REVIEW: Getting Schooled by Emma Chase

In Getting Schooled (Getting Schooled #1) by Emma Chase, High school history teacher and football coach Garrett Daniels has to admit that life in his little hometown of Lakeside, New Jersey, is pretty sweet. He’s got a nice house, his rambunctious but loving siblings and parents live close by, and of course he has a lovable, elderly beagle named Snoopy. Garrett isn’t too worried about not having a steady girl or a family of his own yet. Although it does seem like everyone around him is either getting serious or asking him when it will be his turn. So when his high school girlfriend, the only girl he’s ever truly loved, comes back home for a year to take care of her parents and sub at the high school, Garrett couldn’t be happier. And as everything falls back into place between himself and Callie, the only issue will be how to make this great thing last.

“I love you too, Garrett.” Shiny tears rise in her eyes, making them glisten. “I never stopped. I think I’m going to love you forever.”
I’m already nodding, kissing her. And my voice is thick with all that I feel for her. “I love you, Callie–I always have. Always.”

Just when Callie was about to get her dream job in the San Diego theater she’s called home for years, she finds herself back in New Jersey after her parents injure themselves in an embarrassing accident. Callie and her sister soon devise a plan to split caretaking duties. Which leaves her open to substitute teach theater at the local high school, a job that unbeknownst to her will have her seeing her former boyfriend on a daily basis. Garrett is somehow even more charismatic and handsome…and he wasn’t too shabby back in the day. Knowing that there’s a time limit, Callie tells herself it’s okay to have some fun and reminisce with the guy who stole her heart years ago. But it’s deja vu when she feels herself slipping back into the same intense but seductive relationship with Garrett. Leaving Callie to wonder how she’ll let him–and the wonderful students she’s met–go at the end of the school year.

“I thought teaching would be just a job. I’d do the year and go back to California. Simple.” My chest tightens, crushing me. “I didn’t think I’d care about them so much.”

Seriously sweet and sinfully sexy, Getting Schooled was a touch down of a romance in a brand new series by Emma Chase. Yay! Not only was it a small town story with a cast who will instantly charm you, but this was also an adorable second chance romance that was absolute perfection.

‘They say you can’t go home again…but they’re wrong.
I did.
I came home and found the love I never really lost.’

You all probably know by now that I adore Emma Chase’s work. I mean *adore*. From her Tangled series that started it all off to The Legal Briefs and then of course her Royally series, I’ve laughed, cried, sighed, and yelled at/with the characters time again. But…even though I will be a Drew Girl forever…our hero here, Garrett Daniels, might just be my favorite guy Chase has written so far. I know! It shocked me too. But he was SO swoony: all alpha male with a bit of swagger and cockiness, although he was a caring, kickass teacher and a talented football coach who took his job with his students seriously. *dreamy sigh*

This story–which was a narrative told from both Garrett and Callie’s POVs–struck a chord with me, and I have to say that Garrett made me laugh from the very first page. He was funny, kind of told it like it was without being rude, and had great instincts both on and off the football field. It didn’t hurt that Garrett still had a major thing for his high school sweetheart Callie. Or that he was a doting pet dad to his elderly beagle Snoopy. It all added up to a heartthrob of a hero. I definitely don’t blame Callie for falling for Garrett all over again–if she ever stopped caring for him, that is. She was a superb heroine and his perfect match: creative, loving, had lots of energy, and a solid gold heart.

Callie was born to be a theater teacher, I thought. I loved watching her learn the ins and outs of how to handle the students. And especially how horrified she was to realize that teachers are normal people with everyday problems and can act just as crazy as the kids they watch over. Some of those scenes were hysterical. Others involving certain students were a bit more emotional and poignant, which really added something wonderful to the story overall. But honestly it was her hippyish parents who had me in stitches. They were the reason she had to return home to Lakeside and oh my goodness will it have readers hooting with laughter when they find out the truth behind the parents’ “accident”!

Talk about hot for teacher! *fans face* Lakeside’s original power couple proved love is even better the second time around. Tender, thoughtful, laugh-out-loud funny, this romance had ALL the feels. Emma Chase will have her hands full trying to top this superb story.
 

Book Info:

Publication: Published June 26th 2018 | Emma Chase LLC | Getting Schooled #1

Head of the class…

Garrett Daniels has this whole life thing figured out.

The cocky, charismatic former high school star quarterback is an idolized football coach and “cool” teacher in the hometown where he’s not just a golden boy—he’s platinum. He has good friends, a great house on the lake, and the best damn sidekick a man could ask for: Snoopy, the albino beagle.

Then…Callie Carpenter comes home.

And knocks him right on his tight end zone.

Back to school…

Callie has a pretty sweet life herself…on the other side of the country. But circumstances—that she’d prefer to never speak of again—have brought her back home, helping out her parents and substitute teaching at her old high school.

Now she’s facing bickering, raging hormones, constant gossip, awkward weirdness, and drama galore…and that’s just the teachers.

Just like old times…

When Garrett offers to show his former high school sweetheart the secrets of his winning teacher ways, Callie jumps at the chance—and then has to stop herself from jumping him.

Good friends are all they can ever be.

Or…these teachers just might end up getting schooled—hard—by love.