the ask@AAR: What are your favorite romances featuring scientists?
Today, when a friend on Facebook pointed out that you can’t have a pandemic without panic, I was practicing deep breathing. (I’d just read the New York Times.) I had, like so many, been freaking out. But then I started to read about the 1918 flu and how much better off we are facing this virus in no small part to all the advances we’ve made in medicine and in research. And I got just a little bit calmer (until I read about the stock market but it was a rough day for news, right?)
I’ve always been a fan of double blind studies, doctors, and science but right now they’re pretty much my favorite thing ever. I’m thinking I’d like to read some romance novels that feature heroes and heroines that are scientists, doctors, etc…. And I know you guys are the best place to get recommendations for such.
So hit me. (And remember to breathe.)
Rebecca Zanetti’s dark protectors books have a number of main characters who are scientists–geneticists, physicists, etc
In Voyager, the 3rd of the Outlander books, Claire Fraser deals with a typhus epidemic on board a British man o’ war. Especially from this book forward, she is often found dealing with various infectious diseases, including measles, pox, etc.
I’m currently enjoying a Julianna Keyes binge (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), and though it isn’t my favorite book in the Time Served series, The Good Fight features a surgeon heroine. She struggles with interpersonal dynamics and is often hard to like. This author writes great contemporary novels. Am enjoying this binge very much.
Do midwives count? I know there is a lot out there with midwives and nurses. I’ve really enjoyed all of Patricia Harman’s midwife books. I’ve got her latest, which I plan to read soon. The first is set in 1930s West Virginia, and there is a romance between a midwife and a vet.
“Do midwives count?” Oh, I think midwives should *definitely* count. Talk about an important job!
Midwife tag!
https://allaboutromance.com/review-tag/midwife/
Is there anything you don’t have a tag for? :)
Definitely! But I’m excited that the ones I guessed people might want seem to be turning up!
Shout out to the historical romance books of Jennifer McQuiston – the characters are not medical, but Ms. McQuiston is, and worked on the Ebola outbreak. Not sure what she’s up to in this situation but I think it’s nice to buy her books because infectious disease people are heroes.
Doesn’t Rachel Grant have some brilliant scientist heroines too?
Yes. A lot of specialized archaeologists and forensic anthropologists in her romantic suspense novels.
I just went with scientists, below, and with strong romantic story with HEA, not strictly romance.
For me, the occupation of a romance lead needs to actually matter to the story, their personality or impact via the setting.
Otherwise, I mostly forget it. In Alyssa Cole’s book, prince on paper, which I loved, I immediately forgot the heroine’s job because it did not matter much to the story, imo. She was an intelligent competent person, to me, that mattered.
In Laura Kinsale’s Midsummer Moon, the scientist heroine was completely at the core of the book, so this is a scientist book for me.
I liked Laura Antonelli’s Los Alamos books for their depiction of scientists (the plots went a bit over the top, but those characters were good).
I like Eileen Dreyer / Kathleen Korbel’s heroines, many of them ER nurses or doctors. Seem very realistic, and not sugarcoated – she is a nurse, I believe.
Betty Neels writes good hospital stories, they are super traditional, you must be in that mood – I guess they are historicals, by now ;-)
Carla Kelly has a few amazing surgeon books.
T. Kingfisher writes lovely scientists- her newest, Paladin’s Grace, has a perfumer as a heroine, and the way her senses and memories and constant thoughts about mixing ingredients are shown, pulled me in.
The IT genius / scientist heroine in Eve Dangerfield’s Taunt was cool.
Tinker in Wen Spencer’s series is a wonderful technical/ science genius.
Sharon Shinn’s Jovan’s Angel has a bunch of scientists and inventors.
Kelly Hunter Cracking the Dating Code – IT heroine
Lois McMaster Bujold’ s Penric novellas have a unique approach to healing that I found touching and funny.
Apologies, meant Princess in Theory, which I also loved,
I am reading and enjoying Practice Perfect by Ruby Lang, a trilogy of connected books sold together featuring physician friends as heroines. It has been realistic in the depiction of their careers and the romances are also interesting.
