Review: Summer School by Tam Ames

Tam Ames

Summer School

Silver Publishing, July 28, 2012

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
English teacher Jeremy Decker's split with his boyfriend has left him with no plans for the summer and credit card debt. One solution is to teach summer history classes. College history major Lucas Van Sloan is brought in to assist Jeremy, thrilled to have a summer job that doesn't include supervising kids at the hometown swimming pool. A summer heat wave has Jeremy more snarly than even upbeat Lucas can handle. Lucas drags the teacher back to his place and out of the heat, determined to drag Jeremy into his bed while he's got him there. However, Jeremy's ex isn't quite ready to let go, and a college student may be no competition for a high-powered attorney.

Genre & Keywords: M/M Romance, Contemporary, Summer, Teacher/TA, Heat, Age Difference

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 2 out of 3 flames
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The back blurb summarizes the plot of Summer School quite accurately. The story is told from both heroes' alternating POVs in a clipped and clear writing style. The sentences flow nicely and the information is handed out in a rather high speed. So, you have to pay attention or else you miss a change of scene or a part of some background info. It took me some time to get used to this, but apart from the repetitive use of a few descriptions, I enjoyed the simplicity and cleanliness of the writing. However, I usually like a little more showing than telling than Summer School had to offer.

The main characters are three-dimensional and likable, and although one might dislike Jeremy's initial grumpy behavior, I thought he had every reason to act like that. It was obvious it were the circumstances speaking, not his normal attitude. His behavior fitted the story and I kind of enjoyed his snappy snarling. Lucas is from the beginning absolutely adorable. His looks, with his long blond hair, were a nice bonus too. He's quite the hot, commanding bed partner, even if he is the younger man. Jeremy and Lucas' chemistry was very good and I liked the slow build-up to the finally giving in to their attraction. There’s a hot scene with a blindfold, ties and a vibrator, which only confirms their steam factor!

The focus lies almost entirely on the relationship building in the narrowest sense in Summer School. Aside from a small 'appearance' of Jeremy's ex-boyfriend there are not many side characters, at least no significant ones. This gives the heroes' love story a bit of an isolated feel. I missed the side characters and the heroes' possible interaction with other characters in this novel. I would've liked seeing them interact on a different level than the romantic one. There were some small opportunities already there too. For example when Lucas goes home to his mother for five days. But unfortunately, all we get is a summary of his time there with the only purpose to make clear how much he missed Jeremy. I wouldn’t have mind it if the author had chosen to take us there with Lucas to show something of his relationship with his mother.

Overall, Summer School is an entertaining short novel, which tells a sweet, age-difference romance and which packs some very steamy sex scenes, all set against the background of a long, hot and sexy summer.
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