Getting Schooled

Those who regularly read my reviews will be all too aware that I very, very rarely give 5 out of 5, so you know that if I do rate a book 5 it is going to be exceptional, entirely consuming all the way through to the last page. Shh don’t tell anyone but I have a terrible habit of having to flip to the back to make sure the story pans out the way I hope it will (I know, I know don’t judge) BUT I wasn’t tempted in the slightest with Getting Schooled – it absolutely kept my attention, the characters were mesmerizing and I wanted to feel all the emotions alongside them. Garrett and Callie were high school sweethearts, the power couple, the quarterback and the theatre queen, first love and bright futures until a minor mishap derailed their plans. Needing to place distance between herself and the memories Callie heads off to university in San Diego while Garrett remains in their New Jersey hometown. The long distance relationship was a lot harder to maintain than either of them anticipated, so although they loved each other they ultimately went their separate ways. Brought back together thanks to a hilarious car accident Callie’s parents are involved in, requiring Callie to return to New Jersey in order to help her sister while their parents recuperate. With the required time being just under a year, Garrett and Callie’s lives once more become intertwined when Callie becomes a drama teacher at the school Garrett already works and coaches. All of their previous feelings come surging back as they spend time together. The only black cloud on the horizon is the finite timespan on their relationship with Callie’s life in San Diego she had planned on returning to. What really made the difference for me in giving Getting Schooled a 5* rating was how relatable the characters and situations were especially for someone working within education. Parts of the narrative were unbelievably insightful, I think this is the most I have ever highlighted sentences and paragraphs through a book in order to refer back to the tidbits of wisdom imparted within the narrative. I can honestly say there was not a single part of Getting Schooled I didn’t completely love, even when it reduced me to tears 🐶

You'd think that the fact that I'd pre-ordered and promptly listened to the audiobook when it was released in January would have stemmed my enthusiasm for Getting Schooled, but nope! I fell in love all over again with this second chance romance from one of my all-time favorite romantic comedy authors, Emma Chase. Reading this book also clued me in on the fact that this was just the first in a new series titled Getting Some. With a whole lot of humor and equal parts heart and heat--and a dose of drama that brought a tear to my eye--re-acquainting myself with Garrett Daniels and Callaway Carpenter's love story further secures its spot on my top reads list for this year. From the banter to the bickering, Garrett and Callie were the kind of couple that I love getting to know, becoming invested in their story, and wishing they were real people so that I could watch their second chance at love play out. Emma Chase came up with a fantastically fun-filled story of true love getting an opportunity to finally get things right. This also had one heck of a great supporting cast of characters, but there is one character in particular who claimed my heart from the moment he made his presence known--Snoopy, Garrett's seventeen-year-old albino beagle. What can I say? The dog always wins out for me, and Snoopy is one of the most memorable fictional canines I've come across in all of my years of reading. But he was just one of the reasons why Getting Schooled was as great of a read as it was. I'm giving this five-plus stars and am already excitedly awaiting the rest of this series! ♥

Reminds me of an early Susan Elizabeth Phillips novel because funny, heartbreaking, sexy and real moments all mix together in a happy tornado that makes this book blow by. But reader beware: that hot dude on the cover should be snuggled up to a dog. Choosing the wrong cover for this book is the only mis-step.