Sidney Halson's "Love Lessons" is a fun, quirky, rom-com with an excellent portrayal of enemies to lovers. The story itself was fun to read - definitely an Abott Elementary vibe. The characters were interesting, I'd say they were fun but overall they annoyed me a little bit. I think the writing was fast paced and could have been a bit more show rather than tell, if you get my gist. However, it was still a fun read overall. Definitely a pick me up for those times where you just finished a horror/thriller and need a pallet cleanser.

A very cute, fast-paced rivals to lovers contemporary romance between two kindergarten teachers who have been goading each other for years and have to share a classroom while theirs undergo repairs.

I really enjoyed the premie of this story and both of the main characters, who were full of life and personality without being tacky or overdone (does she have a goldfish skirt? Yes, but she's not the kooky kindergarten teacher stereotype). Their teaching styles clashed beautifully once they were forced together and gave them each the opportunity to understand the other.

Andrew is a doting partner as they traverse the upheaval of their personal and professional lives, and Valerie is open with him despite her reservations. I love a fast-paced romance, but this was almost too fast; there were weeks and months skipped where I would have liked more time to develop the relationship on page. It felt like the cliffnotes of a year, when I wanted the whole book.

This was okay. I enjoyed the fanfic-like take on Abbott Elementary but I wanted a little more depth. Enemies to lovers, surprise baby, workplace romance, this one hits a lot of tropes. Hard to say much more without giving anything away. Releases August 6, 2024.

I'll say this book gave me the ick early on, and it's hard to un-ick. Like I am closely comparing it to the other accidental pregnancy trope that I loved, and it's so easy for me to see the differences and what I didn't like of this one.

I think it's mostly that they "hate" each other or strongly dislike each other cause they had different teaching styles. Then book she's pregnant and quickly they are in love and the pregnancy is magical and it gave me the ick. I'll accept it.

It's me. This book didn't vibe with me and I felt their relationship was forced and I think this book didn't need the pregnancy plot to work. 100% the pregnancy plot ruined this for me.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A very cute, quick read. It's told in dual POV third person, which I would have enjoyed a lot more if the POV hadn't switched mid-chapter multiple times per chapter. That's a big bookish pet peeve of mine. The last book I encountered that did that was a DNF, so the fact that I finished this one was a testament to how much I enjoyed it.

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Teaching kindergarten is absolutely exhausting (albeit fun)! Less fun and equally, if not more exhausting is holding an active rivalry against your neighboring kindergarten teacher. Could a steamy one night stand at the end of the school year change the trajectory of their relationship? Love Lessons is a cute little love story that shows us that life is full of surprises where we least expect them!

Review is on Goodreads and will be posted on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

3.5 ⭐️ Thank you, netgalley, for sending me an arc! This book was super cute. i love valerie and andrew, not only as a couple but separately as well! That being said, I didn't like the writing style at all, and it felt werid reading it in the third person.

I loved the premise of this book. It includes some of my all time favorite tropes:
Enemies to lovers? Check.
Accidental pregnancy? Check.

However the execution wasn’t my favorite. Their feud felt extremely immature and antagonistic. Just a touch too much for kindergarten teachers in my opinion.

The HEA at the end was worth the read however there were just too many variables that I wasn’t a huge fan of.

DNF’d at 12%

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I liked the premise of Love Lessons by Sidney Halston but soon into the novel I realized I wasn’t a fan of the execution. First, the dynamic between leads feels antagonistic in an immature way. It’s so bad that their boss, the principal, hints that it might be a good idea to fire at least one of them. Then, soon after, they miraculously overcome their antagonism—at least temporarily—with a few throwaway casual remarks that originate with commentary about his home decor. The pendulum swung so quickly, which for me makes me feel like their initial antagonism is even more superficial than I initially believed. This one just isn’t true love for me but YMMV.

The premise of this book is absolutely for me. Two kindergarten teachers that don’t get along have one night together and get pregnant.

