New Release & Review – The Love Operation by Melissa R. Collings
Synopsis
A brilliant spine surgeon gains the power to perfectly recall her past—only to discover that some memories are better left undisturbed. A witty, emotional story about the intersection of medicine, memory, and the messy reality of loving imperfectly.
Dr. Cordelia Wren has always been in control—of her surgical career, her emotions, and especially her memories. But when she joins a cutting-edge memory enhancement study at her hospital, she gains an unexpected the power to vividly relive any moment from her past. It seems like the perfect opportunity to analyze her failed relationships and finally understand why every man she’s ever loved has walked away.
There’s just one problem. Actually, three:
1.   She may have…borrowed…access to the highly restricted memory study.
2.   She’s secretly dating the hospital’s new COO while competing for chief of surgery—a relationship that could destroy both their careers if discovered.
3.   Her first love has just reappeared in her life, stirring up feelings she thought she’d buried.
As Cordelia dives deeper into her past, the lines between memory and reality begin to blur. The truth she uncovers forces her to question everything she thought she knew about love, ambition, and what it means to be “in control.”
With her career hanging in the balance and her heart pulled in two directions, Cordelia must decide: Should she trust the memories that have shaped her life, or finally let go of the past to embrace an uncertain future?
The Love Operation is a witty, emotional story about the intersection of medicine, memory, and the messy reality of loving imperfectly.
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Review
Are our memories accurate? Can you really figure out what went wrong to try and change the future?
I’m not sure what genre to put this in. There is romance, but it feels more like fiction with a hint of romance. It is Cordelia’s journey to finding happiness, or so she thinks.
Cordelia is a formidable character. She grew up knowing what she wanted to do, but sometimes I wondered if that was due to unknown pressure from her parents who are also doctors. She is a brilliant spine surgeon, and is being considered for Chief of Surgery. She also has a relationship with someone in upper management, which might impact her desire to become Chief of Surgery. If she can’t add any more to her plate, she is participating in a brain study for her best friend. Technically, she is not an official part of the study, but she influences her friend to join in. When things go better than anyone expected, or at least how they appear from the outside, in typical Cordelia fashion, she ignores her best friend and the study requests and dives into uncovering why she hasn’t had a lasting relationship. This is where things get tricky, because our memories may not be accurate. Maybe it is what we thought happened, or our brains fill in pieces based on all of the other data. It is hard to know, but the path she goes down may not be the correct one.
Her relationship with Isaac, the hospital COO, has to be kept quiet because that could be a disaster waiting to happen. But is he what she wants? Does he have ulterior motives? There are some interesting revelations as the book progresses regarding Isaac.
About halfway through the book, we have a past love come into the picture to create a love triangle. Will Cordelia stick with Isaac or go back to a previous relationship? Will she discover the truth about why all of her relationships ended?
There are some touching moments with her parents when some news is disclosed. I think that news grounded her.
Overall, an interesting story and we give it 3 1/2 paws up.
About the Author
Melissa R. Collings is an award-winning author and former spine surgery PA who traded the OR for the page. A biracial writer fascinated by life’s contradictions, she writes stories with scalpel-sharp emotional and psychological depth, reflecting complex relationships, rich representation, and the role of identity in shaping who we are. Her novels stay with you long after the last page, balancing light and dark, laughter and heartbreak.
When she is not writing, you can find Melissa chasing her two kids in Nashville, studying preventative health, or losing herself in a painting. Her imagination never fails to stir up trouble, and she lives by one philosophy: Nothing is impossible, and everything’s better with glitter―except surgical wounds.
