How two persons so wrong for each on first sight can be just…

Synopsis

Dean Baxter was everything a sensible thirty-two-year-old teacher should avoid. Five years younger, cocky, with a playboy reputation. Oh and guardian to Tom, one of her most promising students. But Lia was a rebel at heart.

Lia Stapleton was everything that was out of reach for an uneducated garage mechanic who’d made too many mistakes. Cambridge-educated, gorgeous and from a well-heeled background, she was his brother’s teacher. But Dean couldn’t resist her.

As Dean and Lia’s tentative relationship begins, can it survive Tom’s disapproval, her parents’ interference. And the dangerous return of his past.

My review

Lia Stapleton is a dedicated teacher who notices the potential of one of her students, Tom. While trying to persuade him to attempt to get into Cambridge, she also has to persuade his brother and guardian Dean that Tom has a shot.
But Dean always thought that one day, the two brothers would run their family’s garage together. And Tom for sure never mentioned Cambridge before.
Now not only Dean has to face that his plans may not come to fruition, but he also has to face that he feels himself attracted to Lia. But how can a sophisticated, gorgeous and well –educated woman like Lia fall for someone like him, uneducated, a mechanic who made plenty of mistakes and a past that won’t let him go?
And why can Lia not get Dean out of her mind, a man who is five years younger, cocky and seemingly to enjoy the female company a bit too much?
Yet resisting is in vain, but can they face so many odds that are against them? Not only Tom who disapproved, but also Lia’s snobbish interferences and Dean’s past that may jeopardize everything that they slowly built…

Kathryn Freeman just did it again! She wrote an amazing, impossible – to – out – away – story, just like I had expected from her!
And I keep being amazed how she manages to write out of the box, with characters that show you on different occasions that you should never judge a book by its cover!

I liked Lia for following her own passions, despite the wishes of her parents. Being a twin, but having a sister who is obviously the favourite, isn’t easy. Yet Lia found a way to do what she pleases, not being afraid to disappoint her parents, which she does anyway (in their eyes…).
And I loved the dedication she shows as a teacher. She sees the potential in her students, especially in Tom, and she does whatever she can to show Tom his own capabilities.

But it also saddened me a little bit, seeing how little she thinks of herself, thanks to her parents. And her own disappointments in the romantic parts makes her question about the honesty of what is being told to her.
How can she not see how amazing she is???

And Dean… in first instance, I had the same thoughts about him that Lia had. His actions spoke very loud, but slowly I realized that what we see, is only a glimpse of the real person.
He may have his looks in his advantage, but reading about the things he did in the past, how he did, and still does, for his younger brother Tom, made me change my whole opinion of him.
Yes, he also made mistakes in the past, but he did it all with the best intentions. And seeing how he gave up his own younger years for Tom, and how he even never got the chance to fall in love and experience a real relationship (and not the heated moments in a store room alone), broke my heart but also warmed my heart as he did it all for Tom…

In this book, there are some moments that made my heart melt all over the place, but also got me frustrated as both main characters just didn’t see that they too deserved their happiness. Even if it is with a person so different and unexpected. And at some points I even got angry with them as they were ruining a wonderful thing because of their own doubts and insecurities.

I absolutely devoured this book, as it shows that love comes in different shapes and forms, and that when you finally have found your perfect match, background, age, past, jobs, … don’t matter at all. What truly matters is the feeling of love, that can conquer everything, from resurfacing demons from your past, to too interfering/snobbish parents. Because in the end, love is all we need…