I also recall one of Nora Roberts’ McGregor Brides was a resident physician.
Lastly, Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City has several physician heroines in the series, my favorite of which was the psychiatrist in Love Hacked.
“Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Pretty fitting not only because one of the main characters is a doctor and it is set during a cholera outbreak but because the heroine reconciles the 2 great loves of her life.
“Love in the Time of Cholera” is a book I should add to my TBR list. I’ve heard quite a few good things about it.
Fun fact: The title in Spanish is a pun. Because in the masculine, colera means cholera, but in the feminine it means “ire.” So it can be read as “Love in the Time of Cholera” or “Love in the Time of Ire.”
Does anyone remember the cholera epidemic in MM Kaye’s Trade Wind? I thought that was the most riveting part of that book.
I just read a mystery set in 1819 amidst the Spanish influenza called A Beautiful Poison and Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything. Both written by Lydia Kang, she is a practicing physician. I enjoyed them both and they were interesting to read during this COVID 19 outbreak.
I loved Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything. I read it last year. It was so interesting!
I know I’ve read plenty of scientist characters over the years, but I can’t bring many to mind.
Check out books by Mary Frame and Penny Reid. I seem to recall that some of their characters have STEM careers.
Love & the Laws of Motion by Amanda Weaver is a recent release. The heroine is working on her PhD in astrophysics, while the title points to celestial mechanics (the publisher is probably to blame).
One of the bayou series by Erin Nicholas (I think it is Must Love Alligators) features a scientist working with wildlife.
Looking beyond romances to fantasy or science fiction or steampunk with romantic elements, consider Tinker by Wen Spencer or Romancing the Inventor in the Parasol Protectorate world by Gail Carriger or the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris.
Hi Mark!
Yes, completely agree on Tinker!
“The reason why SARS, H1N1, etc were contained was because governments took action to isolate and contain.” What actions were those? Maybe the media wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is now before the internet and all, because I have no memories of government action beyond a general sense of panic that eventually blew over- as all crises eventually blow over.
“And fatality rate is not the only cause for concern.” Then, pray tell what is?
“If an illness puts large numbers of people out of commission either in hospital or at home sick, you’ve got a significant economic and social disrupter.” We are already being disrupted economically. When politicians declare quarantines, close borders, and jobs and schools are shutting down for weeks, the effect is definitely economical.
“China initially responded by dismissing it and treating it as just another flu virus — and look what happened.” I have no way of verifying exactly what is going on in China, but it sounds to me like the numbers of cases are still relatively low given the size of the populations, and the fatalities less so- regardless of what their politicians are doing or not. Frankly, I’d rather not deal with the unverifiable. This is why I largely ignore the media. There is no way to ascertain for certain if the reports are true, exaggerated, or under reported. So beyond taking some common sense measures, my life is going to be business as usual unless something in my neck of the woods demonstrates otherwise.
“I have been very proud of the response and leadership by… local state governments that have taken action to safeguard our communities.” When safeguarding means forcible quarantines, border lockdowns, and other movement controlling measures, excuse me for smelling a rat. While I believe it is common sense to stay away from crowds when there is a high possibility of illness, I never underestimate the ability of politicians to take advantage of a crisis in order to exert power over the people. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think it’s mighty suspicious that this scare is coming right on the heels of international economic disaster and worldwide protests/riots. I’m certainly not the only person to have arrived at this conclusion. Check out any of Gerald Celente’s recent YouTube videos if you want an overview of my suspicions. Are they verifiable? No, but I think they’re pretty darn interesting.
“Ignoring the virus is not an effective coping strategy” It works well enough for me. As awful as this sounds, I have never been given to panic or concern to matters largely outside of my control. The world is full of problems and crises. If I pay too much attention to every scare dished out by the media, I’ll never get anything done. As the saying goes, “I’ve got my own problems.”
