Cole McCade's Just Like That is a DNF for me. I found it to be slow, boring, and too descriptive for my taste.

I’ve actually been sitting at my computer watching my cursor blink for over 5 minutes. This book is just such a mixed bag for me that I don’t know how to start or what to say. So, I’m going with stream of thought to start to see if it kick-starts my brain. I should start by saying this is a new-to-me author, although it looks like he has a solid back library of a multitude of genres. And I absolutely love his bio on his Goodreads page.

Quite frankly, as much as I tried to see past it, my brain kept getting caught up on the student/teacher dynamic of Summer and Fox. Not where they are right now in their lives, but where they were a mere 5 or so years ago. In my mind, it’s too soon. Part of that may be that I have boys in Summer’s age-range and I’m somewhere in Fox’s age-range. But I’ve read plenty of age gap romances without issues, which makes me think it’s the power dynamic that is bothering me. Unfortunately, whatever my hang up was, it kept interrupting my flow while reading this story.

On the other hand, I adore the beginning of the actual relationship with these two. While it’s a bit of an aside, there is not a huge issue about gay/straight/bi. I was getting the vibe of “we love who we love”, and that’s something I always appreciate.

Here’s the thing, some of the things about this story that I wasn’t crazy about are things I think others will love. In my opinion, the author gets too wordy at times. In the beginning, it was actually appreciated by me. But once I got a feeling for the characters and their surroundings it felt like overkill. Some sentences would go on for so long I would forget what the sentence was trying to tell me in the first place. At a certain point, it turned into me feeling as though the author was telling me instead of showing me. Which made the link between Fox and Summer weaken at times. I felt a connection between the two for the first half of the book, but it started to wane the more every nuance was explained to me over and over again.

Although this story is a romance with an eventual HEA, it has on overall depressing (almost oppressive) feeling throughout. Again, something that some readers may love and appreciate. For me, not so much. There were also a few things that irked me here and there. I’m not going to list them out, but I can’t leave this one alone. You do NOT call a deceased spouse/significant other an ex. Just don’t. I would never call my deceased dad my mom’s ex-husband. It’s just icky to do so.

Trying to come up with a star rating is almost impossible for me on this one. Here’s how I’m going to do this. There were times in this story where I would have considered it a solid 4-stars. There were times that I had to bargain with myself to keep reading to the end of a chapter. There are things I disliked that I know others will enjoy. Since it seems my feelings waffle between a 2 and a 4, I’ll split the difference.

Oddly enough, after reading the Goodreads bio I mention at the beginning of my review, I’m curious to read something else by this author. He’s definitely got potential. I’d like to see if it’s just that we aren’t a good fit, or if I just read the wrong book by him.

This was so good. The synopsis made me think one thing and had me a little reluctant to start this book, but it was incredible and I cannot wait for the next.

after seven years, summer hemlock is returning to omen, massachusetts for a new job at albin academy as a TA for guarded, cold professor fox iseya—who he was infatuated with as a teenager.

◦ so i was actually really excited for this one from the first page, since right off the bat it was clear that this is a super well-written book: mccade's prose is lush and enthralling, easy to fall into. but the story itself ultimately fell short. it reads like fanfiction—by no means is that a bad thing, necessarily!—and i just wasn't prepared for that.

◦ the whole daily act of bravery thing itself just wasn't believable—the narrative tries to make something that's actually super corny (a kiss a day) into something beautiful and deep, and it just pulled me out of the story completely. even the way summer and fox encounter one another for the first time was just... silly. and this isn't a silly book, so i guess it just felt disjointed.

◦ the setting is also... not explored in a way that's fulfilling—i mean we never really get a sense of albin academy, its culture, its people, even if it briefly tries.

◦ (are teachers at boarding schools called professors? i don't think so? i'm pretty sure professor is specifically a higher-ed role.)

