Unfortunately, this book was just not for me.

I tried really hard to be interested, but the characters just seemed so unrealistic and childish to me. Valerie and Andrew were constantly arguing over stupid things, even when they were supposed to be in love. Simple communication could have fixed 99% of their problems. Even the principal never seemed to act like a real grownup, let alone the authority figure he was supposed to be.

The fact that they're rival teachers who are forced to share a classroom was such a fun concept! I'm sure there are many people who will love this book, I'm just not one of them.


Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Sidney Halston for the arc <3

2.5 stars

I hate to say it...because I feel as though I'm giving off the vibes that I am extremely picky and mean...but this book was not good, y'all. Even after they became "lovers," they were so MEAN to each other. At one point, the love interest asks the main character if she's psychotic??? Because she's playing music??? There's more context to it than that, but the reaction was so extreme that it took me out of it altogether. Never mind the silly subplot about one of them getting "fired," supposedly, which is literally just something they make up and then subsequently freak out about. Also, the conflict comes at the 92% mark, and shocker!! It's not a conflict at all! This book meanders HARD. Unfortunately, I couldn't find myself rooting for either of our MCs (which is saying a lot when you give me a stern teacher as a love interest--that's like my catnip).

anyway...Thank you to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Sidney Halston book. I enjoyed it, and it was a fun little read. The main characters had good banter, and I liked the change from enemies to lovers. Wish we got a little bit more about after giving birth, but I liked what they did with their jobs, and the conclusion.

2.5 -⭐⭐💫

<b> "You know, there's a very thin line between love and hate." </b>

<i> Love Lessons </i> is an adult standalone contemporary romance following Valeria and Andrew, two kindergarten teachers with widely different teaching styles that clash quite loudly at work. Yet when a moment of spontaneity leads to an unexpected pregnancy and further chaos arises when both are forced to teach together...in the same classroom. Will they find the line between hate and love is truly not clear or will they have to teach themselves a painful lesson?

I had high hopes for this book but ultimately I struggled to connect with the characters.

The premise is cheesy and cute. The classroom setting resonated with me as a teacher. I even like some of the drama that came with them having to learn to work together both in the classroom and in preparation for parentage. The hamsters were a real trip down memory lane for me! Valeria is very much a teacher who loves flexibility and engagement while Andrew is more rigid and rule following. I felt their clashes were so much enemies to lovers but just wildly different teachings that effectively engage their students.

I think for me the one issue I had with this book was that the romance that was supposed to unfold never really went anywhere - there were few moments of intimacy and no true banter (just fighting over teaching styles). It felt more like roommates trying to get along and then suddenly at the end they say they love each other. In addition, there were some pacing issues, inconsistencies, and things that just didn't make sense to me.

There is spice in this book that I would say is about a 1 spicy pepper out of 5. It is quite brief and only occurs twice in the novel - at the beginning and then towards the end. Again the spice wasn't romantic. I didn't feel a connection between the characters or love - it mainly just felt like they were horny and needing someone and the other was there.

Overall, I felt the premise was easygoing and there are some interesting elements to explore around family, work, and finding your place but without strong investment in the characters I was finding my mind wavering while I read.

Thank you so much Avon for this arc.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sidney Halston's team for letting me have the chance for the ARC. I also seen some mixed reviews on Goodreads upon reading the book. Valerie and Andrew are co-workers at a elementary school both teaching Kindergarten. They gave off Grumpy/vibes and Enemies to lovers vibes in the book. They both hated each other from the start. They had to combine classes whenever a tree had fallen. Which made them having to work together closely. There were some spicy scenes in it. Which happened to have an accidental pregnancy in the book. Which I wasn't expecting that to happen. Well, then they had to figure out to be friends and co-workers together. Andrew wanted to be supportive from the beginning whenever as soon as they found out. I liked the witty banter. Overall, it was a cute book about enemies to lovers book. More on the Adult side of reading for cussing and spice level.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Love Lessons follows Valerie and Andrew, two rival Kindergarten teachers who could not be more different from one another. Where Valerie is colors and music, Andrew is structure and silence. Trying to cooperate and classroom neighbors has proved nearly impossible, and when a disaster strikes and they are forced to become co-teachers in the same classroom, tensions rise.
And those tensions are not helped by the fact that they had a super steamy one-night-stand with each other that neither can forget about, no matter how much they want to.

