Cop of the Year (Count on a Cop) (Harlequin Superromance No. 774) [Paperback]

Kathryn Shay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998

COUNT ON A COP

The Cop and the Kids…

Captain Mitch Lansing would like to help the troubled teens in Cassie Smith's high school class for students at risk. Unfortunately that means sharing his experiences with them. (Cassie's very big on sharing.) And Mitch has deliberately blocked those painful memories for years. But the kids are very hard to resist. Now Mitch is finding he needs them—and their teacher—as much as they need him.

"Kathryn Shay's Cop of the Year takes you on an emotion-packed journey to learn the meaning of love and trust. Don't miss this sensational story!"

—Suzanne Barclay, bestselling author of Knight's Rebellion

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Once upon a time, Cassie Smith was a troubled teen who trusted no one and had a bleak future ahead of her. If not for the intervention of a caring teacher, Cassie would have fallen through the cracks. Now she's a teacher herself, dedicated to guiding her students through the troubled waters of life. She doesn't want a cop in her classroom- especially a cop like Captain Mitch Lansing with all his rules and regulations. The last place Mitch wants to be is in a classroom with a bunch of teenagers. But when a friend calls in a favor, that's just where the police officer finds himself. As part of the school board's Resiliency Program, Mitch's job is to spend ten weeks in the classroom. He's assigned to a class of At Risk students- kids who might not make it in the real world without some kind of intervention. Mitch hasn't had this tough a time since his days in Vietnam. But it's not just the kids getting under his skin- it's their teacher. Once again, Kathryn Shay delivers a thought provoking love story grounded in reality. Cop of the Year deals with at-risk teenagers and gangs, as well as the effects of war. With her trademark issue-oriented plots, Ms. Shay creates characters readers can empathize with. Cassie and Mitch are opposites- he's rigid and follows all the rules, she's laid back and creative. On the other hand, they've both been burned by life and lived to tell about it. And they're both dedicated to their jobs. Cassie's students bring them together but it's their growing attraction and unique personalities that are at the heart of this memorable novel.Kathryn Shay writes from the heart! Her stories are about real people with real lives. You will laugh and cry with her characters. Cop of the Year is sure to be one of the best books to hit the shelves this year! A book by Kathryn Shay is always a keeper! Ms. Shay never fails to charm readers with her heartwarming style laced with humor! It's obvious her compelling stories come from the heart! Kristina Wright -- Copyright © 1998 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times

Product Details

• Paperback: 299 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373707746
• ISBN-13: 978-0373707744
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,292,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathryn Shay is a lifelong writer. At fifteen, she penned her first 'romance,' a short story about a female newspaper reporter in New York City and her fight to make a name for herself in a world of male journalists - and with one hardheaded editor in particular. Looking back, Kathryn says she should have known then that writing was in her future. But as so often happens, fate sent her detouring down another path.

Fully intending to pursue her dream of big city lights and success in the literary world, Kathryn took every creative writing class available at the small private women's college she attended in upstate New York. Instead, other dreams took precedence. She met and subsequently married a wonderful guy who'd attended a neighboring school, then completed her practice teaching, a requirement for the education degree she never intended to use. But says Kathryn, "I fell in love with teaching the first day I was up in front of a class, and knew I was meant to do that."

Kathryn went on to build a successful career in the New York state school system, thoroughly enjoying her work with adolescents. But by the early 1990s, she'd again made room in her life for writing. It was then that she submitted her first manuscript to publishers and agents. Despite enduring two years of rejections, she persevered. And on a snowy December afternoon in 1994, Kathryn Shay sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance.

Since that first sale, Kathryn has written twenty-two books for Harlequin, ten mainstream contemporary romances for the Berkley Publishing Group, and two online novellas, which Berkley then published in traditional print format.

Kathryn has become known for her powerful characterizations - readers say they feel they know the people in her books - and her heart-wrenching, emotional writing (her favorite comments are that fans cried while reading her books or stayed up late to finish them). In testament to her skill, the author has had a one of her books serialized in the December 2003 COSMOPOLITAN magazine and has been quoted in PEOPLE and THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. She has won five RT BookClub Magazine Reviewers Choice Awards, three Holt Medallions, two Desert Quill Awards, the Golden Leaf Award, and several online accolades.

Even in light of her writing success, that initial love of teaching never wavered for Kathryn. She finished out her teaching career in 2004, retiring from the same school where her career began. These days, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children. "My life is very full," she reports, "but very happy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to pursue and achieve my dreams."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended reading for teachers, cops, romantics at heart:), September 26, 2000

By 

Melissa P. Cooper "kymissyin" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cop of the Year (Count on a Cop) (Harlequin Superromance No. 774) (Paperback)

Just for the record, folks, this is the first Harlequin romance I've read in at least 15 years. I stumbled onto it last Thanksgiving while visiting my husband's extended family (his aunt is a teacher), and thought it would be a good book, but was too embarrassed to ask if I could borrow it. I wrote down the title & author, thinking I'd just buy it here at Amazon. Alas, it was out of print. Just a couple of weeks ago, though, I stumbled onto a used copy via another website, and it was worth the search! Folks, this is not your standard "formula" romance with the damsel in distress waiting for the all-knowing hero to rescue her and overpower her with his. . .um. . .manhood. Mitch and Cassie are two people with whom you'll laugh. . .and cry.

Reading this book made me wish I'd ignored all the bad advice I got in the 70s about how English majors were a dime a dozen, and gone on to become a teacher, anyway. To her credit, Kathryn Shay made this one as much about the kids as she did the "romance." Cassie is not a "perfect" teacher, but she cares, she takes responsibility for herself and the cleaning up of her own messes, and she's not afraid of anything. . .except maybe letting that gorgeous Mitch get too close to her. She doesn't trust cops. This one, though, is just too good to pass up. Mitch discovers that he needs what these students have to offer--forgiveness, perspective, and a bit of closure from a hellish war trauma--as much as they need people like him and Cassie to give them hope that their own past experiences with gang life, abusive parents, or teen pregnancy do not have to blight their futures. The final scenes in the classroom will have you in tears as you read about how they all comfort and support Mitch when he has just shared the secrets he swore never to tell anyone.

And, oh yes, the scenes between Mitch and Cassie are breath-taking. My, my. Where DID I put my fan? :) I'm ready to go hunting for the sequel featuring Seth, the principal from this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book !, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cop of the Year (Count on a Cop) (Harlequin Superromance No. 774) (Paperback)

It's one of the best books I have ever read, covering aspects like love, friendship, school, relationship between teachers and students as well as the right way to go in life. One of the main reasons I like the book is that the background is a high school, a place much related to my everyday life. I will definitely get other books of the same kind !

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a Book of the Year candidate!, March 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Cop of the Year (Count on a Cop) (Harlequin Superromance No. 774) (Paperback)

Here is an intriguing very different subject which those wanting A+ category romances can turn to. It is a book that lives up to Kathryn Shay's first book (which I notice Amazon does not list?) THE FATHER FACTOR = a Harlequin Superromance # 659 1995 which is a 10 IMHO.