I am going to gracefully bow out of this conversation now as it is clear neither one of us is going to convince the other of anything. It’s my own fault, really, for answering Ms. Grinnan’s question: “So how panicked is everyone?” My answer was essentially “not at all.” That was, and is, my honest opinion. But never mind me. What do I know about anything? I’m just a smut peddler living in a bubble…
Thanks. This is not the place for health advice or arguments right now!
Sorry, you know I have an unfortunate tendency to get carried away. :) Please stay safe and well, Ms. Grinnan, plus everyone else here at AAR and elsewhere.
I’ve read a few romances featuring mass spread of diseases, including Eloisa James’s Beauty Tamed the Beast and a Kresley Cole book, of which the title escapes me. Tending to a loved one is a romantic gesture and allows for the hero or heroine to nurture and demonstrate love they may not have been able to show up to that point in the novel.
Representations of science in recent books that I’ve read tends to focus on the gendered definition of scientists as male by default and how women are as capable but struggle to enter a male-dominated profession. Kate Clayborn’s Beginner’s Luck and Courtney Milan’s The Countess Conspiracy are among my favorites.
“Tending to a loved one is a romantic gesture and allows for the hero or heroine to nurture and demonstrate love they may not have been able to show up to that point in the novel.” Blackjack, you and I share the same catnip in this regard! I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for hurt/comfort stories, whether in fan fiction or romance. I think you hit it on the head that it’s the whole nurturing thing. (But, of course, I don’t want anybody to be sick in real life!)
Nan De Plume,
The reason why SARS, H1N1, etc were contained was because governments took action to isolate and contain.
Comparing Coronavirus to car fatalities is not particularly useful. Car accidents are not contagious. And fatality rate is not the only cause for concern.
If an illness puts large numbers of people out of commission either in hospital or at home sick, you’ve got a significant economic and social disrupter.
Ignoring the virus is not an effective coping strategy. China initially responded by dismissing it and treating it as just another flu virus — and look what happened. The Coronavirus spread extremely fast and overwhelmed the hospitals in Wuhan and was not contained until the government started taking it seriously.
I agree that these viral illnesses go in cycles and scientists have been predicting that we will experience new viral illnesses.
I have been very proud of the response and leadership by organizations like the NBA and local state governments that have taken action to safeguard our communities!
In regard to the stock photo at the top of the article- “Paging Dr. Biceps!”
Nan De Plume:
The Coronavirus has a higher mortality rate and is more contagious than the flu.
The reporting that you seem to imply is an overreaction has helped local state governments and the public take measures to slow the spread of the virus.
It’s called “Flattening the Curve” so that the virus does not spread as quickly and does not overwhelm our health care system’s ability to help those who become ill.
A picture is a thousand words. So here’s a graphic that illustrates what “Flattening the Curve” means. It is not hysteria. It is logical, calm and pre-emptive.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2020/03/13/why-everything-is-closing-for-coronavirus-its-called-flattening-the-curve/#675b16f06e2b
The flu has a very low mortality rate of 0.1% wheras the Coronavirus has a mortality rate of 2.3% to 5% and among the elderly and immune compromised, the Coronavirus has mortality rate of 14.8%. Again, the flu has a minuscule 0.1% and is less contagious.
The common flu has been around for hundreds of years. We have vaccines and medical treatments for the flu. And because the flu has been around for so many centuries, people have developed some resistance to it. The Coronavirus is new. There is no vaccine and unlike the flu, does not seem to ease up with warmer weather — hence the Coronavirus infections in our warmer southern US states and in countries like Australia.
HI, Midori. I understand all the points you are making, but we are still talking about very small numbers in regard to coronavirus. I certainly don’t want anybody to catch it anymore than I want someone to catch the flu, but I am not quite at the point of taking it overly seriously compared to other dangers we expose ourselves to every single day. Sure, maybe my comparing coronavirus to the flu wasn’t the best example, but at the risk of sounding too apples and oranges, traffic deaths are still a major killer that almost no one has the same level of anxiety about: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-13/traffic-deaths-in-u-s-exceed-40-000-for-third-straight-year.
