Lessons on Love is a collection of historical romance novellas. It is a themed collection celebrating teachers—male and female. The novellas are as follows: Something Old, Something New by Kathleen Maher; Love in Any Language by Susanne Dietze; In Desperate Straits by Carrie Fancett Pagels; and A Song in the Night by Rita Gerlach.
The first novella features a Jewish heroine, Gilda. The family (her mother and sisters) have been financially struggling since her father’s death. She’s a teacher—a good one—but her job has been threatened. Joshua Blake, a Christian, could potentially take her position. Right now they are co-teaching. But though they seemingly come from different backgrounds and cultures, there is undeniably something there between them. Will these two make a match of it?!
Love in Any Language is a super sweet story about a young woman, a former teacher named Mary, who teaches an immigrant and his children English. She teaches immigrant children from several families, I believe, but only one catches her eye and captures her heart—Kristofer Nilsson.
In Desperate Straits is by far my least favorite novella in this collection—dare I say any collection?! It features Maggie Hadley and Jesse Huntington. Her family raises horses. His family buts them. She catches his eye. When his family goes from wealthy to dirt-poor, he seeks a teaching job. Maggie disguises herself as a young boy so she can get a job as a driver and send her wages back home. Her disguise doesn’t fool him...and love predictably follows.
A Song in the Night may just be my favorite. Maybe. Karien Wiles is a music teacher at a well-respected academy in Baltimore. But on the day she just happens to trip and fall in the snow—only to be “rescued“ by a dashing young man, Nathan Archer—she loses her job when the whole academy closes. Will she find another teaching job...or will she find a love worth settling down for. The main point of this one being that a woman couldn’t have both—a husband and a job.
The first story I would rate 5/5.
The second story I would rate 5/5.
The third story I would rate 1/5.
The fourth story I would rate 5/5.
It is interesting that I read the first novella in one sitting, same with the second and fourth. But that third story was dragging and flat. It took me about three weeks to make it through. I am not sure what it was about it—the cross dressing, the horses, the lack of school setting, the melodrama—that made it so not my cup of tea.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
1 comment:
Valuable and fitting Book review.
Praise and thanks be to the Lord God! There is Good News to the Lovers of 'Good News'!
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