• manga,  Uncategorized

    MANGA: Shitsuke ga Nattenai

    Shitsuke ga Nattenai – Ueda Niku

    One night, Kazuho, a hotel worker who possesses a rare blood-sucking constitution, helps a drunk man he found lying on the side of the street by giving him a place to spend the night. The next day, instead of waking up to the man he brought back to his apartment, Kazuho unexpectedly finds a dog sleeping in his bed!

    Roughly translates to Lack of Discipline, the manga’s fangy cover promised all kinds of fangy moeness.

    I was very disappointed to learn, it wasn’t to be. There were hardly any fangs on displays. A missed opportunity especially since it paired a reluctant vampire with a fluffy dog shifter.

    This is a forced proximity, forced-feeding romance set in a world where people either have vampire genes, animal shifter constitutions, and on rare occasions, spirits. The story quickly lost me when it dwelled too long on the two characters discussing vampire and shifter constitutions, and healthy diets. The manga had too much dialogue that was uninteresting. I skimmed, hoping it would get better once the romance sparked. No such luck. A complete blah, all in all.


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  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: The Doctor’s Date by Heidi Cullinan

    Copper Point Medical: The Doctor’s Date – Heidi Cullinan

    Sequel to The Doctor’s Secret
    Copper Point Medical: Book Two

    The hospital’s least eligible bachelor and its aloof administrator hate each other… so why are they pretending to date?

    Dr. Owen Gagnon and HR director Erin Andreas are infamous for their hospital hallway shouting matches. So imagine the town’s surprise when Erin bids an obscene amount of money to win Owen in the hospital bachelor auction—and Owen ups the ante by insisting Erin move in with him. 

    Copper Point may not know what’s going on, but neither do Erin and Owen. Erin intends his gesture to let Owen know he’s interested. Owen, on the other hand, suspects ulterior motives—that Erin wants a fake relationship as a refuge from his overbearing father.

    With Erin suddenly heading a messy internal investigation, Owen wants to step up and be the hero Erin’s never had. Too bad Erin would rather spend his energy trying to rescue Owen from the shadows of a past he doesn’t talk about.

    This relationship may be fake, but the feelings aren’t. Still, what Erin and Owen have won’t last unless they put their respective demons to rest. To do that, they’ll have to do more than work together—they’ll have to trust they can heal each other’s hearts.


    The Doctor’s Date has the kind of intriguing premise that immediately grabs attention. It was almost lost in TBR limbo after my bad experience with Antisocial, my first Heidi Cullinan book. Reading it now, The Doctor’s Date is a mix-bag of feels but definitely, much better than the other book.

    The part that got me hooked is Erin Andreas, HR head and wallflower, spending $25,000 on Dr. Owen Gagnon, anesthesiologist, the world’s grouchiest grump, and his infamous nemesis, in the hospital bachelor auction fundraiser. Then Owen asked Erin to move in with him that very night.

    This has the makings of a very squee-tastic rom-com. But unlike a rom-com where the prose and events are laced with humor, the writing leans towards misery. Many events go from bad to worse for Erin and Owen, then whiplashes to uber romantic comfort scenes designed to soothe the hurts. I don’t mind some angst and drama, but there were too many miserable moments to wade through just to get to the happier parts.

    It’s why I struggled in the opening chapters. Erin’s father, head of the hospital board, was really horrible. He’s a bully who neglects him in private and belittles him in public. The guy is the kind of villain I hate the most, the lawful evil type. He made me drop the book. Owen’s dad was just as horrid, causing serious trauma to his son,. Once a musical prodigy, now Owen couldn’t bear looking at his violin.

    But I kept thinking about the premise and was compelled to pick up where I left off, hoping it would get better.

    It did!

    The bachelor auction has some of the swooniest scenes!!! I hated Owen at first. He was drunk and high and a complete asshole. But the way he swooped in to rescue Erin from his dad! And the way he spectacularly misunderstood Erin’s motive for bidding on him, causing the dork to hatch ridiculous but hella sweet plans to protect the gob-smacked but secretly swooning Erin, it was rom-com gold!

