Book 7 in the Rivers Community Romances series by Radclyffe

This is book 7 in the Rivers Community Romances series by Radclyffe. I’ve read them all so far and I suggest that you don’t jump into the series here as you will lose too much context. One of the reasons is that this book catches up with a few of the couples established in the previous novels. Another reason is that there is an arc between a trans teenage character and his best friend Margie, the youngest of the Rivers siblings, that is developed throughout the seven books. My guess is that Radclyffe is planning at least another installment in this series as there is potential for more progress in their relationship. Kudos to the author to introduce a trans character to the series bringing much-needed visibility and diversity.

Courtney Valentine is a first-year surgical resident in the Rivers Hospital with a tight schedule and no time for a committed relationship. Bennett Anderson is a former professional basketball player, now an orthopedic surgeon, who is called to Rivers to direct the new Sports Medicine department. She plans to stay for a year in the small town and then move on to greater things. Both women aren’t interested in a relationship but their attraction and chemistry are powerful. Will they find a pathway to love?

I said this before, Radclyffe writes medical romances like no other in lesfic, her inside knowledge as a former surgeon is instrumental in the realism of the scenes. I always celebrate when she writes a medical romance especially if it presents a few of them like in this novel. There are quite a few emergency OR scenes with a lot of excitement and adrenaline. For me, this was the best part of the book.

Radclyffe says in the acknowledgments that this book was hard to write considering that 2021 was a tough year for the whole world. I guess that this book was even harder to write as many stories interconnect and are based on the previous books. I liked catching up with characters like Flann and Abby, parents of the trans teenager Blake. There is also a basketball subplot as Blake is doing the tryouts for the boys’ school team, with the complications around it as, if successful, he would be the first trans to join the team.

We know that Radclyffe not only writes the medical parts well but her romances are excellent too. One of my old-time favourites is her medical romance Fated Love so I tend to compare the chemistry she built between Honor and Quinn with each of her new books. In this case, the main romance was fine but not off the charts in terms of chemistry. I felt that the ending was a bit rushed too, the transition from casual to commitment too fast. However, this book was good to catch up with the overall arc of the series and the romance is satisfying enough to make it worth a read.

If you are looking to catch up with the Rivers Community Romances series this book is for you. 4 stars.

ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.