Samantha Holbrook is a young doctor, starting a research fellowship at a hospital in San Franciso. Flying back to SF from her family home in Ohio, she responds to a call for a doctor to respond to an onboard emergency. Her specialty is obstetrics, not emergency medicine, but no one else is responding, so she does.

Turns out there's another doctor on board, who had headphones on and didn't hear the call. He also matches the totally inadequate description the flight attendant gave her, and it takes a few moments to figure out the patient is another guy just a couple of seats away.

The other doctor, Grant Gao, is a little older, and definitely more experienced, and their joint effort to respond becomes very embarrassing for Sam, even though she's ultimately the one who works out exactly which "magic mushroom" the patient is high on.

Later, much to her distress, she discovers that he's the senior research fellow at the hospital she'll be doing her research fellowship. Not her boss, but embarrassingly close to it.

Sam is sharing an apartment with friends Duke Washington and Jehan, whose last name I can't find. Okay, no one cares as much as me, I get that. Just remember, if you are someone who cares as much as me what the characters' last names are, hers is omitted here only because I can't find it in the book.

So these three are sharing an apartment, all doing a research fellowship at the same hospital, and they're good friends.

Sam finds the idea for her research project when she has an obstetrics patient who had skipped her last two appointments, who was told to keep this one by a doula she just happens to know casually. The doula, Kaiya Owens, got concerned about her condition, and told her she really needed to keep her next appointment. She does, and it's good thing.

That's the germ of Sam's proposal--recruit experienced doulas, who are culturally connected to the very people most intimidated by the medical establishment, and have them provide more frequent contact with maternity patients, pregnancy and birthing classes, and the advice and support, such as lactation assitance, that nurses can provide--except that they're alreadybadly over scheduled. Start a real birthing center at the hospital, and track outcomes and patient response to determine if this should be a permanent program.

This is a major undertaking for a young research fellow, and Grant Gao, and Sam's friends, and the hospital director, Dr. Franklin, are all concerned she's taking on too much. Franklin agrees to let her give it a try, if she can get the funding.

It's here that we start to see what good friends Duke and Jehan are. They pitch in on helping her write her grant proposal, identify funding sources, and submit it to potential fuding sources. Sam gets the funding, and agrees, no, volunteers, to help Jehan plan for her engagement party by sending out the save-the-date announcements and the invitations.

Unfortunately, her mother chooses this time to ask her for "just a little favor." Do all the work of planning and organizing a reunion for her father's old Navy friends in San Franciso. Sam's brother will be doing the same in Los Angeles, where he lives now.

And no attempt on Sam's part to explain how busy she is, how demanding her schedule, the importance of what she's doing, produces anything but passive-aggressive guilt tripping and threats of going no contact. She shouldn't cave, but she does.

Oh, she also has to plan the launch day party for the birthing center, including being in a video to promote the program to the funder's fellow venture capitalists and NGOs. It's on the same date as the date her mother insisted on for the reunion party.

Yes, she should have said no to her mother. But, sorry, folks, I've been there, with a mother for whom nothing I did was good enough, and there was always another hoop to jump through to not-quite-manage to prove I was a good-enough daughter. It does terrible things to you, and it took therapy to stop giving in every single time.

So I really felt for Sam, her inablity to say no, and her completely unexamined belief that any help from anyone needed to be reciprocated immediately because nothing is ever "no strings attached."

Which bring us to Grant Gao. Who is handsome, smart, organized--and a lot kinder and more giving than is immediately obvious. Sam's very attracted to him, and absolutely convinced he can't really be attracted to her. Despite that, he manages to figure her out a little bit, and provide help in ways that really matter.

But he also has a tendency to make her play guessing games about his intentions, which is just about the worst thing he can do with Sam.

There's a lot going on here, and the characters, including the secondary characters, are interesting and well-developed. There's also a good look here at how hard it is to get the necessary services going in exactly the communities that need them the most.

I've seen complaints that this isn't really a rom-com, or isn't a good rom-com. I loved it. It's a rom-com with someone like me, and a family I recognize, in it.

I really enjoyed it.

I received a free eloctronic ARC from Montlake, via NetGalley.

BOOK REVIEW

Anatomy of a Meet Cute by Addie Woolridge

This book is seriously a must read for people who work in healthcare with a soft spot for romance. Any author who sheds light on the treatment of marginalized patients is an author I’m going to read (did you know the maternal death rate for Black or African-American (not Hispanic or Latina) women was 44.0 per 100,000 live births in 2019, then increased to 55.3 in 2020, and 68.9 in 2021. In contrast, White (not Hispanic or Latina) women had death rates of 17.9, 19.1, and 26.1, respectively).
But, and I think this is more of a “this is just how my brain works” type of situation, because of the nature of the FMCs project, I found myself more interested in that than the actual love story. I also wish we could have seen a little bit more of their relationship (hmmm… maybe a sequel…hint hint)
This book is a gentle reminder that it’s okay to ask for help, and you should read it if you like
-seriously adorable meet cutes
-medical talk
-sexual tension through the roof
-clap backs that actually burn
-great supporting characters that are actually inclusive
-supporting female authors of color

Intrigued by the premise but overall was underwhelmed by the characters and the story and definitely the romance.