◦ the execution of summer as a character was gravely flawed, for me. i understand what he was supposed to be: anxious, shy, chronically avoiding eye contact. but he's not consistent. he becomes brave and rash and puts his foot in his mouth when it's convenient for the plot—when he's goading fox into doing something. and then he goes back to being someone else. it's explained away by summer thinking something along the lines of, why did i say that? what came over me? afterwards, and to me that's kind of lazy characterization. it wouldn't have been a problem at all had the plot not created the issue of needing to rope fox into the kissing agreement in the first place.

◦ i do think that one thing that was done really well was the depiction of grief; fox's development overall is actually really lovely—how he goes from being terrified and trapped by walls of his own creation to being willing to give himself, and life, another chance. i preferred his narration over summer's for sure, and his character arc was something i appreciated a lot.

◦ i'm also really glad that the former student/teacher dynamic was never spun into something dramatic and taboo—which isn't something i'm necessarily not ok with, but i don't think it would've worked in this book specifically. the past is discussed, of course, as is the age difference, but i think it was handled well.

◦ overall i didn't love just like that as much as i wanted to. it's beautifully-written, crafted by a gentle, sensitive hand, but the story itself didn't quite do it for me.

◦ 2.5 stars!

*arc received from netgalley & publisher in exchange for an honest review!

thanks to the publisher and netgalley for granting me a copy for honest review.

just like that follows the story of summer hemlock (GREAT name btw), who returns to his hometown of omen, massachusetts to be closer to his mom. he gets a teaching assistant job at his old school, albin academy - which he attended on a full scholarship, thanks to his dad who had worked there.

summer, who is an overwhelming ball of insecurity and anxiety, works alongside professor fox iseya - the professor who captured his attention during his senior year, and who he's had a crush on ever since. summer's anxiety makes doing new tasks incredibly daunting, so he and fox create a system (a game?) where summer is rewarded with a kiss from fox every day he does something new and brave.

the romance in this is very similar to the other cole mccade books i've read, in that it is slow-building and soft and takes characters out of their comfort zones. for summer, he learns to overcome his fears to enjoy spending time with the man he loves; for fox, he has to burrow deep beyond the grief he has guarded himself with for so long, to begin caring for summer. the relationship is sweet and rewarding, as you watch these two characters fight to get to a place where they are happy and comfortable.

i enjoyed this book, and i read it quickly, but i didn't love it like i did cole's other books. the writing is lovely as always (although maybe too many ellipses... there's only so much breath i can take) and it never felt slow or boring, but i have to admit the teacher/student thing always puts me off a little; especially when the student had a crush when he was still just that, a student. but obviously everything that happens in this book is well beyond that time frame, so i still enjoyed it for what it was. i also think the end was just a little too.... dramatic for a book that had been anything but! but that's more of a personal preference than anything to do with the book. i'll definitely look forward to the second instalment in this new series.

A May-December Romance

Because his mother needs help, Summer Hemlock returns to his hometown. He gets a job as a teaching assistant at his old prep school, Albin Academy. Being a scholarship student and shy, Summer never felt comfortable at the school. There was, however, one person he idolized. He had a serious crush on his psychology professor, Fox Iseya.

Professor Iseya is a stern enclosed man. He lost his wife when he was young, and since has kept his emotions under tight control. However, working closely with Summer and trying to help him overcome his anxiety, Fox begins to thaw and come to care deeply for the young man.

This is a male-male love story, but it’s told with sensitivity. Even more than just a romance, it is a story of moving beyond the past to find your true self. The story addresses difficult issues including the age difference of the main characters, the problem of a teacher falling for his assistant, and the problems of letting go of past behaviors.

The setting for the story is well done. I hope the series continues so that we can see more of Albin Academy. The characters are compelling. Throughout the story they are testing their feelings and growing into the people they want to become.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. "Just Like That" is a very nice story of two people falling in love. In this case two men, a former student with his professor. It was the first book of this author but not the last one for sure. I only can recommend reading it

Fox and Summer have an intense connection almost from the first moments that they see each other after all these years. I really liked the fact that although they have this connection they really build up to their relationship. And it definitely gets spicer and spicer between the two of them. McCade does not hold back and he really delivered some HOT moments between Summer and Fox.

