Griffin King, football player extraordinaire has been put in time-out by his agent. The headlines with Griffin and beautiful woman one after another, are just getting out of hand. He is relegated to his agent's vacation home in Colorado and he is bored!

Ruby Tate, the quintessential shy librarian needs help with men. She just doesn't do well in social situations. After a particularly embarrassing birthday gift, Ruby decides to hire an escort to help her get more comfortable being around men. The escort is late, and Griffin takes over!

Such a cute story. I love the history that Ruby and Griffin share. All of the people coming into and out of their lives as they work through their attraction just made sense. This book was a feel good read for me, even when there were issues that didn't feel like they could be resolved.

The epilogue was THE BEST! A solid 5 star read.

Thank you to Good Girls PR and Montlake for this ARC 🫶🏻

Griffin is a playboy football player who is estranged from his twin brother. When he runs into his childhood neighbor, Ruby, he’s intrigued to learn she’s meeting an escort! Ruby wants to have some lessons in seduction.

As a small town librarian, Ruby has always been the responsible one. She’s had some unexpected events cause her to want to stay away from love. When she asks Griffin King to help her learn all about being sexy, she has no idea what she’s in for!

Griffin is the perfect teacher. He watches her favorite movies, tries to cook, and wants to keep it casual. But what happens when these two fall hard and have to go their separate ways?? This was heartwarming and unexpectedly emotional! No one knows how much time we have on earth, but spending it with the ones who love them is the best way!

From the very first three pages I knew this book was going to absolutely shred me. And I was right. We start out seeing Ruby sort of distraught over who she has become over the years, fearful of missing out on some of life’s greater moments. As if she feels like she is the curator of her own isolation. And I, sitting at work and reading this on the kindle app on my phone, almost cried in public. Holy cow, Karla hit me hard with that one. From the very beginning, you think you know who Ruby is. Who Griffin is. And it’s not until we’re entrenched in this story, more than a dozen chapters in, that we realize we’re so off base. There is infinitely more to these characters and their actions than we can even start to believe. We fall in love with them as they fall in love with each other and together we just keep evolving. I love a grumpy, moody girl. And I love a cheeky, overconfident playboy. And I love that neither one of them really was that labeled stereotype under all the pomp. I am a huge Karla Sorenson fan, I truly am. So believe me when I say this may be the most honest depiction I have seen of humanity and relationships yet in any of her work. And that’s saying something! Maybe I should skip work tomorrow so I can stay home and re-read Lessons in Heartbreak without being interrupted this time.

Ruby has always been the overachiever, getting perfect grades and never getting into trouble. After graduating college and learning she was sick her life became all about control. Now on her 30th birthday she realizes she doesn’t want to spend her life playing it safe anymore. After Griffin gets in hot water with the media he is forced by his manager to take some time out of the spotlight. While staying in a small town at the his managers house he runs into his former neighbor who thinks he is the escort she hired to help her. I really didn’t like how much he teased her in the beginning and his alpha male behavior. I did appreciate that once she opened up to him about some serious topics he realized this wasn’t the time to mess around and was very sweet to her. I liked that they were both able to open themselves up to love, but their development was very superficial. I wish we would have got more depth to the characters.

Fake dating
Sports romance
Friends to lovers
Spicy lessons

Ruby and Griffins story was so damn good. Not going to lie I saw the cover and I said to myself yes please I need that book. It did not disappoint.

Griffin is a charming, good hearted, and playboy. He may not always think before he lets the words flow but he means well. When he and Ruby reconnect after years of not seeing each other they build a friendship that turns to more. Griffin is so absolutely adorable with Ruby.

I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more of Karla Sorensen work! Great writing and storyline development.

Ruby is ready to accept that she needs help with some intimacy problems, so after her friend's encouragement, she hires a professional to help her out. The problem is that instead of the person she hired she meets her childhood neighbor, turned hot shot athlete Griffin, who she hasn't seen since they moved away and she thinks he is the one to meet so she ends up making a fool of herself.

Griffin is supposed to take a break for the summer, some mandatory quiet time before the news of his transfer to a new team get announced. Being in a small town with little to do, is driving him up the wall, so when he recommends with Ruby it gives him the perfect opportunity to spend time with her while there.

