👩🏽‍🏫 Love Lessons - Sidney Halston

3 ⭐️ - Where are all my teachers at?! This one’s for you! Alright, it’s for anyone who loves romance and needs a quick lovey dovey story, but I loved being able to identify with the school side of this book!

This was a cute enemies to lovers, pregnancy, growth story. The characters were a bit annoying in their fights and miscommunication BUT I enjoyed watching them grow and come together. I wish there was more depth to the story and characters as this timeline moved quickly and brief! Overall it was cute and a quick romance to squeeze in to get ready to go back to school (eek! i don’t wanna!).

This class is in session now! Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager for the early ARC copy!

I wanted to love this so badly—teacher x teacher??? come onnnn—but in the first few pages, he’s pounding on the wall for her students to stop singing? That gave me the ick immediately.

The basic premise of Love Lessons is a fun one - two rival kindergarten teachers hook up and end up falling in love as they're forced to co-teach in the new school year. Oh and they're having a baby!

This book features a number of tropes I like (enemies to lovers, workplace romance, unplanned pregnancy), but unfortunately it didn't totally work for me. A lot of the arguments/conversations that the characters had felt redundant or circular and the dialogue felt unnatural at times.

That being said, I've been struggling to read lately and this was super breezy! It definitely kept me coming back to find out how their relationship progressed throughout the pregnancy and the school year, so the format really worked for me.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this! 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
Valerie and Andrew, polarizing and incredibly different kindergarten teachers, are thrust together in more ways than one. Forced to work with each other and forced to find common ground after a one-night tryst leads to a baby, the story follows her pregnancy with dual POV as these characters slowly fall for each other.
This book is cute and fluffy, but lacking a bit on the spice (its pitched as a spicy story so I was really expecting more) and on the real tension in an enemies-to-lovers story. Valerie and Andrew really aren't enemies, they're just two teachers that don't see eye to eye in the classroom, and I don't know that its enough to sell the tension. I also felt like the timing felt a bit off: one minute they hate each other, then they're sleeping together, then they hate each other, then they think they love each other. The yo-yo would happen sometimes within the same chapter. That's just a bit much for me.
But its cute. Its easy. There's nothing fussy about it. There's no ridiculous 3rd act breakup. I just wanted a lot more

I enjoyed reading Love Lessons by Sidney Halston. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

This book just isn't for me. The writing felt rough and the plot/content isn't my style/comfort. This book is definitely for someone who prioritize spice over sweetness and doesn't mine the pregnancy trope. Though there have been a couple pregancy tropes i've really enjoyed (which is why I decided to give this book a try), this story just felt too icky for me. Thank you for the opportunity to give it a chance.

I enjoyed Valerie and Andrew from the first page. I’m pretty sure I immediately said “I’m going to like this” and I was right. I loved that they were not in a rush and were able to take things at their own pace.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of Love Lessons exchange for an honest review.

I felt excited and hopeful for this one as someone who works in education. I love romance novels and enemies to lovers is by far my favorite trope.. despite my excitement, I felt like this book really missed its mark for me.

The story felt rushed and there wasn’t much backstory. I didn’t feel like I had time to truly know who the characters were before the story started or who they developed into. I wasn’t able to fall in love with either character before the unexpected pregnancy was announced.

Despite being advertised as enemies to lovers, I didn’t sense the tension being built up between the two characters. They felt like two people who simply didn’t get along and just bickered back and forth. Overall their relationship felt very confusing and lacked chemistry even as they progressed through the story. Their communication felt boring and bland. This book was also said to be steamy, but there really wasn’t any steam and just two short (less than a few pages), spicy scenes and not enough tension built between the characters to consider it a steamy read.

Also, the communication and language that was used in front of their students - kindergarten students!! - was so inappropriate and completely unlikely to ever happen.

Overall, this one completely missed the mark for me.

