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Blurb

Max Murphy’s no-fail plan for kicking this year’s ass and getting his life back on track:

1. Forget about the cheating ex. Forget all about him. No more sad sack moping. None of that downer vibe. None of it.
2. Look for a new place to live in order to move out of my sister’s basement. Free digs are great but killing my sex life.
3. Return the intramural softball league to glory and greatness.
4. Fall in fresh, lusty love with Jory Hayzer, the hot new science teacher the minute I see him and his sexy Superman hair.
5. Get the hot science teacher on my trivia team. Couples who play together stay together.
6. Spend an entire school year wooing the very hot but also very skittish science teacher. Fall in hard, crazy love with him in the process.
7. Freak out, screw it all up, and hope to hell there’s a way to make it right.

 

Please note, this couple originally appeared in the Unconditional: Love Is Love print-only limited release anthology from The Book Worm Box. Since then, this novella has been revised and expanded. 

 

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Review

4.5 stars!

I love this book! A funny, sweet, sexy and romantic m/m romance that is functional, witty, and super freaking cute. Opposites attract as an alpha sports teacher and uptight science geek fall hard and fast in this fun novella.

This is the second book in the Benchmarks series, a spin-off from the Walshes series (which you don’t have to read first, but you should because it’s awesome), focussing on the teachers at a progressive school run by Lauren Halstead-Walsh (heroine from Underneath It All).

It’s orientation day for the new teachers at Bayside School, and science teacher, Jory is a mess of nerves and anxiety. After bouncing around from job to job, he is desperate to make a good impression so that he can finally settle into a job that fulfills him. School sports teacher and coach, Max, has been at the school since it’s opened, and after taking one look at the sexy but nervous new science teacher, he is smitten. The attraction goes both ways, and the flirtation between the two guys is bold, exciting, and hella swoony!

“I think I’d like to fall in love with you. If you’ll let me.”
He pressed his lips to my wrist and my knees damn near buckled. “I’ll think I’d like to let you.”

It’s slow going, as Jory’s anxiety won’t allow him to jump into anything too quickly, but Max is patient, and it’s so, so gorgeous watching these two guys take the tentative steps towards a relationship – openly, honestly and whole-heartedly. The anticipation was sizzling as I watched it all unfold, and it’s sexy, sweet, and so beautifully romantic.

“Loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”

We get to see moments in time with these two guys over the course of the school year, which I thought was a really fun way to read their story. There’s very little angst or drama, just enough to add depth to their relationship and bring some emotion without getting stupid, and I loved every bit of their story.

Absolutely gorgeous, I’m so excited for more from this series.

4.5 stars!

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

Benchmarks

 

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About the Author

Kate Canterbary doesn’t have it all figured out, but this is what she knows for sure: spicy-ass salsa and tequila solve most problems, living on the ocean–Pacific or Atlantic–is the closest place to perfection, and writing smart, smutty stories is a better than any amount of chocolate. She started out reporting for an indie arts and entertainment newspaper back when people still read newspapers, and she has been writing and surreptitiously interviewing people—be careful sitting down next to her on an airplane—ever since.

Kate lives on the water in New England with Mr. Canterbary and the Little Baby Canterbary, and when she isn’t writing sexy architects, she’s scheduling her days around the region’s best food trucks.

 

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