by Betty Neels
There will be plenty of people who tell you that Harlequin romances, especially those by Betty Neels, are fluff and complete nonsense and not worth the read.
Sometimes they’re right.
The Doctor’s Girl by Betty Neels is everything that makes people cringe about this genre. Loveday, whose name is literally the only interesting thing about her, is a girl with minimal skill and even less personality. She starts the book in the employ of an abusive woman, who slaps her and fires her in the same moment. Instead of calling the police and pressing charges for assault and battery, she demands her two weeks severance in lieu of notice. Great, you stood up for yourself. Hope that check soothes the ache in your face.
She is immediately rescued from unemployment by the Doctor, who sweeps her off to be his office assistant or receptionist. I forget, but does it matter? She’s just got the job so they can pine for each other without actually dating.
Loveday falls into infatuation with the Doctor’s cousin, who is dastardly because he takes her on several dates but doesn’t immediately fall in love with her and propose. Okay, I get it, he had a girlfriend, but it’s not like they got horizontal, they just had dinner and maybe a little dancing. This was published in 2001… stop to think what you were doing in your 20s in 2001. (Or what your grandkids/parents were doing, I don’t know how old you are, and I’m not asking.)
Because of his cousin’s caddish behavior, the Doctor decides that Loveday needs to go into the country to recover. Fortunately, there is a maiden aunt Loveday has lost contact with and the Doctor sweeps her off to rusticate and heal. Somewhere in there, I forget where, they fall in love and things proceed to a proposal or something. Honestly, I lost interest before we were halfway through the story, and it’s barely 90 pages.
You can skip this one, or not. It’s your life, I’m not here to tell you what to do. Just let me know if you want more Betty Neels, because the woman wrote over 130 books, and I’ve got nothing but time.
2 Even-I-Can’t-Love-This-One Stars
