Lessons in Love [Paperback]

Charlie Cochrane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 2008

St. Bride’s College, Cambridge, England, 1905. When Jonty Stewart takes up a teaching post at the college where he studied, the handsome and outgoing young man acts as a catalyst for change within the archaic institution. He also has a catalytic effect on Orlando Coppersmith. Orlando is a brilliant, introverted mathematician with very little experience of life outside the college walls. He strikes up an alliance with the outgoing Jonty, and soon finds himself having feelings he’s never experienced before. Before long their friendship blossoms into more than either man had hoped and they enter into a clandestine relationship. Their romance is complicated when a series of murders is discovered within St. Bride’s. All of the victims have one thing in common, a penchant for men. While acting as the eyes and ears for the police, a mixture of logic and luck leads them to a confrontation with the murderer—can they survive it?

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Linden Bay Romance (November 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602021481
• ISBN-13: 978-1602021488
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,491,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As Charlie Cochrane couldn't be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice--like managing a rugby team--she writes. Her favourite genre is gay fiction, predominantly historical romances/mysteries. She lives near Romsey but has yet to use that as a setting for her stories, choosing to write about Cambridge, Bath, London and the Channel Islands, all of which are places she knows and loves well.

A member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and the International Thriller Writers organisation, she was named Author of the Year 2009 by the review site Speak Its Name but her family still regard her writing with fond condescension, just as she prefers.

Charlie's Cambridge Fellows Mysteries Series, set in Edwardian England, is available through Samhain, and she has stories in the anthologies 'Encore Encore', 'Past Shadows', 'I Do' and 'I Do Two' (MLR), 'Queer Wolf' (Queered Fiction), 'Speak Its Name' (Cheyenne) and 'Last Gasp' (Noble).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lessons in Love, February 7, 2009

By 

M. Nix - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lessons in Love (Paperback)

Jonathan `Jonty' Stewart is a breath a fresh air to the serene faculty of St. Bride's College in Cambridge England. His outgoing attitude is the total opposite of his colleague Orlando Coppersmith, who is such an introvert, that he barely ventures outside of the walls of the school. Jonty's and Orlando's friendship was a surprise to the both of them and soon the relationship turned to romance, a romance that was very taboo in 1905 England.

Their new romance was further complicated by a rash of murders of students on campus. The victims were young men who had homosexual relations. Not knowing who is responsible for the murders, will Jonty's and Orlando's relationship be their death sentence?

Lessons in Love is a really good romance with the bonus of a well-written mystery. The romance between Jonty and Orlando reminded me of a classic favorite Maurice, written by E.M. Forster. Jonty, aptly named for his jaunty outgoing attitude and happy disposition, was what Orlando needed to end his self-imposed loneliness. The passionate connection between them was strong and I couldn't wait for them to have uninterrupted time together. These two make a sexy mystery solving dual and I'm excited that there is more to come from them. Lessons in Love is a fantastic story and lovers of classic English literature and mysteries will find plenty to love about this book and the series.

Ley
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one is pure delight. What a lovely surprise!, December 23, 2008

By 

R.Parklane (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lessons in Love (Paperback)

This one really transcends my expectation. I thought I have more or less round up the year with my Top M/M romance but this delightful love story set in the early 1900s when gay love is forbidden, has made its way to my top few. The plot is tightly paced with a well thought out murder crime/mystery for our guys to solve. I never guessed the murderer and when it was revealed, it was shocking and sad, but the whole mystery does tie up nicely.

However what I love about this book are the 2 extremely well developed and likable characters, Dr. Jonathan Stewart (Jonty) and Dr. Orlando Copperfield and their evolving romance. They are complete opposites yet could not be more right for each other. Jonty is rich, an extrovert, with a smile that lit up a room while Orlando is an introvert, a mathematician geek living in his little enclosed university world. This is the type of pairing I have a weakness for :). The writer has done a wonderful job developing their characters and romance. And I like the gradual revelation about their pasts as the story progresses, including each man's ghosts, which enrich the characters even more. There are numerous sweet and tender moments in their developing love story which gets me all warm and fuzzy, including their terms of endearment for each other. As for the sex it is not the usual explict M/M erotism but Jonty's gentle teaching and coaxing of the inexperienced Orlando into sex is romantic and tender and no less sensual.

So glad there is more on these 2 endearing characters with "Lessons in Desire" due in Feb '09. If you love M/M romance mystery with the romance and characters taking precedence, do not miss this. Bravo Charlie Cochrane!

3.0 out of 5 stars Well I tried I really did, March 14, 2010

By 

Sirius - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lessons in Love (Paperback)

Apparently Amazon did not like something in my first review, let me try again then. Hey Amazon would be really nice to find out what buzz words can cause the review that was written weeks ago never to appear on the site. I will be brief. I read so many good reviews of this author on many review sites and her subject matter, historical mysteries is right up my alley. But I read two of her short stories and now read a first book in her series and it is just not working for me. My friend actually summed it up very well - these characters could have been so much more than they are. Jonty and Orlando just feel underdeveloped to me and their interactions just do not ring true, just feel, I do not know? Childish and sometimes even a bit silly? And I am the type of reader who is NOT yearning for explicit sex scenes, quite the contrary, I will take character development over explicit sex any time, if author can only do one and not another, so lack of sex scenes is not the issue for me here, boring and bland characters is a problem for me. I think i can now say that I tried really hard to get into this author, but it just did not work out for me.