Dear Marcus

by Barbara Perkins

When Carolyn Burne lost her fiancé to her beautiful younger sister Clare, she felt she had to get away from the scene of her unhappiness. It turned out to be a sensible move. She was lucky enough to get an interesting job as private secretary to the Wimpole Street surgeon Marcus Tate and began to build herself a new life and make new friends. But danger loomed when Carolyn found herself taking an interest in her attractive boss, and it seemed wiser to concentrate on her blossoming friendship with the young advertising executive Tom Belland.

And then Clare arrived in London, and once more Carolyn had to watch the man she loved losing his heart to her glamorous sister.

Genres: Harlequin

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(1)romance

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love! A breath of fresh air. I really liked that both the hero and heroine first became friends of a sort, and were able to laugh together often, sharing light banter between them. I also loved that there was plenty of interaction between them throughout, unlike most vintage harlequins. (Where its only like 5 meetings and they're suddenly in love) It's told in the heroines POV completely, in the first person, but the author manages to give us a sense of the hero falling in love with her. We can see it happening, through the heroines eyes. Even though she can't. Best of all (and this almost never happens) the author gave us a WHOLE CHAPTER of them being lovey with each other after the declaration of love/proposal!

I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

In first person, but the h has a good personality who has some strong opinions, so she's often funny. The H is a bit of a stuffed shirt, but he is nice and honorable. The book has some charm because the h is often distracted, even when someone is speaking to her about things that are actually quite important, and it causes some funny moments. I also liked that even though she was in love with the H, she didn't entirely hero-worship him, but instead made snarky comments to herself.

[Aarathi Burki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good story.It was easy to like Marcus the hero and Carolyn the heroine. They both were simple,friendly and helping natured. I liked the author's writing and the story moves at a good pace with no drag. Though the hero is a doctor and heroine is a former nurse now his secretary there were not too many hospital or operation scenes which made it a good read for me.

[Melluvsbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but a little dull.

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet vintage with a fun H/h. Heroine has been jilted by her fiance after he falls in love with her younger sister, so she gives up her nursing career to be a medical secretary to the hero, a surgeon. He's such a nice guy that all the nurses at the hospital call him Dear Doctor Marcus. Heroine doesn't notice him at first, but eventually falls in love with him.

Meanwhile, she thinks he is in love with a beautiful Irish nurse and he thinks she's in love with a sad sack advertising man who is pining for another.

All those misunderstandings don't keep them from forming a solid friendship that includes lots of banter and sweet moments. They are meant to be together.

There are all kinds of side characters including his family, her family, medical student parties, sailing holidays, a pesky dog, etc. . . I was interested in all of them except for the sad sack OM. I was tired of him long before the heroine finally told him to get overhimself.

One very unusual feature of this vintage novel was that there was entire chapter that showed the reader the H/h after they got engaged. It was so sweet to seem them all loved up and flirty back in the office. Just a nice story all around.

[KSHG · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10! I love this book. It is light, fluffy, extremely well written and fun. No nasty characters at all. Hero- nice! Heroine - nice! Setting - my favourite - in England. Plenty of moments together between the leads. All characters - big and small and animals - were excellently drawn. And it is funny! I chuckled a few times. Although I am not usually a fan of first person point of view, this was so well done that I can't fault it. The hero's physical appearance was non-typical, which I liked too. This book is well worth reading.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet, well-written, old-fashioned romance. The main characters are all connected with the medical profession although it is not set in a hospital but mainly within private consulting rooms in London. It follows the life of the heroine, who is an interesting character.

[*CJ* · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Dear Doctor Marcus" is the story of Carolyn and Marcus.

I napped thrice reading this. Zero chemistry between leads, incessant droning about non significant drama just terrible plot.

Skimmed it
1.5/5

[Andi · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better vintage romances I’ve read. Sweet, simple, and low angst, it’s elevated by two very likeable main characters and a humour between them that runs throughout. However, if you’re looking for the grand passions and melodrama of HPlandia, beware this probably isn’t for you. 3.5 stars.

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars for old vintage sweetness!! I needed more angst and intrigue! The H was too beta for me, he needed a healthy dose of alpha!