Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell

This was a cute friends-to-lovers gay romance with wonderful characters to root for. I really loved to learn more of the life as a teacher, and the part about overcoming trauma and dealing with anxiety, but the romance part didn’t fully meet my expectations.

The story follows kindergarten teacher Marvin, who is single, trying to overcome a childhood trauma and struggling with anxiety. When he gets nominated for the Teacher of the Year Award, he has more than enough stress and more on his plate than he has time for. But when new student Illona walks in with her cute-as-hell single dad beside her, Marvin’s focus starts to slide. Olan is a newly divorced dad who has moved across the country for a fresh start with his daughter. Being a recovering alcoholic, he’s not in any position to start a new relationship. Not to mention the fact that he’s straight, so Marvin shouldn’t even give him butterflies in the first place. Right?

Teacher of the Year was such a cute romance story, which also dealt with heavier topics such as alcoholism, childhood trauma and anxiety. I really adored the way both characters bonded and interacted with Olan’s daughter, and I truly enjoyed all representation with Marvin being Jewish, queer and struggling with an anxiety disorder, as well as Olan’s bisexual awakening. There were also a lot of funny banter and moments that almost made me laugh out loud.

I also adored the side characters with Marvin’s best friend Jill. Jill and her husband were such a delight and their support for Marvin was heartwarming.

I didn’t fully root for the romance though. Since the story was told solely from Marvin’s POV, it was difficult to get a sense for Olan’s feelings. It would have been wonderful to hear his voice about the conflicting feelings he must have felt, falling for a man for the first time. Now Olan’s romantic feelings for Marvin almost came out of the blue and the romance felt somewhat rushed, even though it was a slow burn one.

I also never understood the rationale behind the decision for Ilona to be uprooted and move with her dad who’s struggling with alcoholism instead of staying with her mother. I expected some explanation to that, like her mother had issues or other reasons, but she turned out to be a great person. So I feel that there was a part of the story missing there.

But all in all, this was a funny, cute, fast-paced and heartwarming story with great representation which I highly enjoyed, even though the romance wasn’t a perfect match for me.

Thank you to Pride Book Tours for the ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
3.5 stars rounding up to 4

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Author info:
M.A. Wardell