Review: Life Lessons #1 by Kaje Harper

Tony Hart's life has been quiet lately. He has good friends and a rewarding teaching job. Then the murdered body of another teacher falls into the elevator at his feet, and Tony's life gets a little too exciting.

Jared MacLean is a homicide detective, a widowed father, and deeply in the closet. But from the moment he meets Tony's blue eyes in that high school hallway, Mac can't help wanting this man in his life. However Mac isn't the only one with his eyes on Tony. As the murderer tries to cover his tracks, Mac has to work fast or lose Tony, permanently.

Kaje Harper fan girl day.

Books I Love review. That's to say I've already reviewed this one on Goodreads, but it was such a great book, by such a great author, that I absolutely wanted to post the review here too, so here goes..

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I haven't read a crime novel in quite a while and this was brilliant. The crime and procedure scenes felt real to me (not that I'd know, I'm not involved in the police in any way), but sometimes it feels like authors manipulate situations to work for the storyline, this really wasn't the case here. Yeah I'd guessed who'd done it before the end, however it didn't spoil the story, in a way it added to the intensity as Tony hadn't realised and I knew he was putting himself in danger.

I adored the characters of Tony and Mac - their slow romance was believable and I was worried that it wouldn't be, seeing as Mac is the cop investigating a crime Tony may be involved in. And it was romance, not just sex, though of course there was sex. I also liked the fact that Tony was quickly cleared as a suspect, to me it would have just been boring to have all that doubt hanging there. I loved the tenderness of Mac looking after Tony and Tony's defiance at refusing to just be laid up in bed, that he needed to get back to work, to prove the buggers couldn't get him down.

The best thing about this book - there are sequels! I love discovering a book that already has the sequels written and not having to wait ages for them. I can't wait to read more about Mac and Tony.

ETA: I have actually read this entire series now - the final book came out in September and they are consistently good. In fact I developed a full on crush on Mac as the stories went on, he is my book boyfriend, so hands off! With each book Kaje Harper brings something new to the story, it didn't feel like the same stuff recycled in a different package, each book was brilliant in it as own right. The love between Tony and Mac develops, though plenty of hurdles are put in their way. For me this series represents one of the best love stories I have ever read, so if, like me, you're a sucker for love then this is a series I would absolutely recommend.