Lynne Connolly’s review of Billionaire, M.D. April’s Man of the Month by Olivia Gates
Contemporary Romance published by Silhouette Desire 01 Apr 10

Olivia Gates has been notable by her absence recently from the Silhouette Desire line. After an interesting foray into the paranormal romance, she’s back in the world she knows best. Passion and medicine.

The girl can write. Just-wow. Her writing in the past has sometimes overwhelmed the story, but here she keeps her talent harnessed to the service of telling the story of Roderigo and Cybele. It flows, and her pacing is terrific. The first part of the story is tense and taut, just right for the subject matter it contains and later it explodes into rampant, thrilling sensuality.

In real life, Gates is a doctor, and it shows in the assured depiction of the two surgeons featured in this story. It contains some of the elements I dislike but Gates sells them to me because she does it right. I’m in a bit of a bind because it’s very important not to let give out spoilers. We experience the revelation along with the heroine and while we, like her, half know what it is, we feel a reluctance to know the truth, just as she does. So I can’t discuss a lot of the story, only the way it kept me enthralled, far past the other things I should have been doing, until I reached the last page.

Cybele wakes up in a hospital bed in the arms of the most gorgeous surgeon she’s ever seen. But she can’t remember anything about her recent past. She has amnesia. In the hands of a less skilled writer, this could deteriorate into the usual, as some of these tropes are achingly familiar to the Silhouette and Harlequin reader. But this is different, because Gates has done her research. She doesn’t just know about post-accident trauma, she knows about the different kinds of amnesia, what they do and how the body and mind react to them. It makes the story real and much, much more than “business as usual.” In fact, in many ways this book proves what I’m always saying – that detailed research makes the book better, makes it particular and special, instead of a generic blitz of some well-worn tropes. It makes this book one that has an instant place on my keeper shelf, and one I know for sure I’ll read again in the future.

Roderigo has always loved Cybele, but he can’t tell her now. She’s vulnerable, she’s injured and she’s pregnant. Her husband was flying the plane when it crashed, killing him and leaving her badly damaged and he has to tamp down his feelings for her. There are revelations all through the book about their relationship, but while the savvy reader can guess most of it, it would be a shame to reveal it here and spoil your reading fun. Roderigo is a real alpha – none of the jerk about him. He’s honorable, steadfast, and he’s not a rake. He doesn’t treat women like dirt, and he’s so careful and protective of Cybele that you’ll melt for him.

Cybele realizes fairly early on that she’s a doctor, too. It’s only the accident and the year or two before it that she can’t recall. Her understanding of her condition and the need for the correct treatments helps Roderigo, and her recovery isn’t minimized. It takes time, and the reader understands along with Roderigo that she needs respite to recover properly. I liked Cybele. She was intelligent and demonstrated it. It wasn’t stated that she was intelligent, followed by brainless behaviour, as I’ve read so often in category romance. She did the right thing. I began to lose patience with her at the end, but by then both she and Roderigo had sold me on their relationship. And besides, Roderigo’s response is so damned romantic it was worth it just to watch him do what he did. If Cybele hadn’t taken him, I would have done.

Roderigo is Spanish, but has spent time in America, so his fluent English is acceptable and believable. Sometimes with the latin lovers of Harlequin, their use of the colloquial is a bit too much to believe, and to this Brit, typical Americanisms or Britishisms don’t work when spoken by sexy Greeks or Italians. Again, Gates has done her research and understands the differences between Catalonia and Spain, and there is one sequence, with a delightful custom I’d never heard of, and I should have because it celebrates St. George’s Day, the English patron saint (we don’t have him to ourselves, though). The English don’t celebrate the day very much, which, considering it’s also Shakespeare’s birthday, is a bit of a shame. I’ll be in the States on that day, but I’ll try at least to wear a rose. Roderigo and Cybele celebrate it in a much better way.

Sexy, but above all romantic, this is how category should be written. There were parts of the story that had to be skimmed over because of the length requirements, but I’m in two minds about these. In a selfish way, I wanted to spend more time with Roderigo and Cybele, but I’m not sure if this would have been to the story’s benefit or not. But that at least goes to show that Gates left me wanting more.

I loved this book and I am going to hug it and keep it and call it George for a long time to come.

Grade: A+

“Mr. April: Rodrigo Valderrama, billionaire Spanish surgeon.

His Patient: The woman he’s always wanted.

His Problem: An explosive pregnancy secret.

He’d rushed to her side the moment he’d learned of her accident. Whisking the recovering Cybele away to his palatial seafront estate, the wealthy doctor vowed to care for and protect the pregnant young widow.and never let her know his true feelings. But he feared that even with all his brilliant skills, he might not be able to keep Cybele if she learned the truth about his role in her pregnancy.”

Read an excerpt.