A Lesson in Love

Lesbians, literature, mysteries, and secrets bring a doctorate student and a professor together, but will it end up splitting them apart?

Victoria “Rory” Carlisle of the posh Cotswolds Carlisle family requests Oxford Professor Helen Swift to be her Doctorate adviser on lesbians in literature. Helen decides to accept Rory as her last doctoral candidate to Rory's delight as no one but Helen would do as Rory has a serious crush on the much older professor. Unbeknownst to anyone though, Helen is keeping a secret and is deciding whether to semi-retire. Spending time together on Rory's thesis and impromptu get-togethers, Helen starts to have feelings for Rory that are inappropriate for a professor to have for a student and soon that boundary does not matter. Sooner rather than later, secrets start to come out and feelings can not be denied as everyone from Helen's ex-girlfriend, to her best-friend, and Rory herself start to push Helen to make a decision which will decide who gets a “happily ever after”.

Reading can be funny sometimes. This is the last book in “The Village Romance” trilogy and I ended up reading it first. I had clicked on a book on my Kindle thinking it was a different book entirely and by a different author! Reading this book, I thought, “Wow this writer has really changed her style and I like it!”

I loved this story even though I am not a huge fan of May/December romances (for those who may not know what that is: It is when there is an age gap between the two parties). I really liked the secondary characters, except for the ex-girlfriend (laugh). The sex is okay and once I realized the author is Harper Bliss – it is really tame. I find Rory's thesis really interesting too. I got to the end of A Lesson in Love (2019) and noticed the references to the author's other books and said, “Hey...wait a minute....” (laugh)

Sometimes it is really nice to read an author you have visited with many times with fresh eyes. It reminds you why started crushing on them in the first place. It gives you back that feeling of, “Oh yeah that's why I like them so much.” Bliss gives you the romance you need and you never want to throw her out of bed even if she is eating cookies.