The primary challenge I find with the accidental pregnancy trope is the lingering question that plagues the HEA: “If it weren't for the baby, would they be together?” This concern is one of the reasons I am not the biggest fan of the trope; however, I thoroughly appreciate how Sidney did not shy away from addressing the elephant in the room. In fact, in "Love Lessons," that seed of doubt was brought front and center. There was no instant love connection or drive by both characters to do the "honorable thing". Sidney flipped the script and presented not only the obstacle of an unexpected pregnancy but one between mortal enemies. The twists and turns they had to navigate not only added wit, charm, and cheesy grin-worthy humor, it also made you fall in love with the characters and the ending even more than intended.

Valerie Martinez and Andrew Wexler, both kindergarten teachers at Gables Preparatory Academy, share a wall, a passion for molding young minds, and a hatred for one another that rivals feuds between great nations. From singing loudly and beating on drums to turning up the air conditioner as retribution, the petty squabbles and an unexpected paint fight land the adversaries in the principal's office. Having reached his limits, Principal Carmichael makes it clear that they must get along for the final two weeks of the year or one of them will be fired. Both loving what they do, they call a ceasefire. Claws retracted, Valerie and Andrew make nice, a little too nice in fact, as a going-away party turns into one of the hottest nights either of them has ever had. An awkward morning after and a summer in Haiti later, Valerie returns to find out that while neither of them is fired, they must share a classroom due to storm damage to their part of the school. Knowing what is at stake if either of them refuses, they work out a plan to co-teach. All of it becomes too much for Valerie as suddenly she doesn't want to eat, is overly emotional, generally feels unwell, finds the smell of playdough repulsive, and does the unthinkable in front of a classroom of children. Believing it is a bug going around, she suddenly realizes that a very important visitor hasn't come in almost 10 weeks. Rushing home, she discovers she is pregnant, and even worse - it is Wexler’s! Knowing motherhood was never in her cards, Valerie has to decide what she wants for the future while trying to survive the school year with her mortal enemy and now the father of her child.

Sidney did a wonderful job of mixing forced proximity with opposites attract and enemies to lovers. Having gone head-to-head for four years as the only two kindergarten teachers in the school, you get a pretty detailed glimpse of the war zone they created. The twist of sticking them in the same classroom is one I did not see coming! So now you have two enemies stuck in the same room together and if they even breathe the word "conflict", Carmichael has already threatened to fire one of them! At this point, they don’t even know there is a baby! The introduction to yet another obstacle between them just adds to the delicious chaos. What wins you over is the very slow evolution of the characters. The more time they spend together, granted the more they want to kill each other, but the more you do have to agree with what everyone keeps saying—there really is a thin line between love and hate.

Looking at the spicy level of modern-day contemporary romances, I definitely would not categorize this as spicy. Steamy, definitely, and two particular scenes were fairly hot, but again, not to the extent that most books labeled as “spicy” are reaching now. With that being said, overly spicy scenes wouldn’t have been necessary, to be honest. The challenge to hide their desires and want for one another after succumbing to them at the beginning of the story is what added to it. Martinez was so determined to forget what happened between them that you, as the reader, almost forget they had been intimate, if it wasn’t for the shared bundle of joy they were expecting! What I appreciated is that during their first intimate moment, Sidney made sure the animosity between them was still present in the bedroom. They weren’t going to stop being enemies because, for a brief moment, they became lovers, and Sidney made sure that was articulated.

The question that lingered through the entire book was simple: Can two people with nothing in common, when forced into an unimaginable situation, come out in one piece on the other side? There were so many times I was convinced it wasn’t going to happen and couldn’t imagine how they were going to have an HEA. With that being said, what I enjoyed is that without my knowledge, Sidney was challenging my definition of an HEA by making their situation such an obstacle. When we arrived at the end, any assumptions of what we thought their HEA should have been were satisfied by the only HEA it could have been with these two people, and it was perfect.

This is my second book by Sidney Halston, and I loved it just as much as "The Valentine’s Hate." The realness and relatability of her characters and stories are what make them treasured favorites. I would love to see what else Sidney has up her sleeves as she has a true talent for challenging the truth in fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

I love a good romance set in the classroom, and this one gives such New Girl vibes, but if the romance was between two teachers. We have a grumpy-sunshine, with FMC Valerie as a free-spirited, music-loving teacher and Andrew as our straight-laced teacher of discipline. The two get off on the wrong feet and have opposing ideologies on how to teach - until they are forced to work together after a freak accident. Warning: to those who hate the accidental pregnancy trope, this book does have that!! I guess I would say the accidental pregnancy is what ultimately allows for some strong doting from Andrew, who learns to cook all of Valerie's cravings and does his best to care for her, though I will say that I was hoping for better abortion representation (I get it, it doesn't fit with the trope persay, but...I don't know, it really didn't make sense for Valerie's character and where she was in life?) I think because of this trope, there wasn't as much buildup on the romance end or any secret pining, but rather a fast movement into caretaking - I'm personally a lover of the pining, so I was disappointed in that, but ultimately found this to be a lighthearted rom-com read, if you're missing the vibes of Jess in New Girl!

