Doctor, Doctor!

Gimme the news! Or... the romance!

Three of my absolute favorite books from last year also featured at least one doctor character, and they are also incredibly different from one another, which is a thing I like doing in these roundups now that I’m reading more expansively. So we’ve got a historical, a contemporary, and a sci-fi romance up in here, and they are all equally lovely!

A Tropical Rebel Gets The Duke by Adriana Herrera. The finale to Adriana Herrera’s Las Leonas trilogy brings the heat in sexy-times AND in conceit. Finally, we get a love story not just for our friend Aurora, one of the few female physicians ANYWHERE at the time, but also our pal Apollo from book 1 (who ends up with the dukedom the book 1 hero was the original heir for). Aurora runs an underground women’s clinic, doing exactly what you think she’s doing and more, and it’s getting more dangerous than ever. Apollo offers (read: forces) his help and protection, which of course leads them into a very hot situationship between two people who take up space where white noble society is actively hostile to said space.

For his part, Apollo is the mixed race New Duke In Town that everyone hates/loves to hate/wants something from, and he’s navigating how to both take his rightful place and also resenting the concept of “rightful” and “his place” altogether. But of course he assumes that his destiny, as a result of this “rightful” “place” involves one of those boring debutants to be respectable, gain status, and secure an heir. Aurora might be his new obsession, but they’re on a deadline, of course, and she would never benefit his station so it’s not like they have staying power. Right??

It’s unapologetic in its politics, it’s nuanced in its exploration of tried-and-true tropes and archetypes, and it’s an insanely satisfying closer to a revolutionary trilogy. There’s a reason it was one of my five star books last year.

I love the way one of my favorite romance reviewers ended her recap, so I’ll just let TriviaReads take it from here: “Adriana Herrera did a wonderful job of decolonizing Apollo and Aurora’s happily-ever-after in a way that doesn’t hinge on white acceptance.”

Doctor count: 1 (Aurora)

How hot? 🔥🔥🔥

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood. This book, even more-so than Bride I think, has been one of Ali Hazelwood’s most controversial yet with her fanbase. Even in my own writing group, which is comprised of a lot of fervent Ali-lovers, people were split.

I loved it and also considered it a five star book for 2025, and I think that’s because this is a book once again written for me personally by a woman who I suspect has a lot in common with me that we don’t share with many of our fellow romance readers/writers. Let’s talk.

This is technically a college/new adult romance, with heroine Scarlett a junior at Stanford who splits her time in pre-med with being a high-achieving platform-diving competitor. Except that after an injury, she’s got the yips about a particular aspect of her usual diving program and its got radiating effects on the rest of her increasingly stressful life. She’s also got a secret, one that needs not ever come out because it’s not like she has time for a relationship anyways.

Except then her teammate accidentally outs that her secret and said teammate’s recent ex (or are they on a break?) Lukas, himself a future doctor and current student aquatic athlete, are compatible. Because it turns out that Scarlett is Extremely Kink Curious and so is Lukas, a thing that he and the teammate (Pen) never had in common. So Scarlett and Lukas strike up an arrangement where they explore their kinky sides with no strings.

So here’s the thing: you can read most of Ali Hazelwood’s canon characters as gray ace, which gives me a strong suspicion that perhaps (even if not in those words) that’s an experience the author shares. One that I also (in those words) share! To me, this book is exactly how I, an asexual person who loves spicy romance, would approach and explore a power dynamic kink literally and narratively. And I think that approach is not compatible with the expectations of many allosexual readers.

I’m also a sucker for a Highly Competent Woman who is Suffering and a man who just desperately wants to make her a sandwich and give her a hug and be in the sidelines with a big ol’ cardboard sign cheering her on literally all day every day. Sue me. I loved this book and writing this review has officially convinced me to shelve my TBR a bit longer so I can revisit it and bask in its kinky angst.

Doctor count: 2 (Scarlett AND Lukas)

How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Fiasco by Constance Fay. You can tell when I was planning the last few weeks worth of FP posts I was deep in my Constance Fay era, sorry not sorry.

Cynbelline Khawm, aka Cyn, is a bounty hunter we met in book 1 (this is book 2) while she was undercover as a weirdo cultist. Cyn is finally given details she became a bounty hunter to hunt down- a lead on the kidnapper who killed her cousin and changed the trajectory of her whole life (including estranging her from her family). The catch is that she needs the help of the crew of Calamity (book 1!) and also she’s got a sub-bounty- Micah Arora, the ship’s medic. If she doesn’t complete that sub-bounty, her own safety and that of her estranged family is compromised.

This is a journey/adventure book where we’re hunting someone/someones all over a planet and a galaxy, which is amazing, and this is also a book where the pairing is hunter/unknowing hunted. It’s got a grand gesture so perfect that Fated Mates called it out… twice.

Doctor count: 1 (Micah)

How hot? 🔥🔥🔥

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Next time, my pal and fellow author (who just released a new book!) Rebecca V. Archer will be recommending three books that involve an airplane meet cute.

What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!

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Available now: my debut marriage of convenience romance Rehabbing the Billionaire! Buy your copy on Amazon, or snag it on Kindle Unlimited! Then, rate it on Goodreads to help more people discover it!