    The running metaphor here is the fairy tale about the poor prince(ss) in the tower, the ogre and the evil king. It’s fitting but a little too on the nose and repeated too often. I love the childhood connection angle in the prologue. I sensed some BL manga influences, and unlike Antisocial, it was deployed better here.

    Owen and Erin as boyfriends is everything!!! It’s their magic that kept me reading because by the third arc, the story slumped. There were the not-so-exciting slice-of-life scenes that took too long reaching key events dealing with the suspected embezzlement of hospital funds, and Owen’s and Erin’s family issues. I got impatient and tuned out.

    By the time it got to the climax, I barely cared about the goings-on. I wished the embezzlement issue was played up more, giving the plot a stronger mystery angle. But it was fun to see Owen, Erin and their friends forming their own Scooby Gang and taking down the bad guys. And the epilogue was too cute!!!

    The Doctor’s Date holds true to its promise to sweep me off my feet with a charming fairy tale. I rooted hard for the poor little prince and squee-ed with delight to discover the ogre’s golden heart. There were monsters to slay and an evil king to vanquish. Sometimes the villains were too much, but the prince and the ogre stayed strong and true. With the help of their friends, they saved the world and lived happily ever after.

    Rating:
    3.5 Stars – that place between like and love

    Soundtrack: Prince
    Artist: Versailles
    Album: PRINCE & PRINCESS

    P.S.

    The Doctor’s Date is the second book of Copper Point Medical. It can be read as standalone. I haven’t read Book 1 yet.


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    THE DOCTOR’S DATE

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  • song,  Uncategorized

    SOUNDTRACK: Prince by Versailles

    Soundtrack to Copper Point Medical: The Doctor’s Date by Heidi Cullinan

    Prince by Versailles for a book about a poor little prince in a gilded cage and the ogre who gave him strength to break free.

    If you’re scared, lend me an arm and take you away.
    Every time I think of “you who cried so many times because you were hurt by something”
    The love that wells up overwhelms my heart. Before dawn
    As it is I’ll take you away and I’ll never let you get anywhere.
    To this future where I want to pick you up now and take you to the sky.

  • quote,  Uncategorized

    さあ怖いのなら腕を貸して 連れ去れてあげる

    “何かに傷付き何度も泣いたあなた”を想う度

    こみ上げる愛しさが心を押し潰してゆう

    夜が明ける前に

    このまま

    あなたを奪い去って もう何処へも逃がさない

    今あなたを抱き上げて 空へ連れ去リたいこの未来へ

    Ah…その指に触れ…その肩を抱き…そっとくちづけた

    壊れた心を強がる花を守ってあげたい

    こみ上げる愛しさが心に溶けて

    守られる幸せを知ってほしい

    きっと誰も例外無く守られてる

    それに気づき人を愛せるようになるはずだから

    あなたを奪い去って もう誰にも渡さない

    今あなたを抱き寄せて 空へ連れ去リたいこの未来へ

    両手で羽はたく事は出来ないけど

    あなたを抱きしめてままで空へ飛び立てるなら

    心を奪い去って もうあなたを離さない

    今全てを抱き締めて 奪い連れ去りたいこの未来へ

    If you’re scared, lend me an arm and take you away.
    Every time I think of “you who cried so many times because you were hurt by something”
    The love that wells up overwhelms my heart. Before dawn
    As it is I’ll take you away and I’ll never let you get anywhere.
    To this future where I want to pick you up now and take you to the sky.
    Ah… Touching that finger…
    Hugging his shoulders…
    I kissed gently.
    I want to protect flowers that strengthen broken hearts
    The love that wells up melts in my heart
    I want you to know the happiness that will be protected
    I’m sure everyone is protected without exception.
    You should be able to realize that and love people.
    I’ll take you away and I’ll never give it to anyone anymore.
    To this future where I want to embrace you now and take you to the sky.
    I can’t flutter my wings with both hands.
    If you take to the skies with a hug in your arms,
    Take your heart away and don’t let go of you anymore
    To this future where we want to embrace everything and take everything away and take it away.

    ***Duck Duck Go translation