Series or available separately via Amazon or Eliza Lentzski
This series tells the delightful love story of Elle Graft and Hunter Dyson. Elle is a college teacher and Hunter is a student of hers, in her senior year of college. One day, when the heating breaks and the classroom becomes sweltering, Hunter catches Elle’s eye for keeping her winter coat on. From that moment on, Elle falls head over heels for Hunter and develops a crush on her. When she talks about Hunter with her best friend Troian, she initially only calls her Winter Jacket. She tells Troi about her crush. Of course, none of this is possible and not allowed, because she is her student.
When Hunter is no longer her student, they meet in a gay bar, and they finally talk to each other without a student/teacher shadow hanging around them. Elle is pretty far gone at that moment and so in love with Hunter. But nothing happens between them. Elle thinks she cares too much about their age gap, Elle is 30 and Hunter is 20. Until one rainy evening when Hunter shows up at Elle’s doorstep. And Hunter is so tough to take the first step. From that moment on, their relationship begins very carefully. Until Elle makes a mess of it because she’s a scared! Terrified of being hurt.
New Beginnings – book 2
Elle and Hunter continue to grow in their relationship. It’s the 2nd attempt because Elle was scared and ran away from their relationship. But luckily, they are together again. Really, these two. Such a sweet and nice couple. Elle, who is 10 years older than Hunter but emotionally 10 years younger. And Hunter, what a treasure Elle has found with her. She realizes that and wants to do everything she can to make their relationship work.
Elle is now an Associate Professor and things are going really well. Elle and Hunter are madly in love and at one point even decide to live together. Until Elle gets a new boss in Dean Jessica Merlot who appears to be a homophobe. Elle wonders if she still enjoys teaching all that much now that she’s achieved what she wanted. In addition, Troian and her friend Nikole move to Los Angeles for Troi’s job as lead writer for a new TV show. Elle doesn’t like it so much that she will have to miss her best friend. When Troi frequently asks her to come and work for her as a writer, she starts to consider it more and more.
Oh, this part…. This was a real butt squeeze for me. I can read or see the most horrific horror stories and they are never scarier to me than a fabulously beautiful romance that shatters. But, on the other hand, I do like a bit of angst in a story. Just like sometimes it’s good when I’m tempted to get out of my comfort zone. The reward I then feel when I have done it and survived is wonderful 😂!
In this installment, Elle leaves for Los Angeles to work for Troi during her sabbatical as a writer for a new TV show. Hunter wants to go with her, but Elle thinks it’s better for Hunter if she stays home in Minnesota and continues her own life there. Hunter doesn’t seem too keen on a long-distance relationship, but they try anyway. So that goes horribly wrong 🥺. Incredible. Those two? Not together? That’s just not possible. But it happens anyway.
So I can’t stand this at all. But Eliza Lentzski writes this so well. It’s so convincing and believable. And if you really don’t know anything else, you really wonder if Elle and Hunter will still be okay.
Last chance for Elle and Hunter to make it real. Elle chooses Hunter but is she ready to go all out? Does she really dare to commit now? You would think so since Hunter is the love of her life. But if you’ve been a scared pooper for so long, you don’t unlearn that so quickly.
I wish I could shake Elle every now and then, but at the same time give her a hug because I feel so sorry for her. And Hunter, the great Hunter, who deserves a Nobel Prize for the best partner ever! This series, I sometimes thought: if only I had read this when I was 30. Seriously! Maybe I would have learned something from it. Or not and I can only see that now 😉. Anyway, I love this series and all the characters that sprang from the beautiful brain of Eliza Lentzski 💖!
This time, you can read the story from Hunter’s perspective. After reading all parts from Elle’s perspective, I was quite curious about Hunter’s world of thought. I have to say that she thought differently about what was going on in her world and with Elle than I thought. But it was actually really good to see that too. It didn’t make me look at Elle’s story differently. Nor that I now experienced Hunter differently than I already did. Perhaps there was even confirmation in it. Anyway, I can definitely recommend reading this part. Perhaps better to do this after reading book 1 to 4, though.