Review: Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell
SYNOPSIS:
Love: Not as easy as ABC.
They were supposed to keep things casual. Who’d expect they’d be schooled in love?
Those who can, teach. Marvin Block is one of the best kindergarten teachers out there. And despite his anxiety, Marvin’s life is sweet. He knows what he wants. And what he wants is the Teacher of the Year Award. Not just for himself – his school needs him to win.
Returning from break, the New Year finds Marvin all set to welcome a new pupil to his class. But when Illona walks in with her cute-as-hell single dad beside her, Marvin’s focus starts to slide.
Sure, his students always come first, but he deserves to have a life outside the classroom, too, right?
As their friendship starts to deepen, Marvin realizes Olan has the potential to teach him things about love he never thought possible. But with the Teacher of the Year award and his school’s future on the line, now’s not the time for anything complicated.
Education has always been Marvin’s world. And he needs to keep a cool head if he wants to win the award and save his school. But will it be worth it if he loses Olan in the process?
With Olan’s past and Marvin’s present colliding, their experiment in love hangs in the balance. Marvin knows what he wants out of life. But now he’s forced to consider what he wants out of love.
Will Marvin chalk the relationship up to experience? Or can they revise their story into a textbook romance?
REVIEW:
This story was super cute, if there was one thing M.A. Wardell did right by this book is he did teachers justice. Authentic characters, real struggles, and a happily-ever-after, what more could I want for Marvin and Olan?
This story was an unexpected surprise. I met M.A. Wardell at Apollycon this year and had to get a copy of Teacher of the Year. I really enjoyed Olan as a character, he was such a steady rock, transparent, and selfless, I was drawn to him immediately. Marvin is such a dedicated teacher but its to a fault of his own self-care. Add in some childhood trauma and crippling anxiety, and the man really went through it. I loved how these topics were tackled in the story, it was real and rough. And while Marvin has a tendency to run, I also love that he had to face his feelings and talk things over, he couldn’t hide forever. Add in Olan’s daughter, Ilona, who broke up some tough moments and added tenderness to the story.
The sizzling chemistry between Olan and Marvin elevated the story. I think my only critique is sometime I wish Olan and Marvin would have communicated first then jumped in bed, instead of the other way around. But these two grow so much over the course of the story and eventually get things right. The ending was sticky sweet and left me with a smile on my face. Overall, the story was a breath of fresh air.
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