Reading trends change over the years. One of the now largely-forgotten genres of fiction was the "nurse novel"… which was itself a subset of the "doctor novel" and featured (what else?) the romantic adventures (usually with a doctor) of a nurse!

Hundreds of nurse novels were published, with titles that sometimes stretched credulity. One of our contributors to this volume, Peggy Gaddis, seemed to specialize in nurses (she wrote dozens of books about them). Is it any wonder that authors sometimes had to stretch to find subjects that hadn’t already been covered? Titles like "Scandalous Nurse." "Future Nurse" (no, it’s not science fiction -- but it might have been!) "Nurse in the Tropics." "Resort Nurse." "Ozark Nurse." "Everglades Nurse." "Night Club Nurse." "Undercover Nurse." "Debutante Nurse." "Television Nurse." "Prison Nurse." "Poison Nurse." "Nurse Voodoo." "Hootenany Nurse." "The Nurse and the Pirate." The list goes on and on.

Here are 4 classic nurse novels which will, I'm sure, whet your appetite for more:

HOLLYWOOD NURSE, by Alice Brennan

BAYOU NURSE, by Peggy Gaddis

A NURSE FOR DR. STERLING, by Ruth MacLeod

NAVY NURSE, by Rosie M. Banks