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.
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.
Title: The Love Operation
Author: Melissa R. Collings
Publisher: Mindy's Book Studio
Expected Publication Date: November 1,2026
Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and Mindy's Book Studio for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my won.
I really love a book that explores gender inequality, race inequality, and independent FMCs. So the blurb for this one was quite promising and I could not help but hit that read now button to see what it was all about. Unfortunately, this one did not meet the expectations I set for it.
I'll start with the good.
The cover is so pretty. It definitely drew me and was the reason I clicked on the blurb to see what it was all about.
Being backed by Mindy Kaling, who I have always found to be hilarious, was another plus.
The blurb! A woman in STEM fighting her way to a top position at a hospital and letting nothing stand in her way? Sign me up because not only am I in the medical field and have seen the inequality that can happen, I wanted to watch her win her battles.
The book has a bit of a speculative element to it with the memory enhancement study. I liked the way this was handled. It gave the reader information about the FMC's past.
Collings writing has bones, I'll give her that. I could see it in the story telling and I can tell with more tweaking she could be an author I grow to like.
Do you watch DOC? This book totally gave me those vibes. The main character of that show has memory flashbacks related to a traumatic brain injury, her best friend is the resident neuropsychiatrist in the hospital where she works, she has a relationship with another doctor she keeps under wraps, and she has a past relationship with one of the executive doctors at the hospital who she can't seem to stay away from. And, honestly, while I did feel like it took a bit too much from that show, I was all in to see how Collings would handle it. And until about 40% I was excited to see how it would play out. Unfortunately, this is where the book lost me.
The bad is not horrible, just not what I would have expected.
There are a few themes explored throughout the book: the push and pull of trying to balance a tough career with wanting personal fulfillment in a relationship which might lead to a family; exploring your past to see how it ultimately affected your present and possibly your future; showing women can be powerful but also gentle and loving; and how important family bonds can be. These are important but I didn't feel like they were explored deeper than a surface level. Perhaps because there were just so many of them. This story would have been better suited to take one or two and expand upon them rather than keep throwing new ones into the mix. If you throw a ton of plotlines at me, I cannot find enough in me to care about them all and that makes being invested in any them terribly hard for me. And the themes were repetitively told to us by the FMC but never shown. The growth for these areas did not meet my expectations.
I just didn't like the main character, Cordelia. She was so immature given her age and her position at the hospital. She makes dumb decisions given how smart she is supposed to be: participating in a study when not authorized, keeping so many things secret, putting her job at risk with each new secret she keeps. She was just not believable to me nor did I find her relatable. I wanted to like her so badly because she has some great qualities but her bad ones outweighed that for me. She was stuck on her own issues without ever seeing the forest for the trees. She was very selfish in the choices she made, rarely exploring why those choices may be wrong. And, given the fact that I felt like the book was set in that area for her to grow, it never happened. She was smart in the medical field but nowhere else. And she never got smarter in family, friends, or relationships.
There is a cheating aspect in this book. it's set up as a sort of love triangle; just another sub plot thrown into a story that already has too many of them. It is definitely emotionally driven but given what the MMC tells Cordelia about his past, I found her dive into this completely selfish. She treated her relationship with the MMC on such a surface level, I didn't really understand why she was bothering when she was going to just do what she wanted no matter who it hurt. It just added to the deception the character already had going (secret relationship, going against the rules of the study set out for her by her best friend, keeping her feelings about her parents retirement to herself, it was too much).
The romance was meh. I really did not feel the chemistry because we are only told of it being there rather than truly shown. The FMC and MMC have a past filled with flirting and sexual tension but the reader doesn't ever see this. Flashbacks to these times would have helped cement the attraction of the two rather than the FMC just telling us about how much chemistry they have.
The repetitiveness of the themes was annoying for me. We are told over and over how hard it is to be a woman in her position, especially a woman of color. I respect this but it is brought up over and over again throughout the narration including Cordelia telling us about her Grandmother who paved the way. But I just didn't see it and rather than this theme making me root for the FMC, I got bored of it being thrown in my face over and over again. This was the same with her wanting a relationship but saying how difficult it would be. Yes, I get it, your job is hard, you want to be the best and get everything you want, but I just didn't care how that affected her having a relationship, a partner, or a family.
Finally, I wasn't a fan of the character profiles. I get this was how Cordelia organized her thoughts on people but I would have much rather seen these character traits than her telling us all about them. These profiles pulled me out of the story, especially given that many of them were right in the middle of a chapter when the character was introduced. It really messed with the pacing of the story.
What I did feel about this story is that it was very messy. I would not suggest this to either Emily Henry or Ali Hazelwood fans because I think they would be highly disappointed. By the end, I found myself skimming more than reading to absorb what was being told to me on the page. I do think there will be readers who may connect better with this story than me. If you like a surface level brush at plotlines and are not worried about too much development happening, give this one a try.
2.5 stars rounded to 3
Author:
As Melissa R. Collings, I write humorous, heartwarming women’s fiction and romantic stories about the messy, beautiful ways we love and grow.
My books blend laugh-out-loud moments with emotional depth, exploring friendship, second chances, self-discovery, and what it really takes to heal.
A former spine-surgery Physician Associate turned novelist, I bring a deep understanding of human resilience to every page. My stories shine a light on ordinary people facing extraordinary emotional crossroads, always with compassion, joy, and a belief that we can overcome anything.
If you’re looking for stories that make you giggle, cry a little, and finish with your heart stitched back together, you’re in the right place.
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