13th Annual VNRN Awards

Lucky 13 finds us back here again, to bestow wreaths and booby prizes to the books that made us sit up and take notice this year, for better and for worse. I have to start with Betty Neels, who, with her fourth Best Book award this year, has netted that honor with all four of her books I’ve reviewed.  She’s going to find herself a tough act to follow, so stay tuned to find out what happens with her next review, as she will surely have at least one in 2026! Doris Knight has a similar winning streak but in the more dubious direction, as reviews of the two books we have met here have both captured Worst Book awards. She’s another author I will be sure to pick up next year, to see if she, too, can continue her unfortunate trend. 

As for the rest of the crowd, Teresa Hyde Phillips was a short story writer who penned just one novel, and it has captured the top spot on the Best Books this list. It is a pity that there will be no more of her works to enjoy! Some long-time favorite authors also step into the spotlight, as witty Dorothy Fletcher nabbed her sixth Best Book award and Adela Maritano, AKA the fabulous Jane Converse, won her fifth. Peggy Gaddis also proves herself a schizophrenic writer, winning in both Best and Worst Books category this year—the second time she’d achieved this unusual feat. And Dan Ross, a C+ average writer, gave us one of his worst, so be sure to miss that one.

If you’re not a fan of statistics, you can skip this part: This year’s award recipients were taken from the 24 books I reviewed this year, penned by 23 different authors. The Best and Worst Authors categories include all the VNRNs reviewed for this blog (605 to date!), but only authors with more than one review are invited to participate.

Best Books
The Prodigal Nurse by Teresa Hyde Phillips
Tabitha in Moonlight by Betty Neels    
Society Nurse by Jane Converse (pseud. Adela Maritano)
Starring Suzanne Carteret, RN by Diane Frazer (pseud. Dorothy Fletcher)
Nurse at Ste. Monique by Juliet Armstrong
Nurse at the Cedars by Peggy Gaddis
Dr. Garrett’s Girl by Miriam Lynch
Hospital of Bamboo by Juliet Shore (pseud. Jan Haye)

Worst Books
Nurse of the Crystalline Valley by Mary Collins Dunne
Nurse Felicity by Peggy Dern (pseud. Peggy Gaddis)
Backstage Nurse by Jane Rossiter (pseud. W.E. Dan Ross)
Runaway Nurse by Doris Knight

Best Quotes
“Relax, Merrill. I’ve had breakfast, and I rarely gobble up nurses before lunch. You are perfectly safe.” Nurse at the Cedars by Peggy Gaddis

“What happened to that darling little girl who had bubonic plague? I didn’t hear any more after she left Pediatrics.” Nurse Kelly’s Crusade by Nell Marr Dean

“There are days when I hate it all—when I want to chuck it and get into something easier and—well—less smelly.” West End Nurse by Lucy Agnes Hancock

“There’s two schools of thought about raising kids. One was to bring ’em up the way they ought to be; and the other was just to let the FBI handle it later on.” Nurse at the Cedars by Peggy Gaddis

“You have spunk, Jane, as well as a fertile imagination, and those qualities I admire in a woman. That and a nice little body.” Nurse in Danger by Maisie Greig

“I’m going uptown to get some mushrooms, Mary.” West End Nurse by Lucy Agnes Hancock

“You’re a beautiful girl. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have run me over.” Runaway Nurse by Doris Knight

“I’m a Harvard man. I wouldn’t get myself seriously shot outside a lady’s boudoir.” The Prodigal Nurse by Teresa Hyde Phillips

“Sassy redheads are my dish. Watch out you don’t share the fate of Red Riding Hood’s grandmother.” West End Nurse by Lucy Agnes Hancock

“What I’d like to do, Meredith thought grimly, is pull that dyed hair out by its roots.” Nurse of the Crystalline Valley by Mary Collins Dunne

Best Covers
Nurse Brookes by Kate Norway (psued. Olive Norton)
Nurse Felicity by Peggy Dern (pseud. Peggy Gaddis)
Society Nurse by Jane Converse (pseud. Adela Maritano)
    Illustration by Allan Kass
Starring Suzanne Carteret, RN by Diane Frazer (pseud. Dorothy Fletcher)
    Illustration by Harry Bennett
West End Nurse by Lucy Agnes Hancock

Best Writers
1. Ida Cook (3.9 average based on 3 reviews)
1. Noreen Ford (3.9 average based on 2 reviews)
3. Faith Baldwin (3.8 average based on 4 reviews)
4. Marjorie Lewty (3.7 average based on 3 reviews)
5. Marguerite Mooers Marshall (3.6 average based on 5 reviews)
5. Marjorie Moore (3.6 average based on 3 reviews)
5. Betty Neels (3.6 average based on 4 reviews)
8. Irene Mossop Swatridge (3.5 average based on 4 reviews)
9. Olive Norton (3.4 average based on 11 reviews)
9. Elizabeth Seifert (3.4 average based on 3 reviews)

Worst Writers
1. Mary Collins Dunne (1.5 average based on 2 reviews)
1. Mary Mann Fletcher (1.5 average based on 2 reviews)
3. Ruth McCarthy Sears (1.6 average based on 6 reviews)
4. Peggy Blocklinger (1.7 average based on 13 reviews)
4. Doris Knight (1.7 average based on 2 reviews)
4. Zillah Macdonald (1.7 average based on 3 reviews)
7. Arlene Fitzgerald (1.9 average based on 6 reviews)
7. Elizabeth Kelly (1.9 average based on 3 reviews)
7. Virginia McDonnell (1.9 average based on 2 reviews)
7. Virginia K. Smiley (1.9 average based on 4 reviews)