I have to be completely honest- from the time that I requested this ARC to the time that I actually started reading it, I forgot that there was the surprise pregnancy aspect, and for just a moment, it took me out of the story because I was annoyed. But then I realized that it was my own fault, and so I sucked it up and was actually pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it here. It might have been because, as a mother myself, I resonated with a lot of Valerie's thoughts and feelings regarding parenthood. I was also down for Andrew being as instantly supportive of the pregnancy as he was, so those two things definitely softened me a little bit.

I gave this one three stars, however, because there were just parts of the writing/plot/chemistry between the two MCs that felt disjointed and awkward. The author goes from writing these steamy/insightful/beautiful moments, to following it up with something like "I liked it. It was hot." Or "So and so called. They talked."
It just felt like there were moments that got a lot of consideration and attention, and others that felt like they were written almost as a sort of filler to get the reader to the end. It was just inconsistent in tone, and that made it hard to really immerse myself.

Overall, this is a fun, low-stakes read that I finished fairly quickly, and while it did keep me entertained, there were just some structural components that took away from the experience.

I made the decision to DNF this one. It has tropes I really enjoy (accidental pregnancy, enemies to lovers) and I was a kindergarten teacher in the past so I was especially drawn to it! Maybe having been a kindergarten teacher myself made it more difficult to believe and invest in their story. It was all just very much unbelievable and the dialogue and writing tense didn’t flow naturally.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for this ARC!

I found this book challenging to get through - I am not sure if it was because of the way it was written or Valerie's character. She was super immature and annoyed me so much with the way she treated Andrew. He was a great character and easy to like. Valerie was not. The constant fighting and bickering was getting old and some points I felt like certain aspects were rushed. I love dual POV's but the third person view was not it for me. The ending was cute and was something I was rooting for but the stubbornness of Valerie made her unlikable for me. Overall I rate this a 2.75.

i literally had to pump myself to finish this book, i felt like it DRAGGED and there was no actual growth or progress between valerie and andrew in their personal life and professional life. i absolutely HATE the baby trope and this book ofc proved true.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!
All thoughts and opinions are my own

The enemies vibe is strong with this one. kindergarten teachers who annoy each other to the a one night stand and end up working out of one shared classroom. It was funny and had heartfelt moments, although pacing was a little slow the ending felt wrapped up too quickly.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

Controversial take, I’m not a pregnancy trope hater. Is it my favorite trope? Not at all, but I don’t actively turn away books because of it. Love Lessons by Sidney Halston was touted as a Abbott Elementary-esque rom-com. Really I wish it was more like Abbott Elementary, I felt like that vibe was majorly missing from the story. Valerie and Andrew are involved in an enemies -to-lovers situation where they are not only forced to teach together, but they also find out that Val is pregnant after a one-night stand over the summer. There was just something about that writing throughout the book that didn’t vibe with me. Maybe it was the dual narration that switched in-chapter instead of every chapter (which is just a personal preference), or that the relationship felt forced. Overall, this book was a cute and quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of "Love Lessons" by Sidney Halston. All opinions are my own.

Okay where to begin. This was marketed as such a cute rivals to lovers book between two teachers in an elementary school. Boy was I wrong.

Spoilers ahead:

I am so sick of unexpected pregnancies in these romcoms. If I had known that 70% of this book would be about the pregnancy, I would never have read it.

The FMC was so immature, especially in those classroom scenes. Playing music and distracting the kids when they're actually trying to teach just to spite the MMC? I get having different teaching methods and it seemed like he started to understand and appreciate that but I didn't see that same understanding on her end. Anyway this wasn't for me.

