thebookedunicorn's review
3.0
This anthology collects nine stories of teacher and student romantic relationships. It had 8 m/m romance( with one containing a Bi-male) and one lesbian/trans relationship.
The opening story By virtue fall was difficult to read. The story was confusing i could not tell if the teacher was the student at times because the names used were often interchanged. So in the end i guess the main character Jonah was Bisexual( it doesn't say, though he was with two girls) i don't know. However, as you progressed further the stories are more interesting and the writing is easy to understand. One of the stories i liked was Lessons for a life time, the writing was beautiful it and the story was told from Paul's point of view. The different teacher/student relationship told from each author point of view was entertaining.
The opening story By virtue fall was difficult to read. The story was confusing i could not tell if the teacher was the student at times because the names used were often interchanged. So in the end i guess the main character Jonah was Bisexual( it doesn't say, though he was with two girls) i don't know. However, as you progressed further the stories are more interesting and the writing is easy to understand. One of the stories i liked was Lessons for a life time, the writing was beautiful it and the story was told from Paul's point of view. The different teacher/student relationship told from each author point of view was entertaining.
broomesbooks's review
5.0
I have become a huge fan of the anthologies that NineStar Press puts out. This one is amazing. It’s a group of stories focused on the Teacher/Student relationship and it’s done in a way that doesn’t give you the ick factor of an underage student being preyed on by a teacher. Instead you get a very well rounded group of authors who give us stories from a variety of age groups. There’s a story in this collection for everyone.
My absolute favorites were: The Botanist’s Apprentice, Bare, Welcome to Ms. Skinner’s Freshman Composition and Piece of Cake.
In The Botanist’s Apprentice you are given a historical, M/M story. Not only is there a reluctant teacher with a backstory but there’s a student that is intelligent and is interested in poisonous plants and their uses. I knew that there was going to be a plant involved in getting these two together but it was delicious. I honestly want to read more about these two.
Bare, let me cool off for a second. An awkward, college art student i sstepping way out of his boundaries and volunteers as a nude model during a free spring break class one of his instructors is giving. Then he gets asked to participate in a photo shoot for the teacher later on. This was perfection. The heat level between the two, wow. It’s off the charts. It hit all my spots for a good M/M story.
Ms. Skinner’s Freshman Composition features a transgender character, male to female. She now teaches at a community college and uses the opportunity to get back to what she loves, participating in theater along with her teaching. She didn’t expect to be treated to a former student who was in her high school class before her transition. The chemistry is fiery. There’s a lot of anger and misunderstanding between the two but once they start to work with each other in the production they’re in, it gets obvious that they are attracted to each other rather than hateful to each other.
I loved this collection of stories because of the variety you go. It wasn’t all erotica, it wasn’t all young couples. There were older couples. there were couples of different cultures. It covered a wide spectrum of romances and I think that’s what appeals to me so much.
I would definitely give this one a read!
My absolute favorites were: The Botanist’s Apprentice, Bare, Welcome to Ms. Skinner’s Freshman Composition and Piece of Cake.
In The Botanist’s Apprentice you are given a historical, M/M story. Not only is there a reluctant teacher with a backstory but there’s a student that is intelligent and is interested in poisonous plants and their uses. I knew that there was going to be a plant involved in getting these two together but it was delicious. I honestly want to read more about these two.
Bare, let me cool off for a second. An awkward, college art student i sstepping way out of his boundaries and volunteers as a nude model during a free spring break class one of his instructors is giving. Then he gets asked to participate in a photo shoot for the teacher later on. This was perfection. The heat level between the two, wow. It’s off the charts. It hit all my spots for a good M/M story.
Ms. Skinner’s Freshman Composition features a transgender character, male to female. She now teaches at a community college and uses the opportunity to get back to what she loves, participating in theater along with her teaching. She didn’t expect to be treated to a former student who was in her high school class before her transition. The chemistry is fiery. There’s a lot of anger and misunderstanding between the two but once they start to work with each other in the production they’re in, it gets obvious that they are attracted to each other rather than hateful to each other.
I loved this collection of stories because of the variety you go. It wasn’t all erotica, it wasn’t all young couples. There were older couples. there were couples of different cultures. It covered a wide spectrum of romances and I think that’s what appeals to me so much.
I would definitely give this one a read!
remusreads's review
4.0
Actual rating: 3.5*
My rating isn't as high as I wish I could give it because there were a couple of stories which left me feeling a little underwhelmed. One of which I actually couldn't make sense of so I had to skip it. For the stories that I did read and thoroughly enjoyed, I would give this a 4.5/5 star rating, but unfortunately I feel I have to take into consideration everything that this book has to offer. It wasn't that the stories themselves were bad, it was more that the topic in question (a ghost????) was just not for me. I couldn't wrap my head around it - but I have no doubts that someone else would thoroughly enjoy this. The writing was brilliant in the story, it's just a simple case of "it's not you, it's me".