Sam was an oblivious doormat and then was mad when anyone tried to tell her ANYTHING. The majority of the book Sam's life is easy and when the conflict happens it wraps up super nicely with a nice neat little bow - AKA BORING.

The romance was blah and the one time at Grants house ..... probably one of the cringiest things I HAVE EVER. READ.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my honest review!

Out on March 7th

Thank you to NetGalley and Addie Woolridge for providing me with the arc of Anatomy of a Meet Cute! It was a quick read and felt like a rom-com tv hospital drama (like Grey's Anatomy).

We first meet our FMC, Sam, on an airplane traveling to San Fransisco. After volunteering to help with a medical emergency, Sam mistakingly thinks that the MMC, Grant, is the one who needs help -- this is how we get our Meet Cute! It turns out that both Sam and Grant work at the same hospital where Sam is pursuing her fellowship, and quickly learn that they must work together a lot.
Sam doesn't say no to people when they ask for help, and she has a hard time asking others for help. The storyline follows Sam as she's trying to work as a fellow, start a community center, help her mom with a party, and help her roommate throw a party as well. We get to see the heavy workload that Sam is tasked with and how she navigates all the ups and downs that it brings, while also realizing her feelings for Grant aren't just one-sided.

There are some things that I think this book does very well, and some things that it doesn't. Addie Woolridge does a wonderful job with inclusivity as seen by the fact that almost all of the main characters are POC. Addie also had several people that advised her on medical/hospital terminology, and as someone in the medical field I feel like everything added helped the book. I also thought that the last maybe 1/4 of the book where the resolution is taking place was written the best. I felt like the majority of the book the conversations didn't seem natural and that too much was being relayed through conversation rather than context/personal thoughts. As for the romance part of the book, the chemistry between Grant and Sam didn't always feel natural and felt forced in some parts. And the big romance scene was closed door, which I personally am not a fan of, although the buildup to it was cute.

Overall, Anatomy of a Meet Cute was just okay to me. The romance took a back seat to character development and Sam solving her personal problems that led to disagreements with various characters throughout the book. This book wasn't totally my cup of tea, but for those who enjoy closed door romance I don't think it will disappoint!

This was cute!! But overall I just ended up wanting a bit more from the romance side of things, and I was more invested in Sam's project at the hospital than the love story between the two MCs.

Anatomy of a Meet Cute is set to be published on March 7, 2023. Thank you to Montlake Publishing, NetGalley and the author for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I read the description and I couldn't wait to read this book! It has so many things that I love right in one story! I really enjoyed the story of how Sam wanted to start a family center at her hospital and include doulas. This part of the story hit so close to home and seeing how the doctors talked about midwivery and doulas was really close to how I have heard doctors talk about them and I think these people are needed so incredibly much. I loved that Sam wanted more for her community and her mothers.
The issue I had with this book was that I could see that Sam took on entirely too much and I was just waiting for the shoe to drop the whole book. I knew that it would come crashing down on her. She was a new doctor, planning parties, taking on starting a new program; it was just too much for her and I couldn't see how she was going to survive.
Grant did his best to help her and was nothing short of a miracle in man form. Since the book was written only with Sam's POV, we don't get to see as much of Grant as I would have liked. There were so many times I wondered why she had the issues with him she did, but I'm glad we did get to see how much he cared about Sam and how she finally accepted he was one of the good ones.
I loved how much Sam grew and learned that she needed to ask for help and set boundaries for her own mental health. 3.5 stars!
Thank you to Montlake, Netgalley and Addie Woolridge for an early copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Anatomy of a Meet Cute by Addie Woolridge. All opinions are my own.

Finally a Grey's Anatomy romcom! Love the setting and enemies to lovers trope here. The book follows sam as she begins a new job at a hospital and the grump she met earlier is her supervisor. With an already full plate, she takes on the task of creating a program for pregnant people to get better care at the hospital. LOVED that story line. This book seemed pretty inclusive with the terminology surrounding that care, which I really appreciated as someone who works in public health.

At times the main character annoyed me a bit, but her flaws were very realistic so I won't fault her for that. I enjoyed seeing her growth with setting boundaries and communicating with her mother.

Starting in a new place can be hard. Especially while doing a medical fellowship. And dealing with family drama. And a nemesis!

But is he really. The more help her program need to get off the ground. The more she’s realizes how much she’ll need his help.

Go on this adventure with them through life.

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read and review the book!

I did not finish this book. Not because of a download issue or a time issue, mind you. I love will they won't they trope but this book just couldn't cut it with the tension. It was boring after a while. I might pick it up again but no guarantees.

Sam and Grant meet on a plane when a doctor is needed, but Grant comes off as a little bossy and irritating. Later, Sam finds out he is a senior fellow at the hospital where she is now starting her fellowship.She finds he's not as bad as she originally thought.

The best thing about this book is that it brings in important issues that Sam is trying to deal with, professionally and personally. She is trying to get her doula program up and running for the community.This is taking a great deal of time and commitment from her and others and this is on top of dealing with issues with her mom. I love that Sam is not just written as a cute doctor who is dating a hot doctor that are in this will they/won't they stay together situation.

