Anatomy of a Meet Cute
⭐️⭐️💫
📚 Romance
🎶 Bad Case of Loving You - Robert Palmer
🌟Publication Date: March 7, 2023

One sentence synopsis:
A first year medical research fellow takes on more than she can handle in this romance novel.

My review:
This book is like a Hallmark Channel romance movie. So if that’s your jam, I’d recommend this. Unfortunately, I rarely if ever will choose to watch a Hallmark movie over anything else. That’s not to say this was bad, just not my cup of tea. I need a little bit more grit or depth or something.

Didn’t really feel like you got a good sense of the main female character until maybe 60-70% of the way in. And the male character could have been any ole Joe for all we know about him.

I did like how this centered around two doctors and gave us a really in-depth explanation of healthcare access, cost issues, and pregnancy related issues for lower/middle class people.

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was when I received the arc of this book. I have been passionately searching for a book just like this and I am so happy to say that I was not disappointed. If you love Grey’s Anatomy, you’re going to love this story.

Sam and Grant’s interactions left me giddy and had me wanting to kick my feet and squeal as if it was actually happening to me, that’s how you know it’s good writing.

Sam, Duke and Jehan have the cutest friendship and it really was the highlight of this story for me. I loved every moment between the three of them. There’s something so special about found family tropes, especially in a doctor/hospital setting. This was everything I was searching for and wanted.

”If you want to kiss me, this is your moment.”

I am not proud of the sound that left my body when I read this line but I couldn’t help myself.

The important lesson that this book explored is that it’s okay to be selfish. It’s okay to ask for help when you need. I think that’s really important and I’m really happy that it was something that was addressed and shown in the story. I loved being able to see Sam learn how to set those boundaries and stand up for herself.

I really enjoyed this story and I can happily say that I would definitely revisit it in the future.

Thank you to the Publisher, Montlake for providing me this arc!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Montlake and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Fun, light and simple romcom novel.

Anatomy of a Meet Cute by Addie Woolridge is a cute story about two researchers who could not be more different featuring an incredibly diverse cast of characters, perfect for med students, those interested in the profession, or lovers of sexy doctors.

♡ Synopsis ♡
The day Dr. Samantha (Sam) Holbrook first met Dr. Grant Gao was anything but cute. In fact, it was a disaster.

Sam is flying to San Francisco to begin her new fellowship program at SF Central. She is asked to tend to a hallucinating patient on the airplane when Grant butts into her process to help her. She finds him rude, intrusive, and a little bit of a know-it-all, but can’t deny the attraction she feels for him.

"This guy was not helping. If anything he was making the patient more antsy, and she’d just been starting to establish… well, nothing, but he was still in her way."

When she shows up to her first meeting at SF Central, Grant is, of course, the senior fellow at the hospital. Things are so very, very awkward, but become polite enough that they can work in the same place without butting heads too much.

One of her roommates, Duke (whom I love), convinces Sam to join his recreational basketball team, the SF Central Hoopers. She hasn’t played since she lost the Ohio high school state championship game her senior year, but decides it’ll be a good way to get some exercise after her long shifts at the hospital. She shows up for her first game only to find out they’ll be playing the SF Central Flyers, the team for which Grant plays. There’s nothing like a little sweaty, sexy competition between not-quite-friends.

"She tried not to stare at the flex of his shoulder blades through the practice jersey he wore. It was like staring at a perfect diagram of back muscles in motion. If she were forced to admit it, and luckily no one was forcing her, Sam could see how some people would consider him beautiful. Graceful, even."

Sam decides that her research project for her fellowship program will be to incorporate a birthing class for pregnant people run by local doulas to provide inclusive access to prenatal care to San Francisco’s underserved community. When she needs a senior fellow to co-write the project with her, Sam finds herself turning to Grant for help. What happens when messy, overworked Sam collides with seemingly perfect Grant?

♡ My Thoughts ♡
I honestly did not like Sam at first. I thought she was abrasive, defensive, and judged people too quickly. Grant is very charming and did not deserve the insulting way Sam spoke about him in her head and to her friends, in my opinion. But as the story progressed, I learned more and more about Sam like her personality, upbringing, and overall social skills. I won’t spoil the conclusions I drew because I feel like they greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the novel. Addie Woolridge did a wonderful job of showing me why Sam acts a certain way rather than outright telling me at the beginning. I found that I was too quick to judge Sam, the same way she was to Grant.

I loved all of the Love & Basketball references at the beginning. I need to watch that movie again lol. The basketball scenes were so sexy in an understated way. There was something so sensual about them sweating on each other when they were playing. I loved the way they trash-talked and used their sexuality to distract each other.

I know next to nothing about medicine or obstetrics specifically and I felt a little lost at some points, but it’s pretty accessible for the most part.

Would I recommend the book? Sure. Would I read it again? Probably not.