This book is an anthology of student/teacher romances on a wide spectrum - college teachers to part time teachers and it really does offer a really good, interesting range of people who fall in love at the 'wrong time'. I really appreciated the lack of typical structure for this and found that the mixture of people and the things that they taught kept the stories alive and differentiated one from the next. I also really enjoyed the variety of students that appeared throughout - there were people ranging from a refugee to the typical bad boy, and that was a really interesting angle to take and not one that is commonly seen with books of this nature, so that was definitely a win for me!
The stories, though short, really packed a punch. Each of them fit a lot into their short span and not once did I feel like something was lacking or that something just didn't quite hit the mark. The stories were each crafted in an irresistible way which got me truly invested in the characters as soon as I started reading, so I definitely have to give it some massive thumbs up for that! I often find that with shorter stories I struggle to get invested in the characters because there just isn't enough time for me to do so, but this gave me the opportunity to get my teeth well and truly sunk into the plots, characters and their happenings. The writing throughout was also faultless; it didn't feel rushed or unedited, and each of the stories fit together brilliantly as if they were all happening on the same universe but at different times. The different styles flowed together excellently and jumping from one story into another didn't feel jarring. This is an excellently crafted anthologies with some fantastic stories!
I would recommend this for anyone that needs a good quick, enjoyable, gripping but extremely steamy story to enjoy! I read this on my commute and I thoroughly enjoyed it for that - it made an otherwise boring journey extremely enjoyable.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest, transparent review.
My rating isn't as high as I wish I could give it because there were a couple of stories which left me feeling a little underwhelmed. One of which I actually couldn't make sense of so I had to skip it. For the stories that I did read and thoroughly enjoyed, I would give this a 4.5/5 star rating, but unfortunately I feel I have to take into consideration everything that this book has to offer. It wasn't that the stories themselves were bad, it was more that the topic in question (a ghost????) was just not for me. I couldn't wrap my head around it - but I have no doubts that someone else would thoroughly enjoy this. The writing was brilliant in the story, it's just a simple case of "it's not you, it's me".
This book is an anthology of student/teacher romances on a wide spectrum - college teachers to part time teachers and it really does offer a really good, interesting range of people who fall in love at the 'wrong time'. I really appreciated the lack of typical structure for this and found that the mixture of people and the things that they taught kept the stories alive and differentiated one from the next. I also really enjoyed the variety of students that appeared throughout - there were people ranging from a refugee to the typical bad boy, and that was a really interesting angle to take and not one that is commonly seen with books of this nature, so that was definitely a win for me!
The stories, though short, really packed a punch. Each of them fit a lot into their short span and not once did I feel like something was lacking or that something just didn't quite hit the mark. The stories were each crafted in an irresistible way which got me truly invested in the characters as soon as I started reading, so I definitely have to give it some massive thumbs up for that! I often find that with shorter stories I struggle to get invested in the characters because there just isn't enough time for me to do so, but this gave me the opportunity to get my teeth well and truly sunk into the plots, characters and their happenings. The writing throughout was also faultless; it didn't feel rushed or unedited, and each of the stories fit together brilliantly as if they were all happening on the same universe but at different times. The different styles flowed together excellently and jumping from one story into another didn't feel jarring. This is an excellently crafted anthologies with some fantastic stories!
I would recommend this for anyone that needs a good quick, enjoyable, gripping but extremely steamy story to enjoy! I read this on my commute and I thoroughly enjoyed it for that - it made an otherwise boring journey extremely enjoyable.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest, transparent review.
pagesandprozac's review
5.0
teacher/student is one of my favourite tropes Of All Time, so when i saw this anthology on netgalley of course i requested it at once! fave stories were full marks, bare, and the botanist's apprentice. overall i thought this was a very strong collection, with only a couple of stories i wasn't wowed by, and no stories that i actively disliked.
overall rating: 4.16, rounded up to 5 because of the botanist's apprentice, which truly was too hot, hot damn, please call the police and the fireman and to be honest you may as well bring the paramedics in as well because i am dead.
by virtue fall - kashmira majumdar
*3 stars*
this began promisingly, with tension that almost made my kindle short-circuit, but fizzled out towards the end with no pay offthat lowkey wanted to make me fling my kindle across the room. not the best way to begin an anthology, but rest assured - it only gets better from here.
striking gold- s.a. james
*3.5 stars*
kinda weird writing style - conversational in a way that didn't entirely work - and the plot was improbable, but it was still an enjoyable story and the sex scene at the end was a great antidote to the last story.
full marks - asta idonea.
*5 stars*
okay now things are getting good, lads, and story does indeed get full marks from me! i loved the romantic and sexual tension, as well as the mild angst and conflict. pretty much perfect.
lessons for a lifetime - hudson lin.
*4.5 stars*
a pure and adorable story about a teacher of an adult english class and his ethopian refugee student. as well as the great development of the romance, there was also an interesting exploration of different cultural norms that i really liked.
ms. skinner's freshman composition - aila alvina boyd.
*3 stars*
this was enjoyable but a little odd when it came to characterisation; it seemed that a lot of the angst was unrealistically manufactured for the sake of conflict, and certain actions/reactions didn't seem like things people would actually do. still, i liked it, and it wasn't bad.
piece of cake - valentine wheeler.
