The Doctor’s Orders (Copper Point Medical #3)

Readers who were captivated by The Doctor’s Secret and The Doctor’s Date will find the concluding Copper Point Medical contemporary a dreadful letdown. This time, it’s pediatrician Jared Kumpel and small-town hospital CEO Nick Beckert who couple up, getting a second chance at love. The men have been estranged for decades after first falling for each other as teenagers. They reconnect when they are trapped in an elevator. However, although Nick kisses Jared passionately, he is afraid that coming out will upset his family, jeopardize his relationship with his church, and affect his job—reasonable concerns, but his fretting over them is drawn out at excessive length. Nick tries to pretend he and Jared are just roommates, but this arrangement is as flimsy as the novel, which spends so much time on Nick’s angst that there’s barely any romance. Nick is so self-involved that the lovestruck Jared eventually has an emotional breakdown, which passes for relationship development. There’s a subplot involving rebuilding the hospital and possible elevator sabotage, but even this intrigue fails to spark much interest. This underwritten contemporary is a very disappointing end to an otherwise terrific series. (Aug.)