Crossroads by Radclyffe Review: Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A classic Radclyffe medical slow burn: high-risk obstetrician Hollis Monroe, who keeps every patient at a professional distance, is thrown together with midwife and single mom Annie Colfax, whose life she saved in an emergency four years earlier. Fans love the medical realism, the midwifery focus and the returning PMC cast; critics found the romance slow, low on excitement and not always convincing.

Best for: Medical-romance fans and readers already invested in Radclyffe’s PMC Hospital world.

Heat level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.6/5 — a 4.09 Goodreads average across 1,592 ratings, 3.88 on StoryGraph from 148 reviews, and 4.5 stars across 609 Amazon ratings)

Tropes: Medical romance, doctor and midwife, single mom, second meeting, slow burn, workplace.

Crossroads is Radclyffe’s 2012 contemporary lesbian romance from Bold Strokes Books, the third book in the PMC Hospital Romance series. Dr. Hollis Monroe specialises in short-term relationships, typically eight months or less: she cares for women through high-risk pregnancies, delivers their babies and walks away.

It holds a 4.09 average across 1,592 Goodreads ratings, with 76% of them four or five stars, 3.88 on StoryGraph from 148 reviews, and 4.5 stars across 609 Amazon ratings.

What Is Crossroads About?

Years ago, Annie Colfax was pregnant, alone and barely making ends meet, determined to raise her child by herself. Her emergency delivery, at Hollis’s hands, left her feeling out of control and blaming the doctor who saved her.

Now a midwife and mother to young Callie, Annie is assigned to work with Hollis on a project to bring their professions together. Neither wants a relationship, but fate has brought them to a crossroads.

What Works in This Book

Medical realism: Readers, including a surgical nurse, praise the accurate setting and terminology.
Midwifery: A couple of readers enjoyed the focus on midwives and a non-MD side of childbirth.
Recurring cast: Series fans love seeing familiar characters from earlier PMC books.
Hollis: Readers single out the gentle, caring obstetrician as a standout.

Book Synopsis

A doctor who never gets attached. A midwife who has never forgiven her.

Some meetings change everything, twice.

My Review

One fan calls Radclyffe the greatest writer of medical romance, and several call this a classic Radclyffe novel: a hospital-and-home setting, well-developed characters, good dialogue and a relationship built patiently on shared, painful history. A couple of series readers rank it above the second book, and one calls it their second favourite in the series. The intimacy between Hollis and Annie grows gradually, and readers who like slow burns found it compelling.

The criticism is consistent, though. Several readers found the love story slow, low on excitement or hard to connect with, and a couple felt the romance advanced by author fiat, with declarations of love arriving before a proper relationship. One found the leads’ secrets manufactured, one was uncomfortable with how the opening treats alternative medicine, and one admitted the heavy focus on pregnancy and babies was not for her.

My honest note: Best read in order, as part of the series.

Element	In Crossroads
Central relationship	Dr. Hollis Monroe (high-risk obstetrician) & Annie Colfax (midwife, single mom)
Core tropes	Medical romance, second meeting, slow burn
Setting	PMC hospital and Annie’s home
Heat level	🌶️🌶️🌶️
Length	264 pages (paperback)
Series	PMC Hospital Romance #3
Content notes	Traumatic childbirth, emergency surgery, family estrangement

How Spicy Is Crossroads?

Readers say little about the heat; they focus on the slowly built intimacy between the leads.

The emotional weight comes from Annie’s traumatic delivery and her estrangement from the community she grew up in.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you enjoy realistic medical romance with a single mom. It is on our single mom lesbian romance list.

You may want to skip it if: you want a fast-moving, high-excitement romance.

In short: Careful, clinical, quietly romantic.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

On Goodreads the split is 38% five stars, 38% four, 19% three, 3% two and 1% one. On StoryGraph, 75% of readers found the characters loveable.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Medical realism first. Second, the recurring cast. Third, Hollis. Fourth, the slow build.

What readers argue about and complain about: A slow, unexciting romance, above everything. Second, unconvincing progression. Third, confusion for series newcomers.

The comparison worth making first: Winds of Heaven, another romance where pregnancy and loss bring two women together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to read the earlier PMC Hospital Romance books?

It helps. Crossroads is book three and features a new couple, but a couple of readers who started here found the scenes with returning characters distracting or confusing. Series readers enjoy the recurring cast.

How did Hollis and Annie meet?

Four years before the main story, Hollis performed emergency surgery on Annie, who was pregnant and alone, to save her life. Annie blamed her for it. They meet again when they are assigned to work together on a project bringing midwives and the hospital together.

Is the medical detail accurate?

A reader who works as a surgical nurse praised the accuracy of the setting and terminology, and non-medical readers say it never overwhelms.

Is Crossroads a slow burn?

Yes. Some readers loved the gradual build, while others found the romance slow and low on excitement.

Is Crossroads on Kindle Unlimited?

Not when we checked; the Kindle edition was listed at $9.99.

If You Loved Crossroads, Read These Next

Continue the PMC Hospital Romance series, or try Presidential for another doctor in the lead. Browse our single mom list or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

Crossroads sets out to be a thoughtful medical romance about two women who never meant to need each other, and its realism and characters deliver for series fans. What holds it back is a romance many found too slow and too quiet. For Radclyffe completists and medical-romance lovers. Check Crossroads on Amazon →