♡ The Playlist ♡
♪ My Prerogative – Bobby Brown
♪ I Want to Be Your Man – Roger
♪ Delicate – Taylor Swift
♪ Night Changes – One Direction
♪ Jump Then Fall (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift
♪ I Wish I Didn’t Love You So – Marvin Gaye
♪ Angels Like You – Miley Cyrus
♪ Don’t Give Up On Me – Andy Grammer

♡ Representation ♡
➜ Half-black main character
➜ East Asian love interest
➜ Egyptian side character
➜ Black side character
➜ Black MTF trans side character
➜ Doulas introduced to Western public health system
➜ Some pronoun indicators used (one she/they introduction)

Thank you so much NetGalley and Amazon Publishing/Montlake for the ARC!!

There were things I liked about this book, and things that I didn't love. First, I like the inclusivity of this book, even if at times it felt forced. I rather a bit of forced inclusivity than none at all. I enjoyed the "meet-cute" moment on the plane, I think it set the story up to be quite interesting, however I wasn't the biggest fan of Sam. I found her immature and too defensive. I think Grant was refreshing, but the combination of Sam and Grant just didn't work for me. Overall, it was still a cute book, just wish Sam was a bit more likeable.

I DNF’ed this at 47%.

Before i start this, i’ll just put it out there that i generally enjoy reading books with inclusivity of all kinds, and this is written by a POC herself. I’ve read many books that strive to include people of all races, religions and sexualities. Which is why-

I could not stand the main character, Sam. If insufferably overbearing was a person it would be her. She’s horrifically snarky to nearly everyone and is constantly on the defensive. Aside from her annoying personality, the author really tried to make this book very very inclusive. While it’s commendable and nice to see- it becomes very obvious early on that the author is REALLY trying to make it inclusive. People don’t generally go out of their way to specifically look for POCs or Trans people in their hunts to employ people. People that want to be inclusive are simply gravitated towards people of all backgrounds irrespective of race or sexuality. They don’t think, i’m going to employ someone specifically like that constantly- they JUST DO IT! The language used to make the FMC seem super inclusive got very heavy after a while, she couldn’t go through a single scene without mentioning it. Other than that- there was a middle eastern character that was oddly presented to have an overbearing family and was swamped with marriage issues lol (very stereotypical).

Other than that, the plot in itself wasn’t very inviting. The title suggests a rom-com sort of book, with the premise being a meet-cute but there isn’t a lot of romance, at least not any that’s good. The characters had no chemistry and the FMC’s only form of “communication” (under the guise of romance i think) was being snarky and rude. When her friends ask her why she hates the MMC, Grant- she literally says “he’s too handsome and smart”…? I can’t stand enemies-to-lovers that are situated around the characters being bullied. Grant, an East-Asian Doctor, was actually not all that bad. I could’ve tolerated reading more if the book wasn’t entirely about the main characters and her friends/roommates.

who doesn’t love a meet cute on a plane? and two doctors meet cute? if you like early seasons of greys anatomy, you’ll like this book. i had so much fun reading this book! as a mom who didn’t have someone to walk me through postpartum, i wish i’d had sam on my team. i adored all of the supporting characters from, duke to kaiya (she’s my favorite). and of course sam. i related to her so much because i also have so much trouble releasing control and letting people help me. as well as having a hard time setting boundaries for myself. and setting boundaries with a controlling parent is so so difficult. i loved how it felt so genuine, wanting to appease your parent but not wanting to stretch yourself too thin.

my biggest issue with this book is that grant’s character didn’t feel as developed as everyone else. i felt like i knew about him, but didn’t KNOW him. i knew about jehan, and i felt like i knew her character. but something about grant just felt incomplete. i feel as if his personality should have come through more. it only really came through in a few places, but didn’t carry throughout the entire book. though i didn’t feel he was as interesting as i would have liked, i still enjoyed him and his relationship with sam.

Anatomy of a Meet Cute reminds me of Gray's Anatomy if it involved babies. I didn't like it. Maybe it had to do with the enemies-to-lovers trope, in the beginning. Why do people in these romance novels always have to say that they hate the interest but find them really hot? If you hate someone you hate them. Simple as that. Also it had very predictable scenes. I was feeling like I was writing it and I'm no writer. It had a lot of premise, but no this book wasn't for me I guess.

I loved Sam and Grants meet cute, but Sam constantly saying she hates him for absolutely no reason was…annoying. I dnf-ed at the 30% mark just because it felt like a waste of time. I liked the medical aspects of the book, but Sam “hating” Grant when he did nothing wrong was not it.

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that I’m picky with the books I read. I love romance, but dislike when they include love triangles, cheating, second chance (when someone broke the person’s heart the first time around), historical, YA… and the list goes on. So when I saw this one on NetGalley and it didn’t have a synopsis included… I hesitated big time. But I took a chance, requested it, got it, and LOVED it.

