I've never seen him with a full smile. Not directed at me, anyway. And now I can't think and I'm staring at him and my face is hot and I am a complete, dumb idiot.
Synopsis
Grace Ebert is focused on graduating college and launching her career as a recreational therapist, but one monumental challenge stands in her way: math. Desperate for help as she struggles to complete her final college course, she hires Noah Jennings to tutor her. Naturally outgoing, Grace is determined to get to know the surly math whiz, but when she pushes too hard for a connection, she's hurt when Noah is adamant that they can never be friends and cuts ties with her completely.
Noah feels his rejection of Grace's friendship is perfectly justified, but months later, when he's unexpectedly stuck working with her again, he can't help but admire her caring heart and determination. Has he misjudged her? They soon form an undenialbe bond over the similarity of their painful pasts-pasts they must resolve if they ever hope to build a future together.
Thoughts & Feelings
Honestly, this is a hard book for me to review. There were things that I absolutley loved about the novel and then things that I struggled with. I've taken the last few days to really think about this book. Hopefully I can accurately get all my feelings on page...web page.
Let's start with the things that I loved about Tutored in Love.
First, I really appreciated our leading lady Grace. At the beginning of this novel Grace is a senior in college (so I'm guestimating about twenty-two to twenty-three years old) and I really liked that Barbara J. Adamson didn't give us an immature and overly happy, giggly, or dramatic girl. Grace has had her fair share of hard times in life and her maturity is proof of it. Don't worry though, she isn't overly stuff. She's a good mix of maturity and fun youthfulness. I really enjoyed her relationship with Ivy, her roommate, and giggled at a few of their converstions.
Part two of this novel (there are three parts) was my very favorite. In the second part we get to see a lot more of Noah, our main man, and get to see the story from mostly his perspective (if I'm remembering correctly). I loved that Noah gets a chance to be redeemed. In the first section, Noah doesn't get shown in the best light. He comes across as super stuffy and maybe a tad arogant. Needless to say by the end of section one you are not going to be the biggest fan of Noah. Part two helped me understand his viewpoint and also understand some of the emotional baggage he is carrying around. I quickly became quite a big fan of Noah and was so glad that Barbara gave us some much needed perspective from him.
The main thing that I struggled with was the pacing of this novel. As previously mentioned there are three parts to the story. Some sections of the story seemed long and I felt like I was waiting for something to happen. The story was fairly easy to read and get lost in but some moments seemed to stretch a little long. Does that make sense? Like I was intrigued and knew that something was going to happen so I wanted to keep reading, the something just took a little long to arrive.
The other thing that I struggled with was part three Grace. This is probably a bit confusing seeing as I just said I appreciated her character. I really, really liked and understood Grace in parts one and two. I feel like I saw a different side of her in part three and I wasn't the hugest fan. It reminded me of the whole Bella Swan love triangle, back-and-forth nonsense. Part three gives us that "finally!" moment with Grace and Noah BUT Grace is seeing someone else. I don't like how the guy she is dating is portrayed and I am not a huge fan of how Grace handles this situation. I feel like it painted her is a somewhat bad light when she could have just had a serious, heartfelt, and honest situation with either Ivy or her sister.
So, that's my somewhat confusing review. Lots of love for certain parts of this book and a little mixed feelings for other parts. If it sounds interesting to you I recommend you pick it up. Not all books are made for everyone and this might be one that you love. You never know until you dive into the book.
Book Information
Title: Tutored in Love
Author: Barbara J. Adamson
Release Date: December 05, 2023
Book Tags
Language
clean
Steam Level
clean, kissing
Content & Trigger Warnings
religion is mentioned throughout
Tutored in Love had mentions of religion throughout but it is not preachy and I don't think it even states which church our characters attend. There are scenes that occur at church or at YCS activities.
severe injury
death of a parent and sibling
Purchasing Links
affiliate link