By Kristan Higgins
This was just terrific. So often when an author continues the stories of quirky or unconventional characters, they undergo a transformation in the second book. I guess to make them easier to write about or more fit the mold of a romantic hero or heroine. Not so in this one. Dr. Satan is just as arrogant and obnoxious as ever, and I was turning pages to see if Kristan could manage to make him fall in love and be lovable without compromising the integrity of his personality. She succeeds brilliantly.
After reading Look on the Bright side, I had no real desire to read a book about Dr. Satan aka Dr. Lorenzo Santini. Apparently I was in the vast minority. I was, however, very amenable to revisiting the Smith family and having the boring sensible sister as the heroine. Pairing the two together was perfect. In a family of 3 beautiful and accomplished sisters and a charming handsome brother, Winnie (Windsor) was ‘the other one”: Not beautiful and not brilliant. No one can even remember her name. In a typical KH running joke, Her brother teases her about this affectionately: “Winnebago,” “Winona” “Winster-the-Spinster” “Winipedia,” “Window”, “Winfrey,” “Windmill” “Winnipeg”. … yes, I think that’s all of them. But everyone loves her and depends on her, because she is the most competent person in Christendom. She has made being a “behind the scenes” person work for her.
When her party planning business collapses through no fault of her own, Winnie is hired as the personal assistant of the world renowned surgeon and former fake fiancé of her older sister Lark. He needs someone who can keep his life in order so he can focus on being brilliant. He is intimidating, demanding, cold and is the definition of “arrogant.”
Was he really supposed to go to Whole Foods to buy kale when he could be, oh, saving a life? Teaching future doctors? Writing a paper that would change the way a procedure would be done, therefore raising patient survival rates?… He…didn’t want to have to call the florist himself to order flowers for his mother’s birthday. It was enough that he even remembered his mother’s birthday. Most years, he even called.
Winnie is not intimidated. She knows her worth, and it is not long before Dr. Satan does too. She becomes his right arm and virtually indispensable. She is so good at her job, that Lorenzo realizes that eventually she will organize herself out of his life, no longer having to constantly be at his side to keep his life on an even keel. And that bothers him. He doesn’t know why it bothers him, but it does.
It is a very slow burn romance, and perfectly paced. Dr. Satan (“I’ve been working for you for a month now, can I just call you Satan?”) may start to show some vulnerabilities, sensitivity, and a sense of humor, but then he will do or say something to prove once again he will never quite get off “the spectrum” completely. Things do blow up a few times, (how could they not?) but Kristan never does the predictable thing, to my great relief. Winnie always saves the day with her aversion to drama and unshakeable good sense. I loved her, never more so when she forgets she is the steady predictable one. And yes, she does do that, but only on occasion, and usually under the influence of alcohol.
As always, Kristan’s ability to make you laugh, then touch your heart, make her one of my top 5 favorite authors. One of the few who has never disappointed me the least little bit. This book is described as a novella, but it doesn’t read like one. Her later books are more “women’s fiction” than romance and are great. But this one is unabashedly a romance. And one of her most romantic ones. It is a little shorter because she took a metaphorical red pencil to most of the “women’s fiction” stuff, but somehow left a lot of depth on the page.