BOOK REVIEW: Love Lessons by Katie Cawood
Spicy and sweet teacher romance that is perfect for a hot summer night!
I was so lucky to be a part of Katie’s Street Team to help promote her books. Love Lessons is book #2 in her Woodvale Series, and I absolutely love them. If you are looking for a sweet, cozy little romance to escape reality from. Then these are for you. I really felt like I was curled up in a cloud witnessing the lives of these people who took up residency in my heart and stayed. Ok, that might seem a little dramatic, but still, you get the idea. I’m trying to find the right words to capture the essence of this series.
Love Lessons finds Mason, a single dad to 5-year-old Finley, back in his childhood home with his parents with only some freelance work to his name as he left his illustration job to move home to learn the whole parenting thing. Enter Kendall (who was an important secondary character in book 1, Lesson Learned) as Finley’s Kindergarten teacher. Things are about to get complicated when they realize they have been enjoying some Tinder flirting mixed in with some photos that are definitely not becoming of a kindergarten teacher. Too bad for them that school policy prohibits teachers from dating parents of their students. What ever will they do?
I have worked as a teacher and an administrator for the past 24 years, and I have seen all sorts of things. But, I also know what it’s like to be a teacher like Kendall and an administrator like Sarah. Neither are easy and both require a tremendous amount of sacrifice. And then there is Mason making sacrifice after sacrifice to ensure that he is supporting his daughter, and like every parent, he doubts everything every step of the way.
I absolutely adored Finley, she was developed to reflect the sassy personality of a typical five year old little girl who is excited to go to school. But, there is depth to her. Five year olds can’t really put into words how they are psychologically impacted by events. They just don’t have the cognitive ability for the complexity of it. But as you watch her grow, you see it through Mason. How he handles and cares for Finley is swoon worthy - and Kendall falls, hook, line and sinker. Every little girl deserves a daddy like that.
What I loved about Mason and Kendall is that they present themselves one way when in public and interacting as teacher and parent, but man, when they don’t have an audience, there is no holding back. It was like completely different characters. I could see them evolving and starring in their own dark romance book in a few years!
Overall, though, they were respectful of each other, the parameters of Kendall’s job and Mason’s need to be an involved parent. They really did try, for a little while at least, to maintain those boundaries. Kendall has amazing self esteem and confidence. I absolutely loved the portrayal of a character who is comfortable in her own skin and loves who she is. She wasn’t perfect and there were moments of doubt, but at her core, she was self assured and knows who she is and what she wants.
You being Finley’s teacher is the best thing that could happen for her … and the most devasting thing to ever happen to me.
There were also many secondary characters that are and will continue to be important. One of the things I love about this series is it takes place in the small town of Woodvale. While the first two books focused on the elementary school, moving forward it won’t necessarily be that way. However, the characters that may have minor roles in these books end up being the stars of future books. And it’s no different for the upcoming book 3. I’m even more excited for that one!
When it comes to romances, I have a desperate need for there to be a solid plot. That if the characters never ended up in bed together that there would still be a point to reading the story. I feel that this was an area that Katie grown as a writer, and that’s not saying that book 1 didn’t have a good plot. I feel that this one was just on a completely different, elevated level. Mason’s story was really strong. His individual challenges and conflicts really pushed the story forward and matched with structuring the writing with the alternating points of view helped those conflicts grow and evolve.
Because I don’t want to give too many spoilers away, I will just list my top three favorite scenes. You’ll just have to read the book to see what I’m talking about!
The Fall Festival (Technically, the end of the Fall Festival). But I did love it all, even if I’ve never cared for caramel apples.
Halloween
Orchard field trip
I enjoyed Sarah and Owen’s wedding and the night of the bachelor/bachelorette parties, but not as much as these three particular scenes.
Where does this book land on my bookshelf?
Top shelf. It is so fun. It is quick, cozy, and sweet. There is the typically quick pacing you see in fun little rom-coms, but there is a depth to the characters that I think is important. There is the ability to connect more with the characters. This is the perfect beach read for the summer, and even better that you don’t need to read book 1 to read book 2. Same world, but different characters and plot. As much as I loved Lesson Learned, I have to admit that I loved Love Lessons just a little more. Get it, read it, love it! Hey Katie…When can we purchase those fall festival shirts???
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