Turn Back Time

Chief Surgical Resident Pearce Rifkin is on a fast track through her career so she doesn't have time for a lover. At least that's what she tries to tell herself. So imagine her surprise when someone she knew long ago re-enters her life in the form of one Wynter Thompson, the new surgical resident at the hospital where Pearce is now working. As if life isn't complicated enough for a resident, the past causes the two women to butt heads at first. However, it's not long before Wynter shows her merit and earns Pearce's grudging respect. Surely they can't be becoming friends! And Pearce is certainly not showing Wynter her `secret hideaway' in the hospital...right? Working long hours and having to push themselves to a level of endurance seemingly impossible, does nothing to hinder what now looks as a comradarie forming between Wynter and Pearce. Something that is sorely tested when Wynter finds out just who Pearce's father is and how that played into Pearce's current position. And just as Pearce begins thinking that maybe something more could develop out of their friendship, her thoughts are brought screeching to a halt by the entrance of someone into the mix that Pearce would never have suspected. Will this new person help or hinder the two women's chance of going from friendship to maybe something more? They say write what you know and Radclyffe continuously displays that she most definitely takes that to heart. Two of her previous books, Passion's Bright Fury, and Fated Love also take place in or around the world of medicine. Along with Turn Back Time, they each provide the reader with a wonderfully indepth look at the lives and loves of women as they make their way in the medical world and come together despite odds that appear stacked against them.

Radclyffe's knowledge gained during her surgical training clearly informs this work as the passion, dedication, frustration, and occasional disillusionment of the characters speak with the voice of authority. Based on realistic experiences, but entirely fiction, "Turn Back Time" is another utterly gratifying romantic medical drama that, in my opinion, is Radclyffe's crowning achievement so far. In this tightly woven tale about two amazing women who are destined to be together against all odds, Drs. Pearce Rifkin and Wynter Thompson tango around a relationship until they finally can't deny that their attraction is real. . Classes graduating from Philadelphia's four medical schools gather at the University of Pennsylvania to find out where their training will continue. Quite by accident, fourth-year medical students Pearce and Wynter meet on match day. The meeting doesn't amount to more than a spark, but little do they know that fate will bring them together again after a four-year separation. Radclyffe's novels continue to offer strong characterization, which makes it easy to become attached to the protagonists. Pearce is striking to look at with her angular features, dark shaggy hair, and athletic build: "Wynter tracked the path of fabric over flesh and was struck by the unexpected beauty of muscles playing beneath soft skin. She saw bodies every day of her life, clothed and unclothed, in every stage of health and disease, but she couldn't remember ever seeing anything quite so lovely" (p. 98). Pearce's self-confidence, intelligence, and prowess in medicine further make her desirable and admirable. Pearce makes no apology for being gay, and she excels at everything she sets her mind to. Not one to want anything for herself and living her life as if following a script, she's surprised when she meets Wynter, the first woman who has ever distracted her from her goals. Pearce wrestles with her feelings for Wynter. "She didn't need to look at Wynter to remember the shape of her face or the color of her eyes or the way she tilted her head and looked out from beneath those long honeyed lashes when something amused her. She didn't need to look at her to feel that tug deep in her belly" (p. 71). From something as simple as realizing that casual affairs no longer satisfy her to accepting that she is willing to forgo certain ambitions to be with the woman she loves, Pearce not only struggles with the fear of intimacy, but she shows an incredible growth curve. Strong women who have a heart, live by a moral code, make the world a better place, and yet struggle with vulnerabilities are what compel me to care about them and read on. I love learning what makes a person tick, and Radclyffe does it especially well by revealing different layers of her characters like buds slowly opening into flowers. Radclyffe writes like a highly skilled surgeon; she demonstrates emotion with the same precision, paying close attention to detail, and making sure everything wo

The story is full of humor and moments that are laugh out loud funny. This is a wonderful romance - with gentle moments of tenderness. The chemistry between Wynter and Pearce is riveting, they share the best kiss I have ever read. By the close of the first chapter I was fully vested in what would happen next. So many moments in the novel were so real it was as if it were unfolding right before my eyes. I had to put the book down at a couple parts, I actually hurt for the characters when they hurt. 'Turn Back Time' is more detailed in hospital / doctor life than the author's earlier novels. The reader gets a deeper feel for a doctor's first years. Although Wynter and her sister don't have many moments together they have one of the best and sweetest bits of dialog. This is super story if you are in the mood for a traditional romance, heck it's super if you want a page turning can't put it down novel. Best of all, the main characters are strong woman that the reader wants to understand and know well. I won't give anything away, but the ending is truly epic and leaves a huge smile on the reader's lips. This is a Keeper ! from the publishers web site: Love has a way of derailing the best of plans. Barely recovered from a failed relationship, Wynter Thompson struggles to balance the demands of her surgical residency with the responsibilities of her personal life - and between the two, discovers there is little time left for anything else. She manages to convince herself that she has everything she needs, because another chance at love is definitely not in her game plan. Pearce Rifkin is a woman with a plan, and it doesn't include a serious relationship. Chief Surgical Resident is just a stepping stone to her lifelong goal - chairmanship at one of the top ten medical centers. Determined to follow in her father's footsteps, even though she isn't the son he dreamed of, Pearce has no time for romance. Two women with nothing in common but a shared passion for surgery clash at every opportunity, especially when matters of the heart are suddenly at stake.

As a retired surgeon, Radclyffe has written love stories about physicians, even surgeons, but she has never devoted one of her romances to the details of a surgeon's life until now... In her 24th published book, Turn Back Time, Radclyffe offers tribute to her passion for medicine by giving us a stirring and heartfelt romance filled with the power of love. Through her characters Wynter Thompson and Pearce Rifkin, both surgical residents at University Hospital in Philadelphia, Radclyffe shares with her readers a private part of her self through her fiction. Her prose is eloquent. She executes the story perfectly by drawing the reader into her characters' world and holding us captive as we experience the sheer force of Wynter's and Pearce's love for each other. Few authors can expertly construct a romance with such all consuming emotion that the reader forgets the world around her. Turn Back Time connects deeply with us because Radclyffe's love of her professions, both medicine and writing, permeates every page of the book. The reader is not overwhelmed with technical jargon because Radclyffe's focus is on the two women and their interactions with each other. While Radclyffe states in her acknowledgment that this is not her personal story, I believe it is a bridge from her past through her present to her future. With Turn Back Time she is saying a final goodbye to a profession that has given her so much and to which she has dedicated most of her life. With so much love poured into this romance, I could not help but feel Wynter's and Pearce's story within the depths of my soul.