*4.5 stars*
yet another adorable fluffy story, this time about two pensioners at a cookery class. a cute as hell premise that was executed very well!
professor ghost - damian serbu
*4 stars*
this was an unusual little story about a gay ghost from the 1940s who hangs around at uni residences and gives people the courage to come out. this story was notable in that it's the only one in which there isn't actually a romance between the 'teacher' and 'student', which may seem like it's going against the point of the whole anthology, but there was a great deal of attraction there that i think balanced it out and he was, after all, a ghost.
bare - jack harbon
*5 stars*
a shy art student named levi decides to step out of his comfort zone and model nude in a class, and everything escalates from there. the prof asks him to do some... risque photos for a project of his, and levi is all like, "cool, yeah, i'm sure this definitely won't end with some super duper hot sex." that's about all you really need to know, and to be honest, is it not enough?
the botanist's apprentice - arden powell
*7237284264274 stars*
fuck. me. UP.
okay i'm going to try not to go crazy in this mini-review but UMMMM this was literally absolutely fantastic. i hate to bring fandom shit in, but goddamn if this didn't remind me of newt scamander except he's obsessed with dangerous plants instead of animals, and credence barebone comes along to be his apprentice. @people who have read this, look me in the eyes and tell me this was not this story's entire vibe. okay. anyway.
i'm obsessed with dangerous plants myself, albeit non-magical, courtesy of this terrible mundane world we live in. this enhanced my enjoyment of the story, but i'm sure someone who hates plants and thinks they're the boringest thing on earth would have their minds changed by... this particularly interesting plant that mr lord-harding happens to own, and which poor little apprentice levi just happens to run afowl of. (no, it's not plant-tendril sex. although DAMN if that wouldn't have made this story even better.)
overall rating: 4.16, rounded up to 5 because of the botanist's apprentice, which truly was too hot, hot damn, please call the police and the fireman and to be honest you may as well bring the paramedics in as well because i am dead.
by virtue fall - kashmira majumdar
*3 stars*
this began promisingly, with tension that almost made my kindle short-circuit, but fizzled out towards the end with no pay off
striking gold- s.a. james
*3.5 stars*
kinda weird writing style - conversational in a way that didn't entirely work - and the plot was improbable, but it was still an enjoyable story and the sex scene at the end was a great antidote to the last story.
full marks - asta idonea.
*5 stars*
okay now things are getting good, lads, and story does indeed get full marks from me! i loved the romantic and sexual tension, as well as the mild angst and conflict. pretty much perfect.
lessons for a lifetime - hudson lin.
*4.5 stars*
a pure and adorable story about a teacher of an adult english class and his ethopian refugee student. as well as the great development of the romance, there was also an interesting exploration of different cultural norms that i really liked.
ms. skinner's freshman composition - aila alvina boyd.
*3 stars*
this was enjoyable but a little odd when it came to characterisation; it seemed that a lot of the angst was unrealistically manufactured for the sake of conflict, and certain actions/reactions didn't seem like things people would actually do. still, i liked it, and it wasn't bad.
piece of cake - valentine wheeler.
*4.5 stars*
yet another adorable fluffy story, this time about two pensioners at a cookery class. a cute as hell premise that was executed very well!
professor ghost - damian serbu
*4 stars*
this was an unusual little story about a gay ghost from the 1940s who hangs around at uni residences and gives people the courage to come out. this story was notable in that it's the only one in which there isn't actually a romance between the 'teacher' and 'student', which may seem like it's going against the point of the whole anthology, but there was a great deal of attraction there that i think balanced it out and he was, after all, a ghost.
bare - jack harbon
*5 stars*
a shy art student named levi decides to step out of his comfort zone and model nude in a class, and everything escalates from there. the prof asks him to do some... risque photos for a project of his, and levi is all like, "cool, yeah, i'm sure this definitely won't end with some super duper hot sex." that's about all you really need to know, and to be honest, is it not enough?
the botanist's apprentice - arden powell
*7237284264274 stars*
fuck. me. UP.
okay i'm going to try not to go crazy in this mini-review but UMMMM this was literally absolutely fantastic. i hate to bring fandom shit in, but goddamn if this didn't remind me of newt scamander except he's obsessed with dangerous plants instead of animals, and credence barebone comes along to be his apprentice. @people who have read this, look me in the eyes and tell me this was not this story's entire vibe. okay. anyway.
i'm obsessed with dangerous plants myself, albeit non-magical, courtesy of this terrible mundane world we live in. this enhanced my enjoyment of the story, but i'm sure someone who hates plants and thinks they're the boringest thing on earth would have their minds changed by... this particularly interesting plant that mr lord-harding happens to own, and which poor little apprentice levi just happens to run afowl of. (no, it's not plant-tendril sex. although DAMN if that wouldn't have made this story even better.)
laurag22's review
4.0
A delightful assortment of romance short stories giving representation across the sexuality spectrum.
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