A librarian who is shy and needs some help in the dating department and a athlete that is all in to help her, is a scenario I adore. Those two are a bit different but they are a perfect match.

Their romance is a slow burn, with a lot of tender moments that became very hot when time was right. The most important thing is that they saw each other as they were and not as they were seen by others. Their connection run deep and it was truly beautiful to witness. The perfect mix of sweet and sexy.

And now I am beyond excited to see the next King brother get his hea.


* I received an ARC and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Karla Soresen, and Montlake for this ARC!

Tropes:
Sports Romance (Football 🏈)
Bad Boy x Good Girl
Childhood Neighbors to Strangers to Lovers
Dating/Spicy Lessons
Grumpy/Sunshine
Slow burn

This is exactly the book I didn’t know I needed! I was hooked from the very beginning. Karla’s writing is so descriptive that it feels like you are actually in the story with the characters. Ruby and Griffin have so much chemistry from the very beginning. They are the type of couple that you believe could truly be together in the real world. I love all the banter. Ruby has the greatest remarks, and Griffin is adorably sweet. Griffin and Ruby meet when they stumble upon each other in a coffee shop. Ruby is there waiting to meet up with an escort to teach her how to flirt, date, and be more comfortable around men. Griffin is in town on a timeout vacation of sorts, staying at his agent’s second home. He recognizes Ruby and sits down at her table. Consequently, he’s wearing the same outfit her escort is supposed to wear, so she assumes her former neighbor is her escort. This was the best way to bring these two back into each other’s orbit. Ruby ditches her escort and asks Griffin to help her since she feels more comfortable around him, and of course, he agrees.

This story was so beautifully written. There was a great combination of fun, lighthearted moments, and deeper ones. Both Ruby and Griffin had great friends in Lauren and Marcus, they added so much life to the story. The two epilogues really helped to wrap up the entire story, leaving the reader fully satisfied with no unanswered questions. I can’t wait to continue this series as each book releases! Please move this to the top of your TBR when it releases, you won't regret it!

Once again, Karla has delivered a 5-star book!

Childhood neighbors, Ruby and Griffin, reconnect as adults in an entertaining and very romantic manner. As kids, Ruby was the book nerd who read quietly in trees. Griffin was the louder boy who she found annoying. He has twin brother, Barrett, who at the time Ruby thought was the better brother.

As adults, Griffin is a well-known NFL player who has just gone viral for talking smack about his estranged brother. His agent sends him away to Welling Springs, CO to stay out of the public eye while negotiations with a new team take place. While there he runs into Ruby, the local librarian.
Sweet, sweet Ruby has had a hard go of it and wants help in the love department. Flirting and being intimate is something she struggles with. Enter Griffin, who is ready to assist her with becoming more comfortable in her own skin and feeling confident.

These two were so precious. Griffin watching Jane Austen movies! Griffin was more of a casual fling kind of guy so that moment when they are on the couch watching Pride and Prejudice was so swoon worthy. There is nothing greater than simple acts that hold so much power. Hand holding, the hand flex….you all know what I am talking about.

I loved the slow burn and witnessing characters that are so perfect for each other fall in love. With most of Karla’s books, the ending had me shedding some tears. She is a talented writer who writes such real characters. I love the ending these two got and I am soooo happy there were two epilogues!

Thanks to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC!

Thank you Netgalley and Montlake for the ARC!

This book was really sweet! ruby and griffin were adorable. I loved their growth and the time they spent together really understanding one another and bringing out the best in each other. The opposites attract/good girl x bad boy was done well too. The story did take me a while to get into it & some cliche tropes I didn't really like but they did grow on me by the end.

2.5 stars ✨

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I was hoping to. I have picked up one Karla Sorensen book before and dnf’d around the 60% mark as I wasn’t engaged. I don’t write off an author after not enjoying one of their books but now might be the time to say goodbye as their writing style isn’t for me.

From the 40% mark onwards it felt a little rushed and the emotional and gut punch moments just didn’t hit. They felt very surface level and a little cliche. As did the characters.

Giving characters trauma does not make them complex or deep, they can still be surface level. Additionally, I felt that the connection between the main characters themselves was too instantaneous for my test. I prefer a slow burn.

