Teach Me

Teach Me (2019) Olivia Dade (There’s Something About Marysburg)

Rose Owens has been teaching for twenty years, but the head of secondary social studies for their school system decided to take a shot at her through a new teacher joining their school–and giving some of her favorite courses to the incoming teacher.

Rose is very self-contained–almost obsessively so.

Keisha, without fail, shouldered responsibilities others shirked, which meant she was always busy. Always in a hurry. Always at least a few minutes late. Under other circumstances, Rose would have befriended her without hesitation. But a smart, private woman didn’t cross-contaminate her professional and personal lives.

Which makes it hard for her to deal with the fact that the new teacher (who has twenty-five years experience) is a genuinely nice guy and is impossible to dislike.

What I particularly liked about this story: both Rose and Martin are in their 40s. Rose is an apologetically large woman–and that’s one of the things Martin likes about her. And there is no casual boinking here–it takes the two months to become friends, and then something more.

I wasn’t completely sure about Martin’s daughter Bea, who seemed a little too well-behaved and sweet to be a teenager (even if she wasn’t unhappy about her parent’s divorce).

I did love Rose’s ex-in-laws, but I also did wonder how they ended up with a son who was such a jerk.

One scene I particularly liked was the staff meeting, guest-speaker bingo.

Publisher: Hussies & Harpies Press
Rating: 7.5/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• Men at Arms » »
• « « Color of You