Teach Me (There's Something about Marysburg, #1)

by Olivia Dade

[Berls]

Oh I'm so glad I decided to pick this series up! I loved the characters, the romance, and the humor so much - such a fun fast read.

I think the first thing to note is that this is the best representation of teaching I've read. It's a high school setting, so it's different from the elementary setting I'm used to, but it from my experiences and from what I know from friends who do teach in high school settings, it FELT correct. There were a few oddities that I think could be summed up as small town vs city. Since so many books really don't get the teacher's life right AT ALL, I appreciated this a lot. It's a hard job and I can't get into a book that doesn't show that at least semi-accurately.

I also really loved the characters. I loved that they are middle aged and normal. They have issues, sure, but not over the top ones. Just very typical issues that most have. And they've grown up into pretty incredible people despite those issues.

I loved Rose. She's plus size but does not apologize for her body at all. Instead, she dresses immaculately (in all black) and has this don't eff with me composure. And yet, for her students, she is open and so full of love. And Martin is a recently divorced dad who pretty much wears his heart on his sleeve.

There are a host of other characters - students, faculty members, and Kate's HILARIOUS ex-inlaws. Through these characters we get socioeconomic disparity, a little LGTBQ+, so much heart and humor.

The plot is not unpredictable - it's a contemporary romance - but you enjoy watching it go to the predictable end. And there's some definite steam between grading sessions for Martin and Rose.

I enjoyed the narration by Kelsey Navarro. Another new-to-me narrator (I've had a lot of those lately) that I will definitely enjoy reading again. She brought the characters to life really well and was enjoyable to listen to.