3.95 Stars
Gabrielle “Gabe” Ryan is a
published author and writing professor.
His new student, Purity Taylor, is the daughter of his former childhood
friend. Purity’s been sheltered all her
life, raised in a small southern town by her fire and brimstone preacher
father. She wants some freedom, and she’s managed to get accepted into an out of
state school and a by-application-only coveted writing class.
“I tell myself that I’m being appropriately distant even as I imagine her on her knees between my legs while I read her paper aloud… And it doesn’t feel like that big of a deal—at least, until I come all over Purity’s writing assignment.”
I thoroughly enjoyed the classroom
and grading scenes where writing and feedback were discussed. Honestly, it made
me a little nostalgic for my old college days. But I appreciated how those
scenes touched on what’s so important about being readers and writers and how
it should be an active, not passive process. The scene where Purity’s lust
piece is discussed was great because it shows a real literary discussion in
process, with the students throwing out responses as feedback and the professor
challenging them to fine tune their analysis and in the process enhance Purity’s
writing. The message here—that of being an
intuitive, critical readers as well as a writer who can grow and improve with
the right kind of direction and feedback—is so very important in this real
world community we all take part in, and if for nothing else, I’d recommend
this book simply for those scenes and themes alone.
As far as the rest of the story
goes, I did struggle to connect with the characters in the beginning. In the
first quarter there’s a lot of ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’ when it comes to their
attraction to each other, and the smut at that point is all in their heads to
which I’d prefer see play out for real. Which it
eventually does and the story became more engaging once their interactions with
each other increase. Their role play was super hot:
“‘Unfortunately, only good little girls get to see their teachers’ cocks.’”
There’s plenty of it too:
“‘Did I tell you to turn around and look at me, or did I tell you to bend your mouthy little ass over the desk?’”
And Purity becomes more fun as the
story moves along.
“I don’t think I’ve learned my lesson at all. I only want to push more of his buttons, to get a reaction out of him. I wonder what forms of punishment I could earn for not learning my lesson.”
The reveal at the climax was a good
twist that I did not see coming. I wish a little more time would have been
spent on its resolution though. I was
left wondering about the future of those side characters. There’s another bonus
epilogue to come for newsletter subscribers so hopefully it will be addressed
there.
I also struggled a bit picturing
the characters. Purity is 18. Gabe is roughly 37. But then Purity’s roommate likens
Gabe’s appeal as an older man in a suit to that of George Clooney, (and don’t
get me wrong, George Clooney is a good looking man) but he’s also 56 with
distinguishable gray. Then there's the cover, which is well done and visually appealing; but the couple doesn’t seem to fit
the characterization either. The female model looks older than 18, while the hot,
tattooed male model doesn’t look close to 37.
While there’s an author note in the
beginning explaining that the story is set at a fictional Pennsylvania school,
apparently it’s also set in a fictional version of the state because at one
point Gabe’s editor rolls off with the ridiculous line, “You’re in Pennsylvania!...There
aren’t any damned tunnels in Pennsylvania.”
The real Pennsylvania does in fact have tunnels and a fairly well known
highway system called the turnpike with tunnels, originally built to give
better access through the mountains. The landscape is not just farmland in the
keystone state.
Those issues aside, it’s still a
light-hearted, fun and cleaver erotic standalone that is refreshingly void of OW/OM
drama. Told via Gabe and Purity’s alternating first person POV, this is a forbidden
teacher-student romance with the added taboo element of Purity’s religious
background/family.
“‘That filthy little mouth of yours…I’m going to wash it out with my cum.’”Quite the incentive to 1-click! 😉
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