2020 VNRN Awards

Eight is great! And this is the eighth time we have put on our most splendid eveningwear and turned out en masse to recognize the most superlative vintage nurse romance novels we’ve met in these electronic pages this year. Here’s the fine print: Winners are chosen from the 45 VNRNs I read this past year, which were penned by 28 different authors. The Best and Worst Authors categories includes all the VNRNs reviewed for this blog (421 to date), but only authors with more than one review are included. It’s an interesting year for Peggy Gaddis and Arlene Hale, who have books on both the best and worst of the year lists. Kindly hold your applause until after all the winners have been announced!

Best Books:
1. Nurse Annette by Rebecca Marsh (pseud. William Neubauer)
2. Dental Nurse at Denley’s by Marjorie Lewty
3. Nurse Morgan’s Triumph by Rubie Saunders
4. Nurse Elliot’s Diary by Kate Norway (pseud. Olive Norton)
5. Settlement House Nurse by Jane Converse
6. A Nurse for Dr. Sterling by Ruth MacLeod
7. A Nurse Comes Home by Georgia Craig (pseud. Peggy Gaddis)
8. Nurse in Charge by Elizabeth Gilzean
9. Nurse Nicole’s Decision by Arlene Hale
10. Challenge to Nurse Honor by Pauline Ash

Worst Books:
1. Harbor Nurse by Arlene Fitzgerald
2. Peace Corps Nurse by George Sullivan
3. Jane Arden Head Nurse by Kathleen Harris (pseud. Adelaide Rowe)
4. Nurse April by Katherine McComb
5. Nurse of the Crossroads by Colleen Reece
6. Jane Arden, Surgery Nurse by Kathleen Harris
7. Nurse Angela by Peggy Gaddis
8. Lake Resort Nurse by Arlene Hale
9. Resident Nurse by Frances Dean Hancock (pseud. Jeanne Judson)

Best Covers:

Peace Corps Nurse

Nurse Nicole’s Decision

Lake Resort Nurse

Emergency Calling Nurse Mallon

The Doctor of Blue Valley

      

 

Best Authors:
Marguerite Mooers Marshall (3.9 average, 3 reviews)
Marjorie Lewty (3.9 average, 2 reviews)
Faith Baldwin (3.8 average, 4 reviews)
Olive Norton (3.7 average, 3 reviews)
Irene Swatridge (3.7 average, 2 reviews)

 

Worst Authors:
Patti Carr (1.5 average, 2 reviews)
Arlene Fitzgerald (1.6 average, 4 reviews)
Jeanne Bowman (1.7 average, 11 reviews)
Zillah McDonald (1.7 average, 3 reviews)
Anne Lorraine (1.7 average, 2 reviews)

Best Quotes:

“I’ve never seen a strange man in a bathrobe before!” Candy Stripers by Lee Wyndham

“I hope you’re not tearing off to deliver quads, darling. We’ve come for lunch.” Nurse Templar by Anne Weare

“I hike all the roads around here, and haven’t been kidnapped even once.” Nurse Kay by Virginia Roberts (pseud. Nell Marr Dean)

“On visiting the convicted man at the penitentiary a year later, he had found him gay.” Emergency Calling Nurse Mallon by Jeanne Bowman

“He was too anxious to get the cloak-and-dagger meeting under way to notice Donna’s new lounge suit.” Settlement House Nurse by Jane Converse

“She swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump of apprehension that clogged her esophagus.” Harbor Nurse by Arlene Fitzgerald

“I often stand on my head for a short time if I am exceptionally tired.” Jane Arden’s Home-Coming by Kathleen Harris

“I’ve seen a lot of girls wearing their hair like that. Usually they’re accompanied by men with beards.” Resident Nurse by Frances Dean Hancock (pseud. Jeanne Judson)

“Marjory learned some new words she doubted she’d ever use.” Emergency Calling Nurse Mallon by Jeanne Bowman

“You must be happy in your new job, watching the doc cut people up.” Jane Arden Surgery Nurse by Kathleen Harris