It did take me a little bit to connect to the characters but I ended up really enjoying both characters a lot. Both Fox and Summer have great character growth and I loved seeing how their feelings for each other made them stronger. Another aspect that I really loved was the Asian representation of Fox. I feel like I got to know more aspects of that culture that I didn’t know before and I always love when books are able to teach me things.

It wasn't until I looked up this author that I found out that one of his other books is one of my favorite books to re-read. This book was steamy AND cute all at the same time. I loved both main characters and how they helped each other through their trauma and mental illness. Definitely read this book!!

Summer Hemlock and Fox Iseya

Oh boy.
Fox Iseya is a sharp-tongued man with an ice-cold demeanor. After his wife died many years ago Fox just stopped living. His attitude is the only thing he has to keep humans at distance.

Summer is a twenty-five, anxious, brave, young, and delicate, who unarmed Fox at first sight.
His soft voice, kind smiles, and knowing eyes, Summer sees right through him.
Fox tries everything to withstand Summer but he never had a chance.

After seven years Summer is back at the elite Albin Academy, now working directly under and with Professor Fox Iseya. The man who always made him anxious and more.
Somehow the tables are turned. Haughty Fox wants Summer to be brave so Summer does the bravest thing, kissing Fox.

“The water glided over him as if it loved him, and wanted to cling to him as closely as possible.”

Just like the water Fox wants to be close to Summer but can’t commit, this is his last year at Albin Academy. Summer wants Fox to be brave too.

Ghawd what a romantic story, with kind vulnerable personalities.
While all those sentences were beautifully written in long extended deeply moving ways, at times I wished they were wam bam short. I was so anxious and impatient it was too much, the road to the ultimate place was long and I wanted the fast way, not getting there through a maze but the short way. Even though the maze was full of beautiful flowers, they distracted from my goal.
Gosh, I feel superficial saying this, the author is a master with words, while I’m focused on the goal this author does everything to avoid it. The road is what matters not the goal itself.
I know, I KNOW!!

I loved this story very. It was deeply moving and highly romantic, with the most lovable precious characters.

When Summer Hemlock finished high school he left his small town to find himself… 7 years later he is returning to that same town and school with no better idea of who he really is.

Professor Fox Iseya is not impressed that the shy, quiet and fearful Mr. Hemlock, his former student, is the man hired to be his TA and whom he is supposed to train to be his replacement. How will this timid creature ever step in front of the classroom to deliver a lesson?

This calls for some lessons bravery. Professor Iseya challenges Summer to one act of bravery a day. Summer accepts, but decides his acts of bravery deserve their own daily award; a kiss, freely given by the Professor himself!

This May-December romance was really sweet. I wasn’t sure how this would go, but these two made a perfect pair. I loved watching them both support and push the other to become a better version of themselves without changing who they are.

As always, Carina Press delivers the happily ever after I crave! A cute read that I totally recommend!

Just Like That by Cole McCade is scheduled to release June 30th, 2020.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harlequin and the Harlequin Publicity Team. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#JustLikeThat #ColeMcCade #NetGalley #pinkcowlandreads

Just Like That is this month's addition to the Carina Adores line, huzzah! I've been meaning to read McCade and this is a fine introduction.

Before I go any further I want to point out that there are tropes with squick potential including age gap (24/pushing 50) and the fact that this is a teacher/former student romance. The content warnings are detailed at the front, but I especially want to point out anxiety (including a panic attack on the page) and suicidal ideation.

The romance is hurt/comfort in both directions - Summer has a bright, soft personality and is continuing a lifetime struggle with anxiety, while Fox has built up prickly armor around a traumatic event from his past. Both are psychology teachers, so it should be no surprise that the conflict is entirely internal. Expect lots of talking and ruminating with a fair side of angst.