I enjoyed the plot and story line of this book.
I love the idea of a teacher romance. It is super delish in that sense. So many great elements of this book played out well. I think there was just some dialogue that took me out at times.

Love Lessons is a cute romance with good banter and some funny moments. I do think it was a little too predictable for me which made it less enjoyable. But overall it was an easy summer read and I will probably read more books by Sidney Halston.
Thank you Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

This book was the most adorable read! The relationship that develops between Valerie and Andrew was the cutest. I loved the accidental pregnancy, enemies to lovers, and forced proximity tropes in this book. The characters were a great mix of sweet and spicy and the banter was next level! I loved the HEA at the ending so much and I even teared up a few times while reading this! I am a mom and it had me all in my feels when Valerie went to have the baby.

Valerie was so quirky and fun. I love that she doesn't let anyone hold her back from being herself. She really starts to see herself in a new light after becoming a mom.

Andrew was so adorable. He falls first and hard! He was the most precious thing with his sweaters and although he is really uptight, I felt like he started to unwind more and more once Valerie came into his life as more than his enemy.

I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone I know! Thank you Avon and Netgalley for the e-arc of this book. These opinions are honest and my own.

3.5 stars
Love Lesson is a fun enemies to lovers story about to kindergarten teachers. I was really excited for this one because I don't see about the books in this setting.
Valerie is a fun spunky teacher who hates her co-work Andrew who's one of those boring by the teachers. They fight about everything and they make the whole school miserable. However one heated argument leads to a steamy one night stand or so they thought. They get the news a few weeks later their school was damaged and they will be sharing a classroom next school year. Then Valerie realizes she's pregnant and they have to learn how navigate this new relationship. Love Lessons was a cute read but it didn't really have much spice.

Andrew and Valerie are kindergarten teachers that have always been at odds due to their polarizing teaching styles. Andrew is very militant while Valerie has a very free spirited teaching style. Until one night, with the help of a little alcohol they end up sleeping together. After going their separate ways for summer break, Valerie finds out that she’s pregnant. Valerie and Andrew not only have to find a way to navigate the pregnancy and raising a child, but due to a tree falling on their building they have to co-teach a class together.


𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:
Okay I have to admit this book was pretty cute (especially as a fellow early childhood teacher). I really enjoyed that you felt like you really knew the characters, their backgrounds and even that you got to know their families a little bit.

I know a lot of the reviewers felt like it wasn’t a true enemies-to-lovers, and I would partially agree? It was more enemies to lovers light. Though if you’re a teacher and have ever come across another teacher that has a teaching style you completely disagree with, you know the emotions that it can bring up and that they aren’t usually positive. ☠️

I do wish the book was a little longer. It felt like the romantic relationship between Andrew and Valerie could have been expanded on a little bit more than it was since a lot of it centered around the pregnancy.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Der Liebesroman “Love Lessons” präsentiert ein frisches Setting an einer Schule und zwei Hauptcharaktere, die das Leben ganz unterschiedlich angehen. Aufgrund ihres Jobs sind sie gezwungen zunächst in Räumen nebeneinander und später sogar in einem Klassenzimmer zu unterrichten. Dabei kracht es, aber auch ein Knistern liegt in der Luft.

Darauf aufbauend empfand ich den Verlauf der Liebesgeschichte zunächst interessant und auch unterhaltsam.

In Bezug auf die beiden Hauptcharaktere habe ich mit der Heldin gerne Zeit verbracht, mit dem Helden hatte ich teils so meine Probleme. Ich konnte in manchen Szenen sein Verhalten nicht verstehen und fand ihn gerade am Anfang auch nicht immer sympathisch. Das wurde im Verlauf des Romans glücklicherweise besser.

Die große Entwicklung um die ungeplante Schwangerschaft (siehe Klappentext) war leider keine, die mich vollauf begeistern konnte. Ein anderer Verlauf des Romans hätte mir besser gefallen. Insgesamt konnte mich die zweite Hälfte der Liebesgeschichte nicht wirklich mitreißen und ich habe mit ein paar Sachen gehadert.

Blicke ich auf mein Leseerlebnis zurück, so retten die unterhaltsamen Szenen im Liebesroman (primär die im ersten Drittel) und vor allem die Heldin meine Bewertung.

🖤🖤🖤

Für wen?

