Buy:  Kindle Ebook   |   Paperback

---

---

Review

Hard to handle is the second book in the Teach Me series by R.C. Boldt. It is a sweet story about a hate to love relationship between Laney and Zach.

Laney grew up in a loving family with her mom, dad, and brother. One day when she was still young, her father up and left them. Laney was heartbroken and saw the devastation in her mothers eyes. She made a vow that she wouldn’t experience what her mother had to go through.

Thinking about my life and what I didn’t want it to be like, I decided I wasn’t ever getting married because I didn’t want to experience—or risk—the husband leaving. Like our dad had left us.

Growing up with that idea, she built walls around her heart and never truly let any man get close to her. Until Zach.

Both Laney and Zach work as teachers at the same school. Almost a decade earlier, the first time they met was anything but pleasant. One miscommunication led to years of obnoxious interactions and Laney’s belief that here is a mutual hatred between them.

Zach has pined after Laney from the first day they met. After she makes it obvious that she wants nothing to do with him, he does what he can to get her to notice him, including bugging the hell out of her just to get a reaction. She is oblivious to his feelings though, and things change at Laney’s best friends wedding.

Laney enjoys the wedding and though she is not searching for love, she gets emotional with the love she sees between her best friend and her new husband. With romance in the air, on a whim she ends up outside Zach’s house.

“Can we just have tonight? You can go back to hating me tomorrow but, please, can we have tonight?”

Of course, it’s not always simple to go back to the way things were before they crossed the line. Trying the casual sex thing works for a bit, but things change quickly when feelings get involved. Laney has a lot to overcome before the walls around her heart can come down making a real relationship between her and Zach possible. And someone’s heart is always bound to break.

“I never knew it could hurt so much to lose someone I never had.”

I enjoyed Laney and Zach together. I thought the banter between the two of them was comical, as well as the interactions between them and their friends.

“Hey, man. Did I ever tell you the story about this cute girl who didn’t like me and I used to purposely piss her off all the time just to get her to notice me? Because I was, like, super in love with her or something?” His friend’s head tilted in question, a serious look on his face.
Zach stared at Lawson for a long moment, an uneasy feeling coming over him. Lawson wasn’t normally the one to have heart to hearts. He was the joker of the group. But, hey, there was a first time for everything, right?
“No, Laws,” he answered carefully, “you’ve never told me that story …”
Lawson snapped his fingers as if remembering something. “Oh, wait! That’s because it’s not my story. It’s yours.”

And Zach shows us a super sweet side of him that won me over.

“Even after all the anger, all the hurt, I would still choose you. Every,” he kissed her, “single,” another kiss, “time.”

The only thing about this book that bugged me was how back and forth Laney and Zach were with their feelings. I got annoyed with the way she treated him, and then when she comes around, his reaction rubbed me the wrong way. If they had communicated better, a lot of the hurt could have been avoided.

3.5 Stars.

*This ARC was generously provided by RockStarLit PR for an honest review.*

 

Other books in the Teach Me series:

Wildest Dream (#1)
Buy: Kindle Ebook | Paperback