Nonetheless, I kept reading for the humour (and the dog) as the banter was very entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Ruby is waiting for someone and Griffin remember her and goes up to her while Ruby misunderstand the greeting as the escort she hired feeling humiliated and angry because Griffin just let her spill her guts out she leaves. Griffin goes after her. They made a deal where Griffin will help Ruby with her shyness and insecurities. where they are world apart they have so many things in common as Griffin is in the spotlight as a profesional
athlete. Ruby is a librarian.
They spend their time together and they find a connection that they know they cant denied.

Karla Sorensen has done it again! Ruby and Griffin were so cute together, and I loved the way their relationship evolved. The attraction they had for each other only grew stronger as the pages went by. The story was also very entertaining, and the secondary characters were a great addition. The tension between Griffin and his twin brother Barrett also caught my attention, and I hope they'll make up in the next book, which I'm already looking forward to reading!

Lessons in Heartbreak by Karla Sorensen is the phenomenal start of the King Series.
This was my very first book by this author and definitely won't be my last one!

Ruby Tate is a librarian and not that experienced when it comes to men. Hiring an escort to get more comfortable with all the dating stuff is her best friend's advice.
But little did Ruby expect to meet a guy from her past. Griffin King was always loud, weird, and so annoying. Well, that was him as a kid. But now?
He's this sexy, charming, irresistible man.
A professional NFL player, no escort. Ooops.

OH MY GOODNESS.
HOW MUCH I LOOOOOOVED THIS STORY!
I'm a crying mess right now! This epilogue broke me, but then the second epilogue gave me the full rest. O.M.G.!!! 😭😭😭😭

Well, right from the beginning, I fell in love with Ruby and her best friend Lauren! Their banter was just ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!!
And of course, I instantly felt this connection to Ruby because I work in a library too!! 😁
She's a shy, organized, and intelligent young woman. But... she wants more experiences when it comes to men.
This leads us to the first encounter between Ruby and Griffin: after all this time, they see each other again, and it was brilliant! OMG! I LAUGHED SOOO MUCH! 🤣🤣🤣
That was even the moment I fell in love with HIM! I just couldn't resist his charm! 🫠🫠🫠
It was even more entertaining and interesting that Ruby could resist him, although he tried his very best! FABULOUS! 😄😄
But besides all the great banter and sizzling chemistry, their storyline got really emotional and serious, too. Honestly, I didn't expect it... but these intense emotions gave their love story so much more depth. 💗 Absolutely wonderful!

I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT RUBY AND GRIFFIN! He falls first and so hard, they have such an intense chemistry, there are SEXY times and funny moments!
But OMG, there were these little moments that me swoon soooo much too! I can't tell you too much about it.
Just read this wonderfully written love story.
I can't wait for more in this series!

Ha! And I've got to check out all the other books by Karla Sorensen!

Thanks a lot to Karla Sorensen and Montlake for this ARC via NetGalley.
This is my honest review in my own words.

It's a fun, sexy story and I really liked the characters

Small town librarian, Ruby, is tired of being the clumsy, inexperienced one. She hires an out of town escort to teach her, and she's surprised to see an old childhood neighbor and mistakes him for the escort. Griffin is a pro-football player in town hiding out at his agent's house for a few weeks. He's surprised to see his old neighbor. .

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

I really liked Lessons in Heartbreak. This is not a cookie cutter romance book. It delves into a subject I haven't seen covered before in any of the thousands of books I have read previously. This book is a bit slow at first, but please stick with it, it is worth it! Thank you so much Karla Sorensen and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Griffin and Ruby were adorable. You can tell from the blurb that there are the “love lessons” trope is at play here, but this book went so much deeper than that. We’ve all seen the movies where the couple spends a few weeks together and it doesn’t take long for those feelings of love to break through because when you know, you know. That’s exactly what happened here.

The two weeks Griffin and Ruby spent together were about quality over quantity. They truly got to know each other in a way that they hid from others. Griffin confronted some hard truths about himself, his past and career as an NFL player. Ruby likewise tapped into her fears surrounding love and why it was hard for her to truly live life to the fullest. They brought out the best in each other, and I was rooting for them to take a chance on love together, and it was so gratifying when they did! The epilogues were beautiful as well, and I have a feeling Griffin’s twin brother, Barrett, may be getting a book!

