Veronica Mallick is the head of the Acute Medical Unit in a London hospital. She’s both an accomplished surgeon and an efficient administrator. Major Cassie Taylor, a former army doctor, is the new Head of Trauma. Her preference for action rather than becoming entangled in the hospital’s bureaucracy grates on Veronica’s nerves. But when they both realise that there is a colleague defrauding the hospital, they join forces to prove him guilty. Will the investigation fuel their budding attraction or make their initial antagonism worse?

I have to admit that I had big expectations about this book after Ms. Keeley’s debut novel ‘The music and the mirror’ made into my list of Best Lesfic Books of 2018. Even though I liked ‘Major surgery’, it didn’t blow my mind as her previous one.

Having said that, Ms. Keeley, who comes from an IT background, has the impressive ability to write about dispariging worlds with insider knowledge, first in ballet and now medicine. This novel provides a good insight to UK’s health system, its strengths and shortcomings.

Written in third person from the point of view of both main characters, this is an interracial, ‘enemies to lovers’ romance. Even though their initial antagonism and their eventual relationship is credible, I didn’t feel that their chemistry was off the charts. However, it might be me comparing this couple to Victoria and Anna in ‘The music and the mirror’ or Eden and Simone in ‘And the bells are ringing’, her short story in ‘Language of love’. Ms. Keeley knows how to write damn hot couples.

The story has an investigation side, with someone embezzling hospital funds and trying to frame Cassie, and a minor issue in Veronica’s family. Both conflicts are solved relatively easy which agrees with the light tone of the novel.

Overall, a very good medical romance with the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope. 4 stars.

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