Customer Reviews

Lessons in Love

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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!

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.

Charlie Cochrane has written a fantastic, touching story about two men who take the time to enjoy the fall and treasure their time together. Jonty and Orlando definitely hold a special place in my heart and I look forward to reading the next Cambridge Fellows story. - Karin

When the young, handsome, outgoing and loquacious Dr Jonathan (Jonty) Stewart inadvertently occupies Dr Orlando Coppersmith's chair on his first day at St Brides, Cambridge, little does he know what the consequences will be. Orlando, quiet, severely introverted and with methodical mathematical mind seems to be the complete opposite of Jonty, the new English tutor, yet Jonty sees possibilities for friendship, which are soon realised, and it is not long before the friendship blossoms into love.

But the are real obstacles to overcome. Firstly Orlando is not only socially inept, but he is totally naive in matters relating to love with another man. Secondly, Orlando stumbles across a book that depicts such 'love', and is horrified by the violent depictions contained therein. Thirdly, this is 1905, and such activities between two men can lead to two years hard labour. Fourthly, as if they did not have problems enough, there is a serial killer on the loose with the walls of St Brides, and his victims are men with the same proclivities as Jonty and Orlando.

When the investigating inspector enlists the aid of the two young lecturers, they risk either exposure for what they are, or being new on the serial killers list. But accepting their responsibilities, they cannot refuse to assist.

The story follows the ongoing investigation, at the same time exploring the developing love between the two men as Jonty delicately tries to overcome Orlando's fears and introduce him to the pleasures of love.

A good detective story with plenty of likely suspects, not excluding the college chaplain, and a tense and dramatic conclusion. Combine this with a touching love story and it all makes for a most pleasurable read.

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Disclaimers:
* I have read only about 30 m/m romances, so I'm not an expert yet on the genre as a whole.
* I prefer romances that are more about feelings than sex. If a book has lots of lust-filled, dispassionate sex, I'm not impressed. If the sex is a manifestation of love, bring it on.

Rating: 7/10

Pros:
- Sweet romance. Nothing spectacular--it didn't make me particularly warm and fuzzy inside--but solid.
- One delightfully naive character who managed never to annoy me. As a result of his extreme naivete, the sex scenes (especially the first one or two) have a tentative feel about them that struck me as accurate, even according to modern times.
- Quite British-sounding dialog.
- Accurate descriptions of the city of Cambridge, as I know it, anyway, without being overbearing.

Cons:
- Very subdued sex scenes. This is not necessarily a problem; it's just not what I was expecting after having read a number of other books in this genre. The characters' nudity is hardly even mentioned. This is about lessons in LOVE, of course, not sex, but I found myself wondering how Cochrane would manage in Volume 2 of this series, Lessons in Desire, if she persists with the vague style of this first volume.
- A slight plot with little mystery. True, the book is primarily about romance, but I'd like a novel describing a series of murders to be a bit more suspenseful. The climax seemed rushed, and I must admit to having figured out (or at least guessed) the murderer's identity about 2 chapters in.

Overall comments: A light, fluffy read. Good for those readers who want romance and a bit of mystery but squirm at graphic sexual descriptions. Not for you if you're looking for erotica (or even substantial erotic romance) or for an involved plot that keeps you guessing until the end.

I waited to buy this until it had its spanking new pretty cover and when it did arrive I hoovered it up in one sitting. This is a rare thing, amazingly pretty prose, a delicious gay love affair with little of the usual terror and angst that accompanies such, set in a dusty Cambridge college, and a damned goo plot to boot. How Ms cochrane achieves this in a mere novealla seems a lot like magic to me. It could easily have stretched to a full book and I for one would not have complained if it did. I know this is an ongoing series and I hope she considers expanding the size of the books in future.

Heartwarming and unmissable.

Charlie Cochrane's LESSONS IN LOVE is a lovely Edwardian mixture of romance and murder mystery. Set in 1906 at Cambridge University, two fellows (a term we Americans are unfamiliar with, but refers to a former student of the University who is now on staff, generally in a teaching position) meet and slowly fall in love. Jonathan (Jonty) is a high-spirited, jocular English teacher who sets his sights on warming up the reticent, brooding mathematician, Orlando. No sooner does Jonty break the ice, than a murder occurs at the college. As the murdered boy is one of Orlando's students, he and Jonty get involved and aid the police in the investigation.