SN - I totally got Maxton Hall/James & Ruby vibes from some of the couple’s interactions/a few scenes in the book. I was very happy to see in the acknowledgements that the author loved and was partially influenced by that series!!

***5 Stars***

I’m going to be absolutely honest and admit that the cover was the lure here. Yes, I’ve read the author before and enjoyed her books, but that cover…I didn’t even read the blurb, I was all “Yes, please, gimme” but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Griffin and Ruby’s journey to their HEA.

I ended up adoring Griffin and Ruby. Griffin is larger than life and doesn’t always think before speaking and acting, but he is also charming and, once you peel back those layers, a genuinely good man. Ruby may be a wallflower, but she definitely isn’t a doormat. I loved watching as she came into her own and owned all that she was ~ the good and not so good ~ and became stronger for it. Their journey definitely started out on an awkward foot, but I loved how they pushed each other to look at themselves in a different light and grow in ways neither thought was possible. They had some great bantering and I enjoyed watching the chemistry between them grow they longer they were together and am really happy that they got their HEA.

I honestly couldn’t put this baby down. There are some deep moments/situations that happen or are mentioned in the book ~ one which I hope is fully dealt with in the next one ~ but they gave depth and understanding to who the characters are. As for the supporting cast of characters, I loved Lauren, Kenny, Marcus, Maggie and Bryce and am definitely looking forward to getting my hands on Barrett’s book!

~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~

Happy to report that Karla Sorensen never misses. I feel like the only sports romances I accept lately have been those done by her because I just love what she does with her characters and their stories. They are real, they are funny and deep, they have soul and heart. And not many authors manage that lately. First of all I loved how Griffin was and stayed unapologetically himself. Ruby might have been the one to help him change and be ready to be serious but we got lovely glimpses of him doing the change and realizing a lot of things about himself even before she came back into his life. He made me cry on several occasions and I just love a man who can make me do that. Ruby (inspired by Maxton Hall Ruby SAY LESS) made me feel so seen and we do not have the same story but we have a lot of things in common so seeing her free and getting what she wants was the best. This book had some gasp-inducing twists and kept me on the edge of my seat while also giving amazing side characters who made me laugh and brought a lot to the story overall. Special shoutout to men watching Jane Austen movies and to those epilogues!

“Ruby, you just got yourself a teacher.”
A new Karla Sorensen series and I’m already in love! Griffin King and Ruby Tate were neighbors as children. They weren’t friends but Ruby would always watch Griffin and his brother play sports in their yard. Then Ruby and her family moved away and she rarely thought of the King brothers. Now fast forward a decade and they have a very unlikely and embarrassing chance encounter.

Ruby was such a strong and independent woman who just wanted to try and live a little. After spending her entire life as the responsible person she was ready, just a bit terrified and had no idea where to start. Griffin is in Welling Springs waiting for his new football contract to be signed and has nothing but time on his hands to assist his little “birdy”.

Ruby and Griffin were the perfect pair to start off this series.
“I will love you through every sunrise and every sunset because we’ve already missed too many. Do you understand me? I’m not going anywhere.”

I also loved Lauren and Marcus as side characters and I hope we get to see glimpses of them in the next book!
🔥: “You’d be good for my health, Griffin. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Good lord this was a great book! Devoured in a single sitting whilst I neglected real life (sorry husband and kids).

Ruby is a smart and loveable librarian who isn't living life to fullest. Her bestie (Can we get a Lauren novella please?) decides she needs a dating coach to find confidence and feel desirable and in walks childhood acquaintance Griffin - a charming confident footballer put on hiatus after some bad media. Griffin decides to help Ruby while he is exiled and the sparks FLY.

I don't normally like a "Love lesson" trope but I knew that Karla would have a fresh perspective. It was a little uncomfortable at the beginning but the plot moved quickly and I was easily immersed.

Man on man I loved these characters, especially the banter with Ruby giving as good as she got and the flirt game Griffin brought. I really enjoyed watching Griffin and Ruby's relationship develop and the emotional depth build in their relationship.

This book made me snort giggle, cackle with delight and end up a crying mess for these characters. I wasn't expecting to need tissues with how lighthearted the first half was but boy did I need them by the end. All up in my feelings after this book.

5 stars!

Thank you Netgalley and Montlake for the ARC.