Stevie‘s review of Prescription for Love (Rivers Family, Book 2)
by Radclyffe
Lesbian Romance published by Bold Strokes Books 16 Nov 15
Medical Romance is a huge subgenre in the heterosexual world, but while I read a few back in the day, the power imbalance (both in terms of gender roles and professional hierarchy) always felt too skewed (not that I didn’t consider writing something that turned the trope on its head in that respect). On the other hand, a lesbian medical romance in which both heroines are of similar professional status – even if one is a newcomer to the role and the other is an experienced part of the establishment – ought to be more my kind of things these days, especially when the book’s written by someone with a surgical background. So once again I put aside my reservations about jumping into a series partway through and gave the Rivers family and their hospital a chance.
Abby is the single mother of a teenager who recently came out as trans. While Abby – out as a lesbian since high school – is fully accepting of the situation, her worries about how her son’s classmates will react is a deciding factor in her moving to a new area and taking a job at the hospital where her college best friend is the new administrator. Abby is to be the new head of the ER – a post created by splitting the role off from the surgical head, Flannery, who isn’t entirely happy with the plan, even though it will make her workload easier to cope with. Others in Flannery’s family, however, are quick to welcome Abby and her son into their community – with Abby’s son soon becoming close to Flannery’s kid sister.
I really enjoyed the scenes between the teenagers and wished we could have seen more of them. I find Flannery more difficult to warm to and feel that her switch from preferring casual dating to wanting a committed relationship with Abby happens a little too quickly. I also feel that, for me, the first big crisis point happens a little early in the story – before our heroines get to know each other – although that set-up might have worked better for readers already familiar with the characters from the previous book.
As a Brit it’s sometimes tricky for me to visualise the size and scope of small towns in the USA. I didn’t entirely get a proper sense of how big a population the hospital catered for, or how spread out different parts of that community were likely to be. Again, this is probably one of those issues that other readers will have no problems with.
Overall, one of those books where I preferred the secondary romance storyline to the main plot. Maybe medical romance in general is less my thing than I’d expect it to be, given my interest in the biological sciences away from fiction.
Grade: C
Summary:
Flannery Rivers is content to let her sister Harper carry on the family dynasty—at the Rivers hospital where they both work and on the home front. Now that Harper is settled and soon to be happily married, Flannery can ease back into her life of casual flirtations and find all the excitement she needs in the ER. She’s even got her next playmate all lined up, or so she thinks.
Abigail Remy is a city girl who accepts a position at the imperiled country hospital in the hope of finding a stable, safe community for her teenaged trans son. Unfortunately, when she arrives to work, she discovers the current ER chief is less than happy to be replaced by a fresh-out-of-residency newcomer.
Add unexpected attraction to the incendiary mix of city and country, fire and ice, tradition and change—and the prescription is combustible.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
