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 she 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!!