ARC Review: Love Lessons by Heidi Cullinan

I will admit that I didn't quite know what to expect with this story when I started it. For me, M/M stories are always sort of a giant question mark, and they can be done really well and other times not so well. I enjoyed reading Love Lessons and really liked both Kelly and Walter. There were a few things about this story that I thought could have been better, but honestly none of them had to do with the characters or their relationship. I really loved watching Kelly and Walter grow and fall in love.

Kelly is just starting his freshman year of college and is for the first time really coming out. Not only is coming out, but he has a ton of issues to deal with. He is allergic to just about everything but wheat and has to be put in a specific dorm in order to make sure that he doesn't have an attack. To make things worse, he gets assigned the campus Casanova as his roommate in a room that should be a single. Walter is used to being able to hook-up with whoever whenever, and when his school forces him to live on campus with a freshman as a roommate, its just about the last thing that he wants to do. But when Walter and Kelly start hanging out, they are both surprised at how quickly they become friends and are happy to be rooming together. Walter has some abandonment issues, and Kelly is a shy virgin. The two grow closer together and begin to develop feelings for each other beyond friendship. But can Walter settle down with Kelly or will he continue to keep him at arms length in order to protect himself from the risk of getting hurt?

I really liked Kelly. He is just one of these sweet and nice guys that you can't help but love. He was a little naive and a bit of a dreamer, but it just made him cute and that much more lovable. I loved that he refused to settle for just a random hook-up and really held out for Walter to realize that they could be together as more than friends. Walter was a little bit damaged, and even though he was used to keeping things casual it was great to see him as he developed feelings for Kelly. Walter was so protective of Kelly, and he was always looking out for him. I loved that even before there were feelings involved, Walter would do anything to take care of Kelly. It was really sweet watching them try to fight their feelings and dance around each other until that was no longer possible. These two were so sexy together and they had a ton of chemistry! But beyond how hot they were together, you could really tell that they had a great connection and really helped balance each other out.

I did think that this book was slow at times. There were some parts that had me wanting to skim several pages and I found myself losing interest during some of those that didn't have much to do with Kelly and Walter. I felt as though the story started off slow then picked up only to slow down again in the second half. It just didn't flow as well as I would have hoped. I think the seriousness of the second half really sort of weighed the story down and made it seem even slower. I also didn't really care for the epilogue. I could tell that it was trying to sort of lighten everything up at the end after the struggles that they faced, but it didn't really work for me. I had also hoped to get a bit more of them after they finally got together. I felt like most of the time after they got together was too focused on other things going on, rather than the connection that they had formed. Overall though, I really enjoyed Kelly and Walter. They felt so realistic to me not only as a couple, but also in their growth and development over the course of this book. I thought they were extremely likable and I was rooting for them from the start. I think that romance readers will find this story to be beautiful and sweet. I really felt as though this wasn't just a story about two people falling in love, but that it was also the story of how two people grow and learn to get past obstacles that stand in their way. I would recommend this story to anyone who is looking for a sweet romance between likable characters who get their HEA.

**ARC provided by Enchantress Book Promotions**

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