Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Melissa R. Collings!
Writes:
Smart, funny, emotionally messy romance and women’s fiction about ambitious women who are good at their jobs and considerably less qualified to manage their personal lives.
THE LOVE OPERATION follows Dr. Cordelia Wren, a brilliant spine surgeon who joins an experimental memory study and unexpectedly gains the ability to vividly re-enter moments from her past. Which would be complicated enough if her first love didn’t suddenly reappear while she was already secretly involved with someone else.
Come for the memory intrigue. Stay to question every single life choice.
About:
Former spine-surgery PA turned full-time author seeks reader who can appreciate the messiness of life and doesn’t mind getting emotionally involved with people who don’t technically exist.
My type? Complicated humans. Overthinkers. People standing at emotional crossroads with absolutely no idea which direction to take. I like putting ordinary-ish people in extraordinary situations, then rooting for them while they make mistakes, fall in love, get things spectacularly wrong, and hopefully find their way through.
I’m not looking for perfection, but finger dexterity is essential for the many times you’ll need to fulfill the phrase: “Just one more chapter.”
Full disclosure: I have a dark side. As M. R. Collings, I also write psychological thrillers that wander into the shadows of the human mind, where reality bends, emotions run high, and the truth is rarely as well-behaved as it first appears.
Ideally, I’m looking for something long-term, but wouldn’t say no to a fling every now and again…with the right reader.
What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match:
• Must love emotional roller coasters, smart, quirky heroines and heroes with well-defined forearms. Bonus points if you also silently resent the word quirky. It’s just fun-normal.
• Green flag: occasionally questions their own life choices.
• Must possess a deep fondness for metaphors and similes, so much so that a well-timed “like” or “as” should make you nod like an over-caffeinated lab rat who just discovered a stash of Cheez-Its.
• Dealbreaker: If you’ve never asked the question, What is wrong with me?, you should probably move along. There’s nothing here for you.
• Strong preference for readers who appreciate smart, ambitious women who can sometimes be spectacularly wrong.
• If you overanalyze, want to control everything, giggle at inopportune moments, and find tears cathartic, let’s set a date.
What to expect if we’re compatible:
• Excellent banter. Communication skills otherwise vary.
• A little light betrayal. Nothing we can’t work through.
• Family drama. You will absolutely be hearing about the relatives.
• Hospital vibes. Scrubs are acceptable date-attire.
• Girls doing science. Protective eyewear recommended, but optional.
• Laughter followed closely by emotional devastation. Mood swings keep the relationship exciting.
• More than one attractive man may become involved. But it’s all tasteful and above-board. Mostly.
• The occasional “I cannot believe you did that” followed by immediate forgiveness.
• A dash of randomness. Because who doesn’t need an emotional-support chameleon with opinions on your love life?
THE LOVE OPERATION by Melissa R. Collings
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 ability: 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:
- She may have…borrowed…access to the highly restricted memory study.
- 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.
- 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?
Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood, The Love Operation is a witty, emotional story about the intersection of medicine, memory, and the messy reality of loving imperfectly.
Fiction Family Life | Romance Medical [ Mindy’s Book Studio, On Sale: November 1, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781662540868 / eISBN: 9781662536144 ]
Buy THE LOVE OPERATION: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Melissa R. Collings
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.
No Comments
Comments are closed.