Readers still love their niches, and medical romance is still an incredibly popular one — even though expectations have changed considerably. I know! You’re thinking — surely not. Readers like to read within their niche because they know what they like, and they don’t like change. Maybe you’re a medical romance reader, and you know the genre upside-down and back-to-front, and I bet you do, too. There are still the same markers and expectations medical romance writers are expected to hit, and that’ll always be true — whether it’s a small-town sweet romance within a doctor’s surgery or a fast-paced city-hospital romance that bares all. But the genre has changed in one incredible way, and that is…it’s gotten hotter.
Way, way hotter.
You must have noticed it yourself. We’re talking medical romance meets erotica; there’s a story without the sex, but the sex is the cherry on top. We’re seeing every aspect of our medical staff; all those unprofessional moments of lust, of kisses in the medicine room, romps in the break room, moments that were traditionally fade-to-black. Thank you, Grey’s Anatomy! I fully expect it myself when I read medical romances, and I actually feel something is missing when I don’t find enough of it. Like all genres within romance, we’ve gotten much bolder with the spicy elements — we proudly call it smut, right?
But for medical romance, this is a big deal. My first introduction to medical romance as a genre was — like many — via those pocket Mills and Boon books, which are still going strong today with the die-hard subscribers who receive a handful of books in the mail every month. They’re eaten up like Smarties — and they’re definitely sexier than they used to be. When it comes to self-published medical romances, however — it isn’t even the same ball game anymore. The indie writers — who of course started as medical romance readers — knew what was missing. We knew what we wanted. Now, they’re delivering medical smut in spades — and I’m proud to say, I am too.
Lovers of sweet romances may not think it’s their cup of tea, and that’s okay. I think medical romance readers who prefer the fast-paced, heart-stopping city hospital stories — as opposed to the sweet small-town ones I mentioned — might like a little more action in the round. This is medical romance, after all. We like details. The spicy elements are desired in equal measure with the trauma, the patient cases, and those high-octane medical emergencies that have us rapidly turning the pages.
Many writers of the genre are themselves nurses, doctors, paramedics, carers, admins, staff of all disciplines. Personally, I’m an experienced patient (huge congrats on your treatment success, Delilah!) I’ve spent weeks upon weeks in hospital, endured several major surgeries — including open abdominal surgery — and years on medications to treat a dangerous condition. Countless procedures for all kinds of things. For a time, hospital was my second home, and I loved to watch everybody around me work. I even had the privilege of being a guinea-pig for student doctors in their exam, where they were tasked with examining me and diagnosing my condition. Staying in a London hospital, with St. Paul’s Cathedral outside my window, wasn’t all that bad, because the staff made me so comfortable.
I guess you could say that those difficult days were the first kernels of inspiration. My experiences made me feel much more comfortable writing about the genre. I developed a fascination with the different professions I came into contact with, and I began to read medical memoirs voraciously. Lucky for me, these memoirs became suddenly very popular, and I could read everything from brain surgery to forensic pathology and forensic anthropology. I saw the humans behind the profession, including their personal failings, mistakes, relationship problems, you name it. It’s no wonder medical romance is hugely popular today — there are so many variables, so many opportunities for relationships to blossom, and so many wild ways for that to happen!
My first attempt at medical romance was within a three-book-series called Professionals Gone Wild. I wrote about a financier’s son, a barrister, and a neurosurgeon. All books were received well by reviewers, but the medical romance one was by far the one I most enjoyed, the one best reviewed, and it was the best-seller of the three. I realized, then, that I was being given a pretty clear sign — I needed to fine-tune my genre-writing skills, lean hard into the medical niche, and really go for it.
In three weeks, I wrote The Nurse and the Neonatal Surgeon, the first of my London children’s hospital series of spicy medical romances. Writing about two medical heroes falling in love on the neonatal unit was not an easy start, let me tell you — but the readers really loved it. Even my worst review — and there aren’t many of those, thankfully — states that they still enjoyed the patient cases involving the babies, even when the love story wasn’t for them. I take that as a win, because not only is medical romance difficult to get right, but neonatal surgery was a very tough balancing act.
How to give detail, without giving too much detail? How to include heart-wrenching aspects without upsetting the reader so much that they put the book down? The fact is, I wanted to go there, and write something I loved and found meaningful — but doing so without overstepping the mark or going too far was like walking a tight-rope in some respects.
Maybe it’s because I’m a mother myself now, and because I’ve experienced loss in the past — like many of us — but I felt it was a task I was up to. I decided my old-fashioned-style titles — my nod to the old pocket-books I talked about — was a good way to let the reader know exactly what medical scenarios they’d be encountering. If a reader isn’t comfortable with reading about a neonatal unit, then they know immediately that this book won’t be for them. The same goes for the second in the series (all stand-alones with cameos, references to each other, etc.) The Intern and the Plastic Surgeon. If a reader isn’t comfortable reading about craniofacial surgery in detail, or who finds the subject difficult for any reason, they know what they’re getting before they buy or download.
I’m now releasing the third in the series, The Intern and the Orthopaedic Surgeon, TODAY! This one is the spiciest yet; an opposites-attract, teacher-student story with BDSM-flavours and, of course, medical details and patient cases. Gabriel Grant is my favourite medical hero of the series so far. He’s like Peter Steele meets Gideon Cross in appearance, but with Peter Steele’s sense of humour and a hint of the Labrador about him. Personally, I just loved writing him. My leading lady, Connie, is a faith-led woman who is dedicated to her job and her alcoholic father who, through Gabriel, finds a way of nourishing her body and soul in the ways she deserves, and craves.
I always write about dishy-daddy-doctors, but trust me, you don’t want to miss Gabriel Grant!
To celebrate its release day, I’m giving away an ebook copy of The Intern and the Orthopaedic Surgeon! Comment below for your chance to win!
The Intern and the Orthopaedic Surgeon
“I’m a good girl who follows the rules, due to graduate the orthopaedic surgical programme and start my dream career. But when mischievous rogue Gabriel Grant becomes my mentor, he shows me a deeply sensual world that threatens to derail my perfect plans…and awaken my deepest desires.”
Gabriel Grant is a young buck when it comes to Orthopaedic surgery, but he’s making waves as a maverick. Beautiful, sharp and virile, eyes linger on Gabriel wherever he goes – but his eyes are fixed on me.
I’m determined to keep focused, but he thrives on challenge – and I’m proving to be his biggest yet.
My obvious desire permits him to show me he can be what I crave; romantic, tender…as well as white-hot and dominating.
I’m a faith-led woman who craves his searing heat as much as his tenderness, but Gabriel has a thing or two to learn about that. The question is: can he be taught?
Get ready for some alpha male, forced proximity, opposites attract awakenings against a backdrop of the children’s orthopaedics department.
Gabriel Grant knows he’s God’s gift to women; there’s a reason they called him the Bone Daddy. But when his intern demands more than just his body, Gabriel must face his dark past. Will he dare to confront the abuse that still haunts him, so he can offer his heart and soul as well?
*This book is part of a series but works as a standalone novel. Contains 18+ spicy scenes throughout. Mature readers only.
About the author
Liza Collins is a wife and mother of two from the UK. She writes about medical heroes falling in love in a critical care context – and some other stuff too, just for fun.
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