Let's start with the good, at least for me. McCade's writing is descriptive and flowery, and it won't be for everyone. It was just what I wanted right now, though - flowing and lyrical in a way that felt comforting.

Fox is half-Japanese/half-Western and grew up in Japan to age 14. I found one small bobble in the Japanese culture references, which is pretty good considering how much authors usually get wrong.

As for the not-so-good, the believability isn't quite there for me. Fox and Summer have make out sessions in their classroom on the regular, the assistant principal doesn't even blink an eye when he walks in on them. There's a side character that shares living space with Summer, but he disappears as soon as he's not needed for the plot. And while I get the romance, I’m not completely sold on Summer and Fox as a couple.

Speaking of, to the reviewers saying that a formerly straight guy goes gay for his student - stop. Fox never said he was straight. There is something called bisexuality, let's not forget it.

Between the squick potential and the writing style it's hard to recommend Just Like That to everyone, but I'm sure it will have its fans. I'm looking forward to reading another book by McCade to get a better feel for what he can do.

J'ai découvert Cole McCade avec Over and over again. J'avais été séduite par son style et avais adoré ce roman. J'ai eu envie de retenter un autre roman avec cette toute nouvelle sortie !

Nous suivons ici Summer, un jeune homme d'une vingtaine d'années, qui retourne dans sa ville d'origine, Omen. Il a obtenu une place d'assistant à l'université auprès du certain Fox Iseya, un professeur qu'il connaît très bien...

Summer est un homme très peu sûr de lui, et peu par moment avoir de fortes angoisses. Alors, lorsqu'il revoit son ancien professeur, on va pouvoir se demander comment il va réussir à lutter contre ses peurs, ses désirs. Fox Iseya est un homme qu'il vénère mais dont il était amoureux aussi. C'est un tout, un ensemble. Et même s'il le craint d'un certain côté, il le désire. J'ai été surprise de voir son changement de comportement auprès de lui et surtout son côté osé, vu ce qu'il fait à leur première rencontre et ce qu'il lui demande par la suite.

Après, j'ai beaucoup aimé les échanges qu'il y a entres les deux personnages. Ils se lancent des pics pendant un bon moment. On y trouve beaucoup de non-dits, d'introspection.
Fox est âgé de 46 ans, il y a 21 ans d'écart entre lui et son ancien élève. Fox a un côté assez torturé, assez froid de prime abord, c'est un homme très seul aussi. Il va être un peu bousculé par Summer et va se rendre compte progressivement du bien que lui procure le jeune homme.
J'ai aimé le côté persistant de Summer, il m'a fait sourire plus d'une fois !

Dommage que l'auteur ne développe pas plus certaines choses. Après, j'ai vraiment bien aimé ce premier tome et il me tarde de poursuivre la saga !

Just Like That is a story of one man finding himself years after a profound loss and another that is learning who he wants to be.
Summer Hemlock is fresh out of university trying to find his career, he didn’t expect to land back home in Omen, Massachusetts. He secures a position teaching at Albin Academy boarding school, directly under the man who he fosters a crush on while he was a teenager, Professor Fox Iseya.
At their first meeting, Professor Iseya has little faith in Summer’s abilities. I hurt for Summer in these moments, because it felt like Professor Iseya was tearing him to pieces and didn’t even care about the damage he was doing. Summer acted out, in a moment of bravery, and kissed his childhood crush. From that action, the entire course of the school year changes.
A daily act of bravery, Summer gets a kiss from Professor Iseya. The kisses turn into something more and hold a different meaning to them both. Summer whittles away at the walls Fox had put up since the passing of his wife. Fox allows himself to feel something other than nothing and they get lost in each other in the process.
The steam factor on this one I’d give a four out of five. Each scene was intense, full of passion that had been so tightly bound for so long, it was explosive once they were together. A May/December romance, featuring workplace, desk top sex? Woo, I was not expecting that.
Why did this get a three out of five stars? For me, I was expecting so much more. There was so much focus on Fox, with only a brief moment when Summer figured out what he wanted in life. I wish there would have been more to their relationship. I was left wanting, but still satisfied with the resolution of the story.