Here’s what I’ll say to help people understand the basic storyline. They are doctors who meet during a medical emergency on a plane, then go their separate ways only to find out later they are new coworkers. They start to hang out together for different reasons (basketball league, planning an event, working on a major project for their hospital), and their relationship builds from there. Really enjoyed how they interacted and their banter as they got to know each other. There were some heavier moments in the story, but nothing outrageous and it rolled along very well.

Also, I loved the secondary characters. Everyone needs friends like Duke and Jehan!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Anatomy of a Meet Cute to come out March 7, 2023!

I love it, I love it, I love it.
Honestly, I loved nearly everything about it. The characters were excellently developed, the story was so wonderfully done it gave me heaps of second-hand anxiety for the main character (which is the one thing I didn't exactly enjoy, but it is what kept me glued to the pages), the resolutions were all immensely satisfying.

Like I said, I loved this whole thing entirely and unreservedly.

Sam, our protagonist, is so relatable it hurts sometimes. She's an absolute tower of strength, smarts and determination, only this tower is made of Jenga and has some serious holes where the "not-jumping-to-conclusions" and "you can't please everyone all the time, it's ok" pieces should be. Luckily, she has her friends to back her up when she needs it and there's also this new guy she met, Grant Gao, who, besides having strange and unusual powers to rattle her, might also be worth a second glance? Of course, Sam could be right in her initial assessment and he might be an utter asshole.
The problem is, she needs to work with him at her brand new job at the SF Central Hospital. And she might need his help to get her passion project, a cooperation between doulas and the OB-GYN ward, off the ground. And to find the venue for her Mum's important event. Dun-dun-dun-duuuuun!

Honestly, I don't know if I managed to convey in this teaser/summary just how incredibly fun the book is.

I think it's for anyone who likes books where smart ladies get into shenanigans through a little fault of their own and a series of unfortunate circumstances, who enjoys reading about characters learning about themselves, trying to do better, to be better, to heal from childhood messes. So... I guess everyone is guaranteed to like this book.

Classic chicklit combined with shades of Greys Anatomy, enjoyable light reading as a distraction from the trials and tribulations of modern society

“Anatomy of a Meet Cute” is a rom-com by Addie Woolridge. This book was a pretty fast read with an interesting story line. I wouldn’t say that the two main characters, Samantha (Sam) and Grant “meet cute” at their initial meeting, but they do “meet cute” once working together in the same hospital. I did really like the all-inclusive cast and the pretty realistic medical information. I do think that there’s bit of miscommunication (or maybe assumption) by Sam - and she did over schedule herself which caused a bit of drama in the story. I also liked that this story took place in San Francisco (Dogpatch!). 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I thought this book was really cute and an easy read. If you are looking to take your mind off things and read something light and enjoyable, this is the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc. This review is wholly my own.

Samantha and Grant meet on a plane - their "Meet Cute," but it was anything but cute and plagued with conflict. They then begin working together and that's when the cuteness begins to happen.

This book had great, all-inclusive characters and language by the author and overall it was a cute story. Not the best & not my favorite, but not bad for an easy quick read.

This is the first time I'm reading anything written by this author and it was a pretty good book. Sam & Grant's meet cute takes place on an airplane when they run into an emergency situation. Later they find out that they are going to be working at the same hospital. At first, Sam thinks that Grant feels like she's incompetent and that he's always right but what will happen when they are roped in to work on a project together? There were definitely some amusing moments in the book and I liked Sam's friends Duke and Jehan. While Grant was organised, clearheaded and thoughtful, Samantha was a mess. She struggled to juggle between her hectic job and maintaining a good relationship with her demanding mother. I liked her in the beginning but after that, she made some irrational decisions and messed up everything that was going on in her life, though she apologized and it made me like her a bit more. It was a very quick book and I finished it in a matter of a few hours. It was enjoyable but definitely forgettable tbh.

*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

Thanks to Montlake Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with an advanced copy of Anatomy of a Meet Cute by Addie Woolridge, available in March 2023.

In a classic meet-cute, two doctors meet on a plane, and...cue tension, conflict, and misunderstanding. After a disastrous first meeting, doctors Samantha and Grant end up working together at a public hospital on a community health initiative, and sparks fly, of course. There's lots of delicious romantic tension, but it's mostly closed-door.

Woolridge uses the backdrop of Sam's workplace to spotlight social issues like access to equitable healthcare without feeling preachy or partisan. (In fact, as I read about Sam's community program, I thought: What a darn good idea for REAL LIFE.) The author crafts thoughtfully written LGBTQ+ characters and uses inclusive language throughout the book as well.

I suspect that Sam's complicated relationship with her mother will resonate with readers, and so will the friendship between Sam and her roommates, Duke and Jehan. (Who doesn't want a group of friends who will sit on the floor and eat ice cream with you after a bad day?) I would love to see their stories unfold in future books.

Overall, it made for a fun (and thoughtful) read and I give it 4 stars!