It’s been quite a while since I read anything by Heidi Cullinan—and this is distinctly different from her contributions to the Tucker Springs universe. I actually lost track of Cullinan after how rude Riptide Publishing was a few years ago because I went out of my way not to read anything by them and ultimately it was my loss. Thankfully, this isn’t published by them and I re-discovered an author I truly enjoyed reading.
I grabbed this one from the library because I forgot I wanted to read Secret Admirer by D.J. Jamison and I needed to read something to align a galley for what I thought was the publication date and failed miserably so you now get to have four back-to-back unplanned MM Romance reviews, oh darn 😀
So, we already know I’m a sucker for almost any MM Romance, but give me a ‘super sappy one where one of the characters is virginal/naïve and set it on a college campus with a bad boy and of course I’m going to read it.
Kelly didn’t know what to say to that, except that he did want to fuck it up with some heterosexual mating dance. He wanted a goddamn gay Disney movie, and no, that wasn’t an oxymoron. He didn’t think a relationship would fuck up sex. He believed it would make it better. (31)
Love Lessons features campus player Walter, who beds any first-year worth bedding and moves on without emotional entanglement, and first-year Kelly, a Disney loving adorkable young man who has allergies from hell and is looking for his Prince Charming in college after growing up in small town rural Minnesota. Through a comedy of errors for Walter, they end up sharing a single and the restraint Walter shows, even at Kelly’s insistence he breaks that restraint, and the love story that follows was so heartwarming.
‘I’m not a Disney princess in a castle. I’m—’ He fumbled as he tried to think of an appropriate metaphor. ‘I’m Luke Skywalker wanting to get it on with Han Solo.’ They’d been bought by Disney. The metaphor held. (175)
The big drama in their budding relationship is that Kelly is desperate to find his Prince Charming and when Walter won’t give him the time of day, he looks elsewhere. Well, this obviously isn’t going to work because Walter is pining for Kelly, but protecting him from himself which, although noble, is a losing cause. They’re obviously going to fall for each other and the more time they spend with each other the less time Walter plays the field and Kelly is convinced Walter is the one.
The other drama of the story is Walter has been left by everyone in his life, his mom has emotionally abandoned him to wallow in her own pity, his best friend who he came to school for has graduated early and is getting married, and he finds out his favorite professor/advisor may not make tenure (and ultimately has his job cut). A lot of the last half of the book focuses on this, combined with the drama of Kelly’s mom losing her job and his potentially not being able to afford the small private school the following year.
‘You can’t stay for me. You can’t give up everything for me.’
‘You were set to stay on my account when you thought I wanted to stay. You came here for Cara. You stayed in Chicago for your mom. You gave up this whole semester for Williams, for the department.’ Kelly reached up and touched Walter’s cheek. ‘Don’t you think it’s time someone gave up everything for you?’ (257)
I don’t know, it was just a wholesome story. I think a lot of that comes from Kelly’s Disney obsession, but I think it also comes from Walter having to grow up to help his professor fight the department cuts. So much of this is his relationship with Kelly. As naïve and inexperienced as he is, Kelly gives Walter hope and something to work for even if he keeps trying to avoid it or back out of it. We definitely get our happily ever after, though and thankfully the story carries through the next two novels in the series so you can see them growing even more together and when you add in the Jane Austen movie and novel references this was just a wonderfully delightful read
Recommendation: I thoroughly enjoyed this. I haven’t read anything by Cullinan in a few years and it was nice to revisit her writing. This was definitely sappier than the last ones I read by her, but I think it’s for an entirely different audience and I was okay with it. Kelly and Walter were great protagonists and as a bonus I really enjoyed so many of the minor characters!
Opening Line: “Freshman orientation at Hope University was an all-you-can-eat buffet, and Walter Lucas planned to gorge himself.”
Closing Line: “Into their happily ever after.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
Other Books in Love Lessons
Additional Quotes from Love Lessons
“Look, I get that it’s not special to you, but it is to me. You can make jokes about Mayberry and my perfect family if you want, but this is who I am, and I happen to like who I am, so you can just deal. I do want a boyfriend. I do want my first time—and my second, and all the ones after that—to be special. I don’t think that’s impossible, either. I’m not cynical, no. I believe there are good people out there, and I want to meet one of them and fall in love and raise a family. In fact, it’s what I’m going to do, and I don’t care what you think about my wanting that.” (40)
“Kelly folded like a house of cards. ‘Okay, so I have a thing for Disney movies. I always have.’ He held out his arms. ‘Go ahead. Make fun.'” (50)
“You’re not a prude, but I think you’re going to have a hell of a time, being a shy, virginal, gay man wanting a 1950s-movie kind of courtship.” (74)
“You need to let him know, but you don’t have to use words. Sometimes the ones we love are like butterflies, flitting all over, and we have to sit and wait patiently for them to land. Sometimes they never do, and that’s a risk we take. But sometimes what they need most is to see us sitting still, patient, waiting. To understand that we’re going to be there no matter what, that we’re the ones who are always sitting there waiting, loyal, loving. Sometimes that’s more powerful than any words.” (111)
“‘Walter, I can’t. I feel things when we do this that I shouldn’t.” He shivered as Walter’s hands skimmed down his body. Say it. Get it out, so you can get it over with. ‘You don’t feel those kinds of things, not with anyone.’
Walter nuzzled Kelly’s neck, then his ear.
‘Maybe I do, with you.’ Kelly’s legs all but folded beneath him.” (136)
“It was important not to wake him, because Walter wanted to blurt out everything, all his secrets that weren’t anything at all, stupid old wounds that upset him. Things he could look back on now and see were problems, scars he carried that got in his way even now, events that if he hadn’t been so young and clueless would have told him a lot, could have kept him from feeling so lousy. Sad truths about how sick his mother was—oh, not sick enough to be a real danger, no, but sick enough to make life lonely and confusing.” (150)
“Walter understood the next Philosophy Club meeting topic had been picked just for him—the moral philosophy of Jane Austen—but he couldn’t understand why.” (186)
“They took a week to work through them, starting with Pride and Prejudice because Kelly loved the Keira Knightley version, unsurprisingly. They read a bit of the novel together too, Walter pointing out passages he thought would get brought up at the meeting. They took on Sense and Sensibility next, because the Emma Thompson adaptation was so exquisite and the book was Walter’s favorite, and then, feeling they were ready, Walter took them to Mansfield Park.” (186)
“Walter smiled and turned around in their embrace, which meant he lay on his back while Kelly loomed over him. ‘You do realize you’re dating Henry Crawford. Minus the infidelity.’
‘What? I am not.’ Kelly tweaked his nose. ‘I’m dating Elizabeth Bennet, thank you very much.’
Walter laughed. ‘Does that make you Darcy?’
‘God, no. I’m afraid I’m Colonel Brandon. Not a fine match on your end, Elizabeth.’
Walter stroked Kelly’s cheek. ‘No. You’re Edward Ferrars. And I think I’ve made a perfect match.’
This earned him a kiss, and then another—and they stopped talking philosophy or anything else, after that.” (188)
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