This read like a BL or yaoi drama to me. And I don’t mean that in the sense BL is a much lesser form of fiction. I do enjoy reading them, had some favorite titles, and some had dark and complex story to them. But JUST LIKE THAT felt dreamlike yet superficial contemporary romance with flowery words and overelaborate characters.

I blame myself for expecting too much from this age-gapped, former student/teacher to lovers between Fox and Summer. Their romance didn’t ring true, Summer’s transformation over his longtime crush of his once teacher how he handled> Fox was instantaneous and - while I tipped my hat to Fox for not freaking out over his feeling for Summer when all his life he was basically straight - Fox’s budding feeling to his former student didn’t sound convincing enough. Even with alternate POVs, the insight into the characters and their background story were fuzzy and choppy. And don’t get me started on the number of romantic interludes between these two that took place in public premises, considering they were teachers in a boarding school.

I guess as a romance it delivered in the way both men find their happy beginning together following the over the top gestures. But overall JUST LIKE THAT was forgettable drama for me. It’s a matter of personal preferences, I am sure - it’s just too bad as I felt this book had potential to be more. As the first entry to a new series, JUST LIKE THAT set a path for the following shenanigans in “Albin Academy” universe, though it barely served in its introductory role. The upside is, it left boundless possibility how the next installment would take after this.


Copy of this book is kindly given by the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

JUST LIKE THAT is a shockingly good LGBT romance. Summer is returning to the town he left behind to be a teacher's assistant for the private high school he had attended and to be able to help his mother with her house. Summer has anxiety, which makes his nervous about how he will be able to teach. He has mixed feelings about it, primarily because of the teacher he will be working with, Fox Iseya.

Fox teaches the elective psychology class, and Summer had spent his senior year with a huge crush on him. Fox is about to retire and was hoping his TA would take over the job for him, so he could fade into the distance. Fox has built a million walls around himself in his grief over his wife's death 20 years ago. When Summer arrives, he shocks Fox into starting to let down those walls- but he knows anything will be temporary.

The romance here builds slowly and beautifully- the writing was truly captivating. To be honest, I was not sure how I would feel about the dynamic of TA with teacher (especially with the high school crush). However, Fox barely noticed him in high school, so nothing was going on there, and the relationship between TA and teacher was more of peers than boss/employee style. They worked together rather than for one another, so the relationship dynamic began on even ground.

Both of the characters were really well constructed with flaws and heartfelt personalities. I really fell in love with both of them, and the differences in age and life status seemed insignificant. It is hard to describe, but I doubt many would be disappointed in picking this one up.

Heartfelt and genuine, JUST LIKE THAT is a lovely LGBT romance that I highly recommend. Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Just Like That is the first book in the Albin Academy series and we start with Summer, a former student of said academy, and Fox, a teacher there. Summer is thrown in at the deep end when he returns to the school and finds nothing much has changed - including Fox Iseya! Although Summer has his own foibles, he is completely aware of them and challenges himself to work past them. Fox is swept away by Summer and doesn't really know where he stands or what to do with this young man life has thrown in his direction.

This is a gentle romance and the reader gets to watch it change and grow as Fox and Summer fall for each other. Yes, there are sexy times but nothing I would say was out of character for either of them. The surroundings are described perfectly and there are a wealth of secondary characters to highlight the story and the roles they play.

This was a fantastic start to the series and I really can't wait to see where it goes next. Absolutely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

The writing was a bit too lyrical, so it made the story so superficial. I just did not feel the romance connection between Summer and Fox. I love a good professor - student romance, but this book didn't work for me.

This book is a wonderful, heartfelt, touching surprise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking for a change of pace I decided to read and review this book. I’ve never heard of the author and the synopsis sounded intriguing.

Even from the first few chapters I knew this book was going to be something special. The ability to write in a markedly different manner just really sets this book apart.

