I loved all of the hockey stories by this writing duo and I enjoyed this, too, but there were just a couple of things that kept me from giving it a full five-star rating.

Teacher/student stories can be really hot because of the perceived taboo subject. I don’t really think it’s so taboo when both MCs are over 21, one is a college student and the other a professor who’s only eleven years older. There was a bit more dithering about the age difference than I like.

This was a super-hot story about two guys who meet in a bar for what they thought would pretty much be a one-off but they really made a connection. Daniel is sitting alone in a bar when Caleb sits down next to him and asks Daniel to rescue him from some creep. That leads to a night of super-hot sexy time and plans to meet up again. Unfortunately, something goes wrong and Daniel doesn’t show. This is where I had a problem when I read the book. I don’t always read the blurb before reading a book or if I do, I might not remember details. I was confused when reading the book because at the end of chapter one Caleb says he’s hurt and I couldn’t figure out why – it just wasn’t mentioned in the story until MUCH later (I did guess what happened and I was right). Later I realized that this information was in the blurb.

There were also many, many references to a trip to Europe that Caleb and his friends are going to take after graduation but then nothing at all about the actual trip, not even a mention of having a great time. The epilogue came with a time jump of fourteen months after the end of the main story. I loved the epilogue but couldn’t understand why there was absolutely no mention of the big trip the group of friends took.

Reviews for Ryan Taylor

Reviews for Joshua Harwood

♥ Amazon US ♥ Amazon CA ♥ Amazon UK ♥

Eager to see Marlowe’s new history whiz, I put on a big smile and sat up. A man walked to the lectern, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. He was stunning, with a hard, muscular body, short brown hair, and sultry dark eyes. When he glanced around, shock hit me like a brick wall, and it was like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Fuck the hell out of me!

On second thought, there’s no need. He already did. Several times.

There was no doubt it was Daniel; I’d have recognized him anywhere. But realizing he was a faculty member at Marlowe was the surprise of the year. I’d known he was a teacher, but not what he taught. When I left his apartment that day in New York, he’d said he had a meeting at NYU, so I wondered if there was a connection there.

Shit, what am I going to do? I need this class, but I can’t stay here, looking at him every day and remembering what we did. Even if I could stand it, he may not let me. Isn’t there a rule about teaching someone you’ve hooked up with? This could be a disaster because if I don’t take this class, I won’t graduate in May.

While I struggled for air, he smiled, lighting up the entire room. Oh my God, he’s even better looking now than he was last summer.

“Good morning. I’m Dr. Quinn, and I’m glad to see so many of you out on a snowy day.”

The sound of his voice unleashed a flood of memories. It had been June. The day was a scorcher, and after work, I went to a bar near NYU. I’d been there a few times, and it was a good place to get a cold drink and talk to people. I’d never found a hookup there, and I wasn’t looking for one the night I met Daniel.

An older man had tried to convince me to go to dinner with him. He spooked me when he said he knew what young guys wanted, and when I tried to get away, he started following me around. I’d ducked into a corner and lost him when I saw an empty stool at the bar. The guy sitting next to it was hunched over like he was alone, a perfect five-minute boyfriend. I ran for the seat.

Daniel raised his voice, bringing me back to the present. “I’ll pass around the syllabus while I call the roll.” He handed a stack of papers to a girl in the front row and returned to the lectern. “Okay, let’s see who’s here.”

Oh, honey, you’re about to find out.

I braced myself as he began calling names. It wouldn’t be long.

Anderson, Aubuchon, Bennet, Carson…

I looked down and didn’t respond.

“Caleb Carson?” he repeated.

“Here,” I said, raising my head and meeting his eyes.

Daniel’s jaw dropped. His lips moved, and when no words came out, he cleared his throat.

“Thank you.”

MY PERFECT SCREWUP: Copyright © 2023 Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood. All rights reserved.