Love Lessons
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hmmmm…a few different things here. I think this may be my first accidental pregnancy romance (not a spoiler, it’s in the synopsis!) and I didn’t love it, but I don’t think it was because of the pregnancy, I think something was just off about the writing? The characters seemed very immature, like the banter between them was very childish and I also didn’t feel any tension or spark. It was also written in third person, but also sometimes not? So it was hard to connect for me. I don’t know if this will make sense, may be a “you need to be my head to get it” lol since this is my first accidental pregnancy romance I could just not be used to it, but it felt like the whole book was just the pregnancy and nothing else? Like I just read her birth story 🤷🏻‍♀️ where I feel like if that was almost secondary and we dug deeper into the characters relationship it would have been better? I also couldn’t stand that they continued to call each other by their last names! Overall, there were just too many missing pieces for me. I did love that it was dual POV, we get some spice (but that also felt weird lol), Valerie was kind of giving Jessica Day vibes and I loved her teaching style and I think the cover it really cute! The dedication made it sound like a fun, sexy read because it says “Sometimes we just need a fun, sexy book…” I wasn’t getting that ⭐️⭐️
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Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Sidney Halston for the e-arc! Love Lessons comes out August 6th!

2.5 Stars I was really excited for Love Lessons because it has some of my favorite tropes, including enemies to lovers, accidental pregnancy, and workplace romance. Sadly, it didn't meet my expectations. The relationship between the main characters felt forced, especially by the MMC, after the pregnancy is discovered. I'm glad that the FMC, Valerie, stuck by what she wanted and didn't change for the MMC. Overall, this was a light, quick read.

2.5 Stars I was really excited for Love Lessons because it has some of my favorite tropes, including enemies to lovers, accidental pregnancy, and workplace romance. Sadly, it didn't meet my expectations. The relationship between the main characters felt forced, especially by the MMC, after the pregnancy is discovered. I'm glad that the FMC, Valerie, stuck by what she wanted and didn't change for the MMC. Overall, this was a light, quick read.

While a good majority of people will not enjoy this book because of the unplanned pregnancy trope, it’s the reason that I enjoyed it. Aside from this though, there was minimal character development, and their connection didn’t feel believable. I love that it’s a cute romance between two teachers though, and will recommend it to this demographic when possible. Thank you for the chance to read this advanced copy!

If you are looking for a light Romance, Love Lessons by Sidney Halston was a fun, easy read.
The setup of two Kindergarten teachers, both very dedicated to their profession but with completely opposite teaching styles and personalities, attracted and kept my interest throughout the book. I enjoyed the mix of friction and fondness between the two “love interests.” The further I got into the story, the more I found I could not put the book down. I was eager to see how it would resolve.
One small negative – as a teacher of “littles” myself, it bothered me at first that the author did not accurately portray Kindergarten (Spelling Bee in K?!). However, the more invested in the story I became, the less that bothered me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advance copy.

DNF at 5%

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't even make it through the first chapter before I had to put my kindle down and stop reading. This is an enemies to lovers between two teachers and I don't know if it's the language used but I cannot stand the writing. These two grown adults also act like bickering children and it's frankly very immature. From the little I read, they seem to fight over every little thing with the children in their class watching. I don't think I have the motivation to continue reading so here is my mini review. There are better enemies to lovers romance out there that don't insult the intelligence of the reader.

I found this book to be a cute and fast paced romance between two kindergarten teachers at the same school. After a tree takes out their kindergarten classrooms they have to work together to overcome their differences and be coteachers. I will say that i am not the biggest fan of the pregnancy trope and I found that this book at the half way mark just turned into a book about her being pregnant and how they have to overcome their differences to be able to raise their child. It felt a little forced to me and it was too much talk about pregnancy for me. Although it does end with a happily ever after so at least there is that. Overall, this was a cute read, and I’m glad it ended with them together, but the course of events seemed a bit predictable in the long run. This book is for you if you enjoy a little bit of enemies to lovers and the pregnancy trope. Happy reading!

The beginning of the book was okay for me and I love a good enemies to lovers but the main characters chemistry just felt off. i love the school setting and the force proximity when they have to combine their classes but the banter was just off for me. The surprise pregnancy isn't one of my favorite tropes (personally). This book definitely had a little bit of everything.