M.A. Wardell
Books: Romance | Queer
Teachers in Love: Teacher of the Year (2023), Mistletoe and Mishigas (2023)
Teachers in Love
Teacher of the Year (2023)
Marvin has ADHD and anxiety
I keep nursing my drink, which is already three-quarters gone, and try to ignore her mounting energy. Sometimes Jill getting revved up triggers my anxiety, and right now, I'm about to tip.
And is also up for Teacher of the Year, an award he wants to win not for himself as much as the extra finding it would help bring to his school. So he has a lot to focus on. Except that he returns from winter break with a new student–a new student with a very attractive and single father.
Things I really liked about this story: Marvin
Being present, truly present, is a requirement of working with small children.
Olan, Illona, the kids in his kindergarten class.
On Wednesday, at snack time, Zoe puts a raspberry on the tip of each of her fingers and tries to open her milk with "raspberry fingers."
The ace rep–even if it isn't stated as such.
sex without a relationship isn't for me.
The mental health rep.
I can't promise anything either, but I won't run away again. I won't. I'm going to start therapy.
What didn't work for me were the hiccups in the relationship and how the Big Misunderstanding is resolved. The resolution was obvious, and the bits that were supposed to ramp up the excitement felt forced or that they shouldn't have happened in the first place, considering.
Also, I feel like Marvin needed to do WAY more grovelling.
August 2023 | Rating: 6.5/10
Mistletoe and Mishigas (2023) #2
Not
only is Sheldon moving to a new school in the middle of the term, he
has also discovered the wedding invitation from his ex. Who broke up
with Sheldon last year. On Christmas Eve. Sheldon’s favorite time of the
year.
But Sheldon is nothing if not cheerful and bubbly and is determined to make sure his new students feel comfortable as soon as they walk in the door.
If only he had desks and chairs and tables.
Theo likes his job. He is good at keeping his head down and getting things done, and in general people leave the custodian alone. However, the new teacher needs help, so Theo has to help him–no matter how much he chatters.
“I don’t craft.”
“Well, lucky for you, I’m a first-grade teacher. We’re about to have a massive Martha Stewart moment up in here.”
This is the second book I’ve read by this author, and like the first, I felt it was… fine.
There wasn’t anything particularly wrong, but I also didn’t quite get what the two saw in each other. Theo finds Sheldon annoying. Sheldon decides to befriend Theo because… because he decides to?
They see each other because one of the students in Sheldon’s class finds Theo calming, and so is allowed to spend time helping him if he has behaved all day in class. But I never quite felt either had much of an interest in the other besides surface attraction.
Both characters had fears and issues–Theo has PTSD and permanent injuries from the war. Sheldon is often judged on his appearance and presentation and doesn’t trust people not to abandon him they way his parents abandoned did.
But it felt like those issues were somewhat glided over, and I never quite felt an emotional connection between the two.
Also, they way Sheldon’s ex’s wedding was described was just … mean. Wham’s Last Christmas is just plain wrong in that scene for so very many reasons, firstly because it felt like a slam at Sheldon. That’s just … icky.
I was lovely how Theo’s parents took in Sheldon and his sister and wanted to make them family, that felt real. But the relationship between the two just never worked for me.
Characters: Sheldon Soleskin, Theodore Berenson, Naomi Soleskin, Gianna DeGarmo, Rebecca, Kent Lester, Walker Stevens, Sylvia Berenson, Christian, Anna, Becky Mason, Jolene, Ricky Joven, Marvin Block, Olan
Cover Art and design by Myriam Strasbourg
Rating: 6/10