The premise is fantastic, but the execution is flawed. This book reads immaturely. It’s not that she dresses brightly, or how she engages with children. They are said to be great teachers, but they are worse than kindergarteners to each other. These characters are made to be over the top opposites and all they did was annoy me.

I didn’t make it past 15% of this book. I moved ahead to skim in order to see if it would improve for me. It didn’t.

Another issue is that there’s no reason to alternate POVs so much in a single chapter. It’s the first thing to turn me off this book.

Thank you for the arc! Unfortunately this one didn’t spark joy for me, so I’m moving on to my next read.

has all the right ideas, presenting a fascinating premise with intriguing concepts and insightful themes. However, it falls short in execution. The narrative, while rich in potential, often feels disjointed and lacks the emotional depth needed to fully engage the reader. The characters, though well-conceived, lack development and fail to resonate on a deeper level. Additionally, the pacing is uneven, with some sections dragging while others rush through crucial plot points. Overall, while the book has a solid foundation, it ultimately misses the mark in delivering a compelling and cohesive story.

I was really hoping that this would truly be like Abbott Elementary, but that show has heart and soul that this book just did not have and it makes me so sad because I had such high hopes. This is touted as enemies to lovers but it really wasn't; they were just annoyed by each other and their different teaching styles but certainly not this trope. I also saw that it was supposed to be spicy but it had BARELY anything in it. I did not care for the pregnancy trope because it felt so out of place for this book and these characters. The back and forth POVs from first to third were too clunky and didn't work for me. I did not like the writing style either. All in all, I am disappointed because I think this had so much potential but just let me down and ultimately was not great.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sidney Halston, and Avon for the eARC of this book.

Valerie loves bringing fun into her kindergarten classroom, using music and art to teach various subjects and impart life lessons. However, her neighbor and fellow kindergarten teacher, Andrew, prefers a quieter, more traditional approach, and they constantly annoy each other. When a tree falls and destroys Andrew's classroom, they are both moved to a new room where they must co-teach. Things get even more complicated when Valerie discovers she's pregnant after a one-night stand with Andrew, forcing them to find a way to get along. This delightful enemies-to-lovers romcom is the perfect light read for summer!

This book was cute and a super quick read. While it didn't have a lot of depth, it was certainly entertaining.

I really enjoyed this read!! It was sweet and heartfelt. Going back to school has never been more exciting.

I didnt really enjoy this book. the switch in POVS was very odd and it just felt disjointed. I will try again with her next books tho

I usually wait to be more than halfway through the book I'm reading to decide whether it's a dnf or not, but in this case I just couldn't make myself go on reading past the few chapter I'd already read. Since the beginning, I wasn't enjoying neither of the characters because they felt too childish for kindergarten teachers and I wasn't a fan of the writing. Unfortunately, I did not manage to finish the book because of these issues.

Loved! As a teacher myself I ate this up. It was adorable and so funny! I look forward to more from this author.

This was a fast and cute story. The slow love story was compelling. I found myself wanting to read this book even when I wasn't. I wanted to know what would happen next. I liked the subtle clues into the pregnancy and had fun with this book.

Great book! I enjoyed the dynamic between the main characters! It was an entertaining and easy read. I often find pregnancy in books hard to swallow but I LOVED the chapter names based on the size of the baby. SO ADORABLE!!!!

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5
Spicy: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ our of 5

This is such a fun story! As someone who works with kids, there were moments that had me truly laughing out loud!
The dynamic between these characters was adorable. I never wanted to put this book down because I felt so sucked into this universe. The banter was so well-written and really felt like real people talking. It was a really fast and easy read, which is a perfect pace for a romance book for me. Romance books should be simple, fun, and easy to read; and that is exactly what I got here!
I highly recommend if you enjoy authors like Ali Hazelwood for their career based romances!
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Tropes:
💚 Enemies to Lovers
💚 Grumpy x Sunshine
💚 Opposites Attract
💚 Work Colleagues
💚 Pregnancy


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