Wer Liebesromane mag, in denen Menschen mit recht unterschiedlichen Charakteren ein Paar werden und in denen eine ungeplante Schwangerschaft Heldin und Helden verbindet, für den könnte “Love Lessons” eine gute Wahl sein.

It was okay - not my favorite, but didn’t wow me. I figured I would give this one a try because the concept of it seemed fun - I mean, who doesn’t love a good enemies to lovers? But this one just fell a bit flat for me, and I wouldn’t exactly say these two were enemies at the start, either.

The story overall felt very rushed but also too drawn out in places. Like it felt like we jumped immediately into things with very little backstory (which we learn a little bit about along the way-ish), and I felt like I couldn’t really connect with the main characters. The writing style also tweaked me out a bit as it alternated way more than I would want and then switched from first person to third in a way I felt like I was questioning which viewpoint I was reading. It was a style choice, and now one that I personally feel helped move the book along in any way.

That being said, I can still see people more than loving this book. It’s definitely a quick read and there are parts that are fun, this one just wasn’t for me.

I honestly enjoyed this book! I enjoyed seeing Valerie and Andrew get to know each other more despite their differences. As a former teacher, this book hit close to home. ❤️

Not bad, but not great.

I think the idea behind it is great, and I even found myself enjoying some parts of it. But for the most part it was just meh. I normally love accidental pregnancy and hate-to-love but this just felt kind of rushed and forced in some places.

3/5 stars

I definitely had really high hopes going into this book, advertised as an enemies to lovers and for lovers of Abbott Elementary so I was super excited, but unfortunately it did not meet my expectations and I was a bit disappointed. As someone who wanted to be a teacher when I grew up, I thought the premise and plot was super cute and I thought that we got to know the characters pretty well and their families, which I appreciated.

One of the biggest reasons this book was a let down for me was honestly because it was advertised as a spicy enemies to lovers romance and it disappointed in both categories. I would barely describe the two teachers as enemies and more so characters that didn’t get along, they bickered like siblings and their reason for not liking each other wasn’t enough to really make the trope work. In addition there were only two spicy scenes so to me it was more of a fluffy fiction if anything. I honestly think the book didn’t work because it overall lacked depth and surface with the characters and with how short the book was there was little time for the characters to develop. The shortness of the book honestly hurt my ability to really fall in love with the characters because there was no time, the pregnancy happened before I even really understood why the characters disliked each other.

I think this books works more for people into a fluffy, quick, and mostly focused on pregnancy book than those focused on the romance part. And looking back on it, it was pretty mundane and I don’t even know what the climax was honestly. The characters gave me more friendship vibes than full on romance.

The ending in my opinion was a bit rushed and incomplete, but overall had potential I just wasn’t in love with it!

———————————

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Sidney Halston and the publisher Avon, Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so super cute! It was a really quick, light, and heartwarming read and perfect for back to school season. It left me with all the warm fuzzies and a smile on my face after reading. Andrew was the perfect cinnamon roll character. This did remind me of Abbott Elementary, and I love that show!

This book was adorable. Very cheesy but cute. I read it in 1 day and loved it. I am disappointed it took until the last chapter to officially get together and she is soo against marriage. Marriage is the goal.

This one just wasn't for me! I can definitely see the appeal and was very drawn to the blurb, but the writing style doesn't mesh with me. The "enemies" portion also feels very enemies-lite.

Oh, this was fun! I am always a bit leery about surprise baby stories but this was a winner. I loved the strong will of Valerie and her disdain for being told what to do! But...Cinnamon roll Andrew came in clutch and was simply the best. I couldn't get enough of the two and their differing personalities!

Steamy teacher enemies to lovers goodness!

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy. I would definitely recommend this read!

Love Lessons by Sidney Halston was a cute enemies to lovers story.
I enjoyed this book so much, and was completely consumed by this addictive story and these amazing characters.

I really enjoyed this book! The story was fun and quick-paced but I didn’t feel like it was too rushed, which can happen with romances. I typically steer clear of romance books that involve pregnancy, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one! I found both of the main characters enjoyable and relatable at different points in the story many found myself really rooting for them, even at the beginning!

I definitely recommend this book for folks who enjoy romance, especially if you enjoy rivals to lovers and grumpy/sunshine with a little bit of spice!

This book was so cute! I loved it! The chapters were a little long, but it was good. My dream is to be a Kindergarten teacher so I loved that the two main characters were kindergarten teachers. I loved Valerie and Andrew. He annoyed me in the beginning, but I grew to love him. I loved how this book had romance in it but it wasn’t too much spice, which I enjoyed very much. I will defiantly be reading more by this author! Thank you for the advance reader copy!

I thought this book was okay. I liked Andrew quite a bit and I thought Valerie was okay. I think I wished there was more of their rivalry before they were pregnant. But it was sweet.