Most of the story's charm lies in the romance, which is allowed to take its sweet time to come to fruition. Both men are acutely aware of the dangers and in Orlando's case he needs the "lessons in love" that Jonty tenderly provides to assuage his guilt over what he doesn't understand.

Cochrane does a good job weaving the romance and mystery together in a way that felt comfortable and the nail-biting conclusion to the mystery had me hooked clear through to the climax. The writing style is so beautifully simple and straightforward that it is effortless to read. I should also mention that I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sex in the book is romanticized and not explicit - Linden Bay, shame on you for lying about the heat rating!

I heartily recommend this breezy historical romance and look forward to spending more time with the adorable Cambridge Fellows in the next installment: LESSONS IN DESIRE.

Mark R. Probst
The Filly

This is the book to correct that misconception. Lessons in Love is, first and foremost, a wonderful murder mystery that reminds me very much of Dorothy L. Sayers' "Gaudy Night." Set in Cambridge, Charlie Cochrane's alma mater, this story has the style and atmosphere of a more elegant era--but one in which the love between Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart was a criminal offense. Even as they work their way through the minefield of emotional barriers, they're pulled into a mystery that brings the threat of discovery and death into their quiet academic cloister.

I love a good mystery, and this one is excellent--Cochrane plays fair and gives the reader all the clues, but the characters' own uncertainties and an abundance of red herrings make it a real puzzle; I had to guess whodunnit, and I guessed wrong.

And "Lessons" works as a love story, too. Note, I say "love" story; it is tender, even passionate, but it is not erotic. This book would be entirely suitable for any age from young adult on up, particularly someone who's sympathetic to gay romance but is not entirely comfortable with explicit depiction of gay sex. This is a love story between two layered, interesting, intelligent people. I came to care about them both, and I'm delighted to know there's another book due out soon (Lessons in Desire) and at least one more in the works.

Disclosure: I write gay romance myself, and Charlie Cochrane is a friend of some years. This review is not 100% objective. But I wouldn't write a review (particularly a rave review), even for a friend, if I didn't like the book... and I think this one is on my Top 10 list for 2008.

Jonathan Stewart, Jonty for the intimate friends, and Orlando Coppersmith are both young professors in one of the Cambridge's college at the beginning of the twenty century. They are at opposite in work and behavior, Stewart a literature professor and Coppersmith a mathematics, Stewart open and friendly, both with students than colleagues, Coppersmith aloof and always lost in his mind. They also had very different family, Coppersmith now orphan and with two very cold and distant parents, Stewart still surrounded by a loving family.

But they are both rather young and so they click together. Jonty has no problem to admit that he has also a personal interest in Orlando, being him not new to feel a maybe not appropriate moving for another man. Instead Orlando is more hesitant, but not since he judges inappropriate that feelings, but since he never before has felt something similar for a man or a woman. Orlando was taught to avoid any personal emotion, to suppress any physical urges, so soon and so strong in his youth that he never allowed himself to disobey that teachings.

When Jonty tentatively tries to introduce Orlando to such physical contacts, Orlando believes that kissing and cuddling is the greatest extent of what two men can do together, not having any knowledge of what happens in bed between man and woman let alone between two men. But Jonty, even if in love with Orlando, can't be satisfied with simple being a little more than a dear friend for Orlando, and gently pushes for something more.

Just when Orlando is letting go a bit, a string of murders targets the students, and all the victims are men who were known to prefer the company of men. To Orlando's inhibitions is now added also the fear of what it could happen to Jonty if someone should know of their "particular" friendship.

The story is a good mix of romance and plot; the relationship between Orlando and Jonty has the lion share on the plot, leaving the investigation on the killing in second line, never interfering with the development of Orlando and Jonty's exploration of love. Even if the relationship reaches and deepens to a sex level, it's never in graphic details, always maintaining a sweet romance grade.

The setting is the same of the previous tale by Charlie Cochrane, the Old University buildings of Cambridge, with its all male atmosphere where women are only seen as intruders.