The sparks fly instantly for these two, and they are both left winded.
In Bad Case of Loving You, author Laney Cairo sends the reader, along with Matthew and Andrew, on a snowball's ride into lust and love. We experience both points of view and their voices are rich and well developed. But it's not just the characters that are believable; Ms. Cairo's depth of research and knowledge of the UK's medical field (and of the British Medical Association, the UK's professional union for doctors) are evident in her attention to detail. She tosses out medical terms and procedures like they were common household words. The jargon has the potential to leave a layperson overwhelmed and baffled, and yet it doesn't somehow; it's just one more of Matthew and Andrew's quirks that we learn to adore. (Though I must admit to looking up pictures of a certain kind of intimate piercing on the Internet to assuage my curiosity!)
And let's not forget the sex. Every scene sizzles, among them a masterfully written fisting scene that will set your shorts on fire with its intensity, and a shower scene that should hit nearly everyone's buttons. Andrew is heartbreaking in his submission and Matthew's hunger and desire for control takes your breath away (it should be noted that this D/s relationship is purely sexual and remains in the bedroom, and apart from a little binding of hands, it doesn't venture into BDSM).
Ms. Cairo's British turn of phrase and sense of humor are entertaining and often just plain hilarious. Academic geeks, romantic tension, professional ethics, life-altering decisions, humor, scorching hot sex and a smooth, entertaining writing style put Bad Case of Loving You among my personal top reads.
Sample
Blake was waiting outside my office at the end of the following day, and I regretted letting him find out where it was so easily. I preferred the students to find it by themselves; it was a good test of initiative to make them locate it through the central hospital directory. Not to mention courage when it came to getting past the guard dog, who was smiling fondly at Blake from behind her tacky magazine. He must have charmed her somehow. I was impressed.
I opened the door, flopped into my chair, and looked expectantly up at him. He sat down and shuffled his index cards nervously.
"Yes?" I said.
"I want to redo my presentation."
"I'm not going to change your mark."
"That's not... I just want to get it right," he explained.
"OK, I'm listening, but I reserve the right to stop you if it's crap," I said. "I'm not being paid enough to sit through presentation reruns."
I didn't have to stop him. He did it cold, no notes, and it was solid and concise. Still unspeakably dull, but renal insufficiency was like that. I stood up and held out my hand to him.
He looked confused as he stood and took my hand. I shook it. "Congratulations. You're not a moron. Keep going like that and you'll restore my faith in humanity."
He coloured a little and blinked, his eyelashes tiny fans against his skin, then smiled at me. This must have been what he had done to get past The Secretary From Hell. Fuck, but he was gorgeous, and I let go of his hand before it all became far too embarrassing.
"Get out of here," I said, but my voice wasn't the least bit grouchy.