But...there is a hot doctor! However, he is sweet, supportive, and is working just as hard to get this program off the ground. Grant isn't just a pretty face and I love the back and forth banter between these
two. I was expecting a fluffy rom com and got a romance with substance.

Thanks NetGalley and Montlake for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions were my own.

When she responds to an on-call request for medical expertise while travelling to her new home, Sam could be forgiven for being a little nervous. After all, her expertise is in community medicine so responding to an on-board emergency is a little out of her comfort zone. Her embarrassment at mistaking another doctor for her intended patient could be overlooked…only when she turns up to her new role and discovers her senior advisor is that doctor it’s a bit harder to ignore.
Watching Sam settle into her new role we’re shown a driven young woman, someone who wants to make a difference. Sam sees the need for some community support and is determined to find a way to get it. However, it involves having to swallow her pride and ask Dr Grant Gao (the thorn in her side) to support her.
From the outset we see where this is headed. We get to learn a little more about Sam and her approach to life. There’s some entertaining side-stories focusing on her family and friends, but the primary focus is on the developing relationship between Sam and Grant.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sam is starting a new fellowship at a hospital when she finds out that Grant, the handsome doctor she met on an airplane, was going to be one of her advisers. As Sam immersed herself in her work and creating a new community program in the hospital, she ll to Grant for help, hoping she can come across smoother than she did on the plane. As she struggles to juggle work, family, and friends, she truly doesn’t have time for a relationship to develop. But as she and Grant work closer together, it’s hard to deny their attraction.

This was a cute slow burn. Sam and Grant had cute banter. I liked Duke and Jehan too. But overall it was just ok. I don’t really know how to categorize it, because the program Sam worked toward was so much more than a typical romance. But also it didn’t feel like a romance because there was a lot of build up to a closed door. I’d give it 3 stars.

Sam and Grant- will they be enemies, friends rivals, or lovers? This is trope-y but points for the diversity. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a quick but sadly forgettable read.

The premise of this story was really good. The meet cute was fairly unique and the chemistry between Grant and Sam was strong.

Unfortunately Sam drove me absolutely insane and even my love for Grant wasn't enough to balance it out. Sam's inability to communicate was incredibly frustrating.

I did enjoy the overall story, but the romance was hard to believe with how Sam acted. She was immature.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

An ob-gyn and a doctor butt heads after she accidentally mistakes him for a patient on a drug trip. This is a fresh start for her and she plans on keeping to herself and not letting him get in her way. Sam wants to improve the pregnancy care in the community but may need Grant's help to convince the hospital bigwigs of her plan.
Overall this was a great quick read and I enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

This book was an easy read. full of some of the tropes I appreciate most in romance: a good old meet cute, and forced proximity, specifically where the main characters need to work together in order to achieve a common goal. I thought Sam and Grant had an interesting dynamic, being very different people. I feel that Sam's truggles with the relationship she has with her mother will be relatable for a lot of people, and that's always something I look for in my books, romance or not.
I wish there'd been more romance in its most absolute sense, as well as a sweet epilogue, which I believe should always be present in contemporary romance.
Grey's Anatomy fans will appreciate this story for sure.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sparks fly when an ob-gyn butts heads with a doctor at her new hospital in this delightfully charming romance about bad timing, good friends, and fresh starts.

I so enjoyed reading this! It’s so fun, it’s funny, it’s poignant and true at points, and it has been the most welcome escape during a mad time in life!!! If you’re looking for something light and a laugh, this is the one.

This novel is very much Hallmark movie meets Grey's Anatomy. If that's your thing, then this is the book for you. However, in my opinion, it was a little too cheesy and cliché for me.

What I did like:
- Diverse characters
- Slow burn with good pacing

What I didn't like:
- Underdeveloped characters
- Too much medical information which led to inconsistencies
- The plot twist... what was that?

While I do think that this book is a romance I think it is more about Sam's journey through life. She is dealing with a lot with her mother and starting the community program. I found myself wanting more from the romance aspect. I think that the book being duel pov or even having like 2 chapters from Grant's pov would help.

I received an arc through netgalley.

2.5 🌟 rounded up. Let me start off by saying the premise was great, but the execution was not. This was more of a story about helping expectant and new families get the help they needed rather than a romance.

Sam was truly a doormat for everyone in her life to walk over - and it took her way too long to figure it out. The only sensible people in this book were the two male characters, which bothered me in a lot of ways too. While I do think it gave an example of how to set with boundaries and not overcommit yourself, I don’t think it was done in a healthy way. Until 80% Sam’s life was a cakewalk and she was superwoman completing a million tasks that no normal person would be able to do with only 24 hours in a day. And in one day that all comes crashing down and she reevaluates her choices. It just seemed rushed but also I ended up skimming? Not sure what to make of that.

The romance was a side-plot at best and was not developed well at all. And the scene with Sam and Grant at his house? Cringey. This one was definitely not for me, but would be a good easy read for anyone who likes perfectly wrapped in a bow endings for a romcomy-ish story!