Teach Me – Olivia Dade
Published: 30th March 2019
Source: Netgalley
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
My Rating:
Their lesson plans didn't include love. But that's about to change...
When Martin Krause arrives at Rose Owens's high school, she's determined to remain chilly with her new colleague. Unfriendly? Maybe. Understandable? Yes, since a loathsome administrator gave Rose's beloved world history classes to Martin, knowing it would hurt her.
But keeping her distance from a man as warm and kind as Martin will prove challenging, even for a stubborn, guarded ice queen. Especially when she begins to see him for what he truly is: a man who's never been taught his own value. Martin could use a good teacher--and luckily, Rose is the best.
Rose has her own lessons--about trust, about vulnerability, about her past--to learn. And over the course of a single school year, the two of them will find out just how hot it can get when an ice queen melts.
I first saw this book on Twitter. I saw this book being talked about by some authors whose books I love on Twitter and so it was on my TBR. And then I saw in Netgalley and thought ‘why not’ I gave it a shot and requested and I got approved like same day! It was insane and decided to instantly start reading.
All I knew going in was that it involved teachers and this fell into the ‘seasoned romance’ category and we all know it’s rare to have a romance with characters outside of their 30s. And I loved seeing these more mature characters have a second chance at love. Both were divorced and each had their issues, but they each deserved a chance to be happy.
Rose is a wonder. She is a teacher at a high school, practically an institution she’s been there for a long while and her long service means she has gotten to know her students and has a system. She has her very own classroom, she has gotten used to the lessons she gets to teach and she is incredibly happy. And Martin puts a wrinkle in that because he is messing with her system and he doesn’t even know it. He just knows he is at a new school hoping to be closer to his daughter and have a chance to teach history, a subject he loves. He is fresh off of a divorce and romance is the last thing on his mind. He arrives and is sharing Rose’s classroom and views her as a bit of an ice queen, but he sees beyond that. He knows there is more to it and he gets he’s interrupting her routine and soon learns he is stopping her from helping students who she loves.
I don’t want to reveal too much because this book is just so wonderful and I want you guys to experience it for yourselves. Martin was such a sweetheart. He is struggling to move on from a divorce where, towards the end, it was continually drilled home that he was boring and had no sense of humour. It brought up old demons and meeting Rose both brings that all back, but also helps him move forward and learn he is hilarious with his dry sense of humour. He is sharp and witty and he is such a good guy and sometimes in romance that can be boring, but he is anything but. And Rose? She is a woman who has been beaten down a lot. She has been told she isn’t good enough and told to change and she has worked harder than most to make it. She is thrown off by the arrival of Martin and some would hate him, but she can’t when it’s not his fault and he is a genuinely nice guy. They have some excellent banter as they get to know each other and when they hit bumps in the road? They talk and they are (mostly) mature.
My only grumble about this book? I didn’t get the US school system! Like, what are honors and AP classes? What’s the difference? Why was it so important Rose teach one to be able to get students onto the other? I didn’t get it and that almost threw me out of the book. But once the school talk was over, I was totally there for this book.
Have you read this book? And have you read any romance with older MCs you want to recommend?
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