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.
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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:
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?
“I’m very picky about romance, but Melissa completely won me over―her writing is sharp, charming, and just incredibly readable in the best way.”
―Mindy Kaling
What is a favorite compliment you've received on your writing?
One of my favorites was simply, “I felt seen.” Of course, I love hearing that someone couldn’t put a book down or that it was one of their favorite reads, but there’s something incredibly meaningful about a reader recognizing some part of themselves in a story. Fiction can make us feel a little less alone, and knowing something I wrote did that for someone is hard to beat.
One of my favorites was simply, “I felt seen.” Of course, I love hearing that someone couldn’t put a book down or that it was one of their favorite reads, but there’s something incredibly meaningful about a reader recognizing some part of themselves in a story. Fiction can make us feel a little less alone, and knowing something I wrote did that for someone is hard to beat.
How is Cordelia similar to or different from you?
I relate a lot to Cord’s controlling tendencies. I have definitely been guilty of thinking I know what’s best for other people and wanting to swoop in and fix things for them. I had to learn the hard way, just like Cord does, that other people aren’t mine to fix. I needed to turn some of that energy inward and work on myself instead.
Where we’re different is that Cord is much bolder than I am. She has serious boss energy and is not afraid to take up space, say what she thinks, or go after what she wants. I loved getting to live vicariously through that part of her.
If The Love Operation were made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
I had to do some actual homework for this one because I’m terrible at remembering actors’ names! For Cordelia, I’d love someone like Hannah John-Kamen or Jessica Lucas—someone who can pull off both formidable surgeon and slightly messy human being.
Isaac needs to be impossibly polished and charming, the kind of man who looks like he was born wearing a perfectly tailored suit. Oliver Jackson-Cohen or Matt Bomer would fit that energy beautifully.
And Benedict feels warmer and more relaxed to me—the kind of person who immediately feels familiar. I could really see Luke Bracey or Austin Stowell in that role.
Which book made you fall in love with reading?
I’m not sure I can narrow it down to one book, but Jane Austen was a huge part of it for me. I have such vivid memories of being a teenager during the summer, still in my pajamas, curled up in this black twirl chair by the window with a frozen Snickers, completely lost in one of her novels.
There was something about disappearing into those stories that made reading feel like its own little world, and I think that’s when books really became more than entertainment for me. They became somewhere I wanted to live for a while.
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
Amy Poehler. She could absolutely narrate the constant overthinking, ambitious plans, questionable decisions, and general chaos with a lot of humor, but also a little affection.
I feel like she could make even the moments when I’m doing entirely too much sound both ridiculous and somehow inspiring.
Share a favorite Halloween memory.
One of my favorite Halloween traditions actually came after having kids. I love coming home after trick-or-treating, dumping all the candy out on the bedroom carpet, and watching them sort it into little piles like tiny candy accountants.
They get so excited trying new things, trading, and organizing, while I know the whole time that I’m never going to let them eat it all. Eventually, they leave their carefully sorted haul in a heap all over my floor and go to bed because they’re exhausted, which is decidedly less magical for me.
But there’s nothing like free candy from strangers, so it all ends up alright.
Thanks to Melissa for chatting with us and to Over the River PR for sharing her book with our readers.
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Giveaway ends November 3rd at midnight EST.
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2 comments:
One of my favorite memories is picking up my cat when he was a kitten. I'd never had a kitten before so I was very excited to choose one and bring him home to his forever home.
Arrival of our Siberian Husky.
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