To Professor, with Love by Linda Kage

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

When you say professor-student love story I am so in!! I have a weak stop for them, as long as the story is genuine and I manage to make a true connection with it. After reading the blurb and realizing that Aspen is the professor I was very intrigued, being the first time I read about a female professor. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against it, but I wanted to see for myself if the intensity and feelings are the same as in other books where the roles were changed.

This was my first Linda Kage book and after it, I became a fan of hers. I love the Forbidden Men Series and this particular book has a special place in my heart, opening me up to this amazing world of different characters and well written plots. The title as well made me more aware of the feeling the heroes have for one another, because it was impossible not to connect with them.

Aspen is the new literature professor and so eager to prove that she can manage such a job. She is willing to show the whole school and her parents that she is talented and has the determination necessary to succeed at a young age. Everybody is kind of reluctant to her because of how young she is, but soon she will show everybody that the most valuable assets are her brains and heart.
Noel is her student, a cocky QB, with a rough exterior, but heart of gold. Few people know that while studying and working as a waiter at the Forbidden Club, he has to look after his 3 little brothers. He had this responsibility from a young age, with their father being gone and their mother a drug addict. He was mother and father for them and won’t allow anything to shift his from his duty. Not even love.

When he met Aspen, he was very attracted to her, but because she was his teacher she was off-limits. Having some problems with his literature assignments, Aspen will help him after hours, and in this way, a form of friendship will arise, leading to more in a short while.
I loved them. They were perfect together. Aspen was so shy and sloppy sometimes, and Noel was this perfect charming boy who wanted to impress his teacher. Oddly enough, they only have a gap age of 3 years, so the difference is not so big between them. Putting them together was a great click, even if both of them had responsibilities and different paths, they managed to complete each other and came to the conclusion that as 1 they were stronger.

I loved how Linda created their moments together, beginning with the first encounters and finishing with the moments in which they were truly in love. Of course their story is forbidden, everybody being against them, like the whole school or Noel’s duties to brothers or Aspen’s past. But you know what?? I didn’t care. This relationship was amazing and believe it or not it was innocent. It was not part of a grand and malefic scenario, just 2 persons falling in love and trying desperately to hang on to each other. Maybe sometimes sacrifices are worth it if when crossing the line you have the love of your life waiting for you.

A big plus were the supporting characters that we will soon learn to love in the next books. They will become this big and happy family and even though the road will be bumpy, it will always end well for them, because of this unity and friendship ties that were just unbreakable.