Could coronavirus turn out to be more deadly than yearly car fatalities? Perhaps. I sure hope not! But at this point, I am no more convinced about such a scenario than I was when there were almost equally levels of fright regarding mad cow disease and the other intermittent scares I mentioned- none of which anybody hears a peep about anymore. Things seem to go in cycles…
Good information, Midori! People need to listen to doctors and scientists right now and stop putting forth misinformation with dangerous implications and consequences, including on popular websites like AAR.
Nan – I wish that I too could be so sanguine about this virus. I am not. I am calm, but I can feel the stress. I am no scientist, not an expert about much of anything. I do wonder how you can make comments based on statistics about other viruses when we won’t really have accurate statistics about covid-19 for quite a while. I most sincerely support your suggestion to keep a level head and would add to that to maintain some thoughtful social distance.
Oh, I agree about maintaining a thoughtful social distance. My main concern is less about the illness itself rather than the overall public reaction to it. Historically, times of panic are great opportunities for politicians to declare martial law. It worries me, for example, that the entire country of Italy is essentially on lockdown. No, I don’t want people spreading disease, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s good for politicians to have that much unchecked power to just go around declaring “You can’t go here” and “You can’t gather there.”
These are interesting times, that’s for sure…
So how panicked is everyone? I have kids all far away from me and I must say it’s stressing me out. My oldest son lives in India–I have no idea what that means vis a vis the virus.
It’s nuts right now, isn’t it?
I am so sorry about your kids being far away. It’s got to be tough. Hang in there!
But at the risk of sounding callous, I’m really not worried about coronavirus at all. Statistically, all of us are much more likely to die in a traffic accident or a whole host of other causes than this virus. Heck, we’re more likely to die from the regular flu. But most people who die from flu today are the very elderly, very young, and immuno-compromised. I’m not saying those aren’t sad things, but I think the media has gone out of control in regard to coronavirus. Think of how many scares there have been in the past 20 years: swine flu, bird flu, mad cow disease, SARS, etc. Every time there is a virus scare, the media acts like it’s the next 1918 flu epidemic without keeping in mind that the world was a very different place technologically and nutritionally than today.
I’m not giving medical advise as that would be unethical and illegal, but I think the best thing for everyone to do right now is to keep a level head by holding everything in perspective. Stay well, everyone!
That should be “advice” not “advise.” Sorry, typo.
Having just down-sized and relocated away from the Seattle area, I’m living vicariously through my 24-year old son who is still there (he didn’t want to move with us, having lived his entire life there) and all the many friends and colleagues we left behind. So far, everyone we know is doing ok from a health stand point. I know many AAR/romance writers and readers live in the area, so hope they are doing ok as well!
I am worried. We had 3 students go home with symptoms Thursday and all schools in our area closed for at least 2 weeks, probably more. I am at a higher risk and so I’m relieved school is closed and hope I don’t end up with it. I look forward to the time off to read and rest.
I really like YEARS by LaVyrle Spencer. Heartbreaking in part but it is a romance ultimately. The time of the Spanish flu.
(Singing to myself) Weeee have a tag for thaaaat:
heroines in science, technology, engineering, and math: https://allaboutromance.com/review-tag/stem-heroine/
doctors: https://allaboutromance.com/review-tag/doctor/
Nurses: https://allaboutromance.com/review-tag/nurse/
Virtually any book by Betty Neels? Claire Fraser?
The first title that jumped to my mind (and is a favorite reread) is Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase, with Daphne Pembroke, Egyptologist.
Then I cruised through the STEM heroines tag and realize I’ve read very few of these – so lots of new stuff to try – thanks to Caroline for all the hard work! In that list is Ravished by Amanda Quick (with Harriet Pomeroy, fossil hunter) which I’m currently reading. Unlike others here, it’s my first time through and half-way in I’m enjoying the light-hearted banter between the MCs. Alyssa Cole’s A Princess in Theory – with degreed researcher Naledi Smith- was also a fun read.
You are so welcome! I hope you find something you love!