THE TRANSPLANT LIST

He destroyed her career five years ago. Now they have to save lives together.

Dr. Maren Cole spent five years rebuilding what Dr. Lucas Grant took from her. When he reported her to an ethics committee during her surgical fellowship, it cost her everything — her program, her reputation, her belief that trusting someone wouldn’t get her burned. She finished her training at a different hospital, became one of Boston General’s top pediatric surgeons, and built walls high enough that no one could hurt her again.

Then Lucas walked into her hospital.

Three weeks ago, a nine-year-old patient died waiting for a transplant. The kidney — donated by Lucas — arrived three minutes too late. Now Maren and Lucas are assigned to co-lead a surgical innovation team with six months to fix the broken system that killed a child they both couldn’t save.

Six months working side-by-side. Six months of grief colliding with guilt. Six months of professional respect becoming something far more dangerous.

She’s grumpy, guarded, brilliant. He’s warm, determined, desperate to prove he’s not the arrogant surgeon he used to be. Their chemistry in the OR is undeniable. Their history should make this impossible.

But somewhere between late-night research sessions and stolen rooftop conversations, walls start to crumble. Trust starts to build. And the question stops being whether she can forgive him — and starts being whether she can survive letting him in again.

Enemies-to-lovers. Medical romance. Forced proximity. Grumpy/sunshine. Slow burn. Fade-to-black heat level.

The kind of slow burn where every accidental touch in the OR feels like a detonation.

WHY THIS WILL SELL

→ Medical romance is a consistently high-performing romance subcategory with dedicated readership and strong BookTok visibility
→ Enemies-to-lovers + workplace forced proximity is one of the most reliable trope stacks in contemporary romance
→ The dead child inciting incident adds genuine emotional stakes that elevate this beyond standard medical romance — readers want to feel something, and this delivers
→ Pediatric surgery setting is distinctive within medical romance, which skews heavily toward ER and general surgery 

TROPES:
• Enemies to Lovers
• Medical Romance
• Workplace Romance
• Forced Proximity
• Grumpy / Sunshine
• Slow Burn
• Second Chance
• Redemption Arc
• Dual POV

HEAT LEVEL: Moderate (Fade to black — emotional depth, 2-3 intimate scenes)

Perfect for fans of: Freida McFadden, Emily Henry, Tessa Bailey, and Colleen Hoover