This is a male/male relationship but just the way the author describes and tells the story is in a very sensitive yet intriguing manner. The author articulates perfectly a person who wants to hide within himself, yet finds immeasurable strength when needed. There’s a perfect balance in the characters between soft and hard, terse and polite, even dominant versus submissive personalities.

This is a love story, eventually. But it’s also a blossoming story of change and finding your true self. Letting yourself be who it needs to be without apology.

It’s a story of letting the past go and embracing a new future. It’s a story of hope and happiness. The author beautifully articulates the passion of his characters and the emotion that builds between them.

The story is very heated and also very sensual, if that makes sense between two male characters. I was truly blown away by the sensitivity and uniqueness of the story and the characters.

Like I said prior, I have never read this author before but he has written many other books that I plan on reading. I absolutely and thoroughly loved this book. A wonderful, heartfelt, touching surprise. Bravo!

How strange, he thought. How strange indeed, that the world suddenly became more real, more crisp, the colors sharper about the edges in the slow span of breaths it took to wait for Summer to answer.

Good gods, where do I even begin with how utterly trash I am for Cole's characters, and how wholly captivated I am by this story?

But in certain circumstances, someone's name could be a love word. Intimate and shivering, rolling off the tongue.

As I've found to be the case with everything I've read from Cole so far, this isn't a fluffy, easy romance — it's soft and slow-building and even a little bit painful at time, because these are three-dimensional characters with aches and memories and traumas that have shaped them — but it is an incredibly rewarding romance, and you can rest easy knowing that these soft, broken men are still going to get the happily ever after they deserve... they just might have to fight for it. But that's my favorite part, truly.

Suddenly the stone of Iseya wasn't forbidding, but instead... stable ground. Stable ground that made Summer's world stop spinning out of control, that held him in place and grounded him until he could stop feeling like the floor was dropping out from beneath him.

Whether it's Summer's anxiety and past traumas or Iseya's loss of his first love and the way he's hidden from his grief for so long, there are a lot of heavy moments in this story. There's a depicting of loss and depression so deep it broke my heart, but there are light, sweet moments of domestic tenderness that patched it back up. Summer is such a brave, eager young thing despite his anxiety; on the other hand, stoic Iseya is tough as nails on the outside and fragile on the inside, but watching him slowly recognize that he deserved to give himself another chance at happiness? That was everything. Not to mention, his incredibly emotional Buddhist rituals and his gradual return to his love for herbalism? I loved these quiet moments of insight into his character so much.

Everything had that feeling of old spaces, of haunted spaces, quiet and whispered; the kind of place that had lace curtains and ghosts and a fifth step between every floor that creaked when the shades walked on it at night.

I'm reluctant to stray from rambling about how much I cared for the characters, but I have to also gush about the writing. Cole's way with words is absolutely brilliant and I'm already craving a return to the dark, cozy atmosphere of Albin Academy. I'm so pleased that it looks like we'll be spending more time in these halls soon! I also have to give a mention to the brief nod to Khalaji and Summer's time in Baltimore, as I'm such a sucker for authors who let their series cross paths here and there. ♥

Everything felt odd to him, as if he were an ancient and rusted machine whose circuits and pathways had gone dormant for so long that the first surge of sizzling lightning pouring through them was just a painful rush, electricity searing and burning and singeing fine and fragile things to ash because they just couldn't handle it anymore.

Lastly, I can't review this without addressing the fact that there are elements that some readers are probably going to find a bit taboo in this story. Summer is a former student of Iseya's (though nothing whatsoever happened while Summer was younger), and Iseya is more-or-less Summer's supervisor. I'm not a romance reader who has many triggers or topics I consider taboo, to be fair, but I still feel wholly confident in saying that Cole executes these tropes brilliantly, without playing into power dynamic problems or imbalances. As long as you don't expect the pairing in and of itself to bother you, I can't recommend this gorgeous romance highly enough!