“Valerie Marquez, the woman who drove him crazy in every sense of the word, was going to have his child.”
4/5⭐️

This book made me take back everything I have ever said about hating the accidental pregnancy trope. I was deeply wrong. I don’t hate it; I hate it not done well, and I hate it when it’s a surprise as a reader. This? This is that trope done correctly. This book had me giggling and blushing and kicking my feet over how incredibly cute and sweet these two were. Everything about this book was just sweet, adorable, pure rom-com. Andrew is not just a book boyfriend, he’s a book husband. While Valerie had never wanted to have kids, Andrew had always wanted to have a family. He certainly never pressured her one way or the other (the bare minimum really), but he made sure she knew that she would be an incredible mom if she wanted to be and that he would feel lucky to raise a child with her, even if they weren’t together. Their feelings for each other develop so naturally as the two get to know each other and get closer and it’s so sweet to watch them become a little family. If you like an accidental pregnancy romance, or are even just willing to give one a try, I’d definitely recommend this one!

Premise: Love Lessons follows Valerie Marquez and Andrew Wexler, two kindergarten teachers at the same private school with vastly different teaching styles. The two have driven each other crazy for the last four years, but after all that built-up frustration finally boils over for one passionate night right before summer, they suddenly find themselves dealing with one major unintended consequence. When the next school year starts and they go from just sharing a classroom wall to co-teaching, they’re continuously confronted by all the ways they’re too different for co-teaching or co-parenting to ever work, but it’s only getting harder to resist wanting to try anyway.

Tropes: Accidental Pregnancy, One-Night-Stand to More, Enemies to Lovers, Opposites Attract, Workplace Romance, Forced Proximity, Grumpy/Sunshine, Kindergarten Teachers

Rating: 4/5⭐️
Spice: 2/5🔥

I felt like I was the teacher and wanted to straighten these two out. How can two adults bicker and taunt each other for four years, while teaching kindergarteners? Well, they did and it was very tense but they were covering up their emotions. Their story was funny, irritating with the tension, and loving how Andrew treated her. If you are looking for an easy read, a romcom, this would satisfy you. I enjoyed an early copy and wrote my review voluntarily.

3.75⭐️

This book is good! I think I actually kinda like the surprise pregnancy trope and having the main characters realize not only do they love their future child but also each other, but if you don’t like surprise pregnancy then this may not be for you. Overall this was a good rom com type book and just very like mid range good, definitely not bad and I enjoyed it for the most part.

The characters go through their own changes and the MMC clearly realizes that they’re in love while the FMC takes a bit of time and that wasn’t my favorite. It definitely was a thing of like oh no we hate each other it would never work, even though they end up together.

Overall I would say this is a nice quick beach read type book or back to school type rom com that is light and a quick ready!

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley, and Sidney Halston for the advanced copy of "Love Lessons" in exchange for an honest review.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book. As a teacher myself, I enjoy reading about fellow teachers, and the plot mixed with the banter really pulled me in from the beginning. The FMC and the MMC were embroiled in dislike to lovers trope, which was amusing. The FMC made me think of Jessica Day from New Girl, and the MMC was the complete opposite of that, which put them at odds quite a bit. I enjoyed how the author pulled the two together outside of their intimate relationship as well through work - but I'm not going to spoil how!

This was an engaging romp from beginning to end. The author did a great job of making the characters relatable and interesting both as educators and people in general with well fleshed out backgrounds and stories that made a lot of their actions and words make more sense.

This was such a cute and realistic accidental pregnancy story with two kindergarten teachers who hated each other while teaching at the same school. But you know what they say... there's a thin line between hate and love, and you can totally see it while reading. I personally needed more swoon and giddiness to get into the book since the premise was a bit mundane for my taste, but if you like to see each step of the pregnancy journey from two people, heck, you will adore this!

I love how realistic this book felt in terms of emotions. It is scary to have an unplanned pregnancy, and it's even scarier when the father is someone you've been "hating" for 4 years. Valerie is a quirky, artsy, and eccentric woman who loves to be independent. She never expected to be a mom, so her entire life does a 180, especially when she finds out that Andrew wants to be involved as much as possible; who knew Andrew had a heart? lol jk he does and is TOO SWEET.

That forced proximity with the pregnancy is what makes the characters get to know each other, be there for one another, and eventually fall in love. It was like a reverse process of a happy couple, but such a good one!

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.