Review & Excerpt: Just Like That (Albin Academy #1) by Cole McCade

Title: Just Like That
Author: Cole McCade
Series: Albin Academy, #1

Length: 320 pages
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Imprint: Carina Press (Carina Adores)
On-Sale: June 30, 2020

Format: Trade Paperback *ebook and audio formats also available!
Price: $14.99 U.S.
ISBN: 9781335146458

Book Description:
 
Summer Hemlock never meant to come back to Omen, Massachusetts.

But with his mother in need of help, Summer has no choice but to return to his hometown, take up a teaching residency at the Albin Academy boarding school—and work directly under the man who made his teenage years miserable.
 
Professor Fox Iseya

Forbidding, aloof, commanding: psychology instructor Iseya is a cipher who’s always fascinated and intimidated shy, anxious Summer. But that fascination turns into something more when the older man challenges Summer to be brave. What starts as a daily game to reward Summer with a kiss for every obstacle overcome turns passionate, and a professional relationship turns quickly personal. Yet Iseya’s walls of grief may be too high for someone like Summer to climb…until Summer’s infectious warmth shows Fox everything he’s been missing in life. Now both men must be brave enough to trust each other, to take that leap.

To find the love they’ve always needed…

Just like that.

In Just Like That, critically acclaimed author Cole McCade introduces us to Albin Academy: a private boys’ school where some of the world’s richest families send their problem children to learn discipline and maturity, out of the public eye.

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Carina Adores is home to highly romantic contemporary love stories featuring beloved romance tropes, where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.

A new Carina Adores title is available each month:

·       The Girl Next Door by Chelsea M. Cameron (available now!)

·       The Hideaway Inn by Philip William Stover (available now!)

·       Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters (available July 28, 2020

·       Better Than People by Roan Parrish (available August 25, 2020)

·       Full Moon in Leo by Brooklyn Ray (available September 29, 2020)

·       If You Can’t Stand the Heat by KD Fisher (available October 27, 2020)

·       Just Like Us by Cole McCade (available November 24, 2020)

Excerpt

“Extinguisher first, then sand,” the voice ordered. “Dr. Liu, if you insist on getting in the way, at least make your­self useful and remove anything else flammable from the vicinity of the blaze. Quickly, now. Keep your mouths covered.”

Summer’s entire body tingled, prickled, as if his skin had drawn too tight. That voice—that voice brought back too many memories. Afternoons in his psychology elec­tive class, staring down at his textbook and doodling in his notebook and refusing to look up, to look at anyone, while that voice washed over him for an hour. Summer knew that voice almost better than the face attached to it, every inflection and cadence, the way it could command silence with a quiet word more effectively than any shout.

And how sometimes it seemed more expressive than the cold, withdrawn expression of the man he remembered, standing tall and stern in front of a class of boys who were all just a little bit afraid of him.

Summer had never been afraid, not really.

But he hadn’t had the courage to whisper to himself what he’d really felt, when he’d been a hopeless boy who’d done everything he could to be invisible.

Heart beating harder, he followed the sound of that voice to the open doorway of a smoke-filled room, the entire chemistry lab a haze of gray and black and crackling or­ange; from what he could tell a table was…on fire? Or at least the substance inside a blackened beaker was on fire, belching out a seemingly never-ending, impossible billow of smoke and flame.

Several smaller fires burned throughout the room; it looked as though sparks had jumped to catch on notebooks, papers, books. Several indistinct shapes alternately sprayed the conflagration with fire extinguishers and doused it with little hand buckets of sand from the emergency kit in the corner of the room, everyone working clumsily one-handed while they held wet paper towels over their noses and mouths with the other.

And standing tall over them all—several teachers and older students, it looked like—was the one man Summer had returned to Omen to see.

Professor Iseya.

He stood head and shoulders above the rest, his broad-shouldered, leanly angular frame as proud as a battle stan­dard, elegant in a trim white button-down tucked into dark gray slacks, suspenders striping in neat black lines down his chest. Behind slim glasses, his pale, sharply angled gray eyes flicked swiftly over the room, set in a narrow, graceful face that had only weathered with age into an ivory mask of quiet, aloof beauty.

The sleek slick of his ink-black hair was pulled back from his face as always—but as always, he could never quite keep the soft strands inside their tie, and several wisped free to frame his face, lay against his long, smooth neck, pour down his shoulders and back. He held a damp paper towel over his mouth, neatly folded into a square, and spoke through it to direct the frazzled-looking group with con­summate calm, taking complete control of the situation.

And complete control of Summer, as Iseya’s gaze abruptly snapped to him, locking on him from across the room. “Why have you not evacuated?” Iseya demanded coldly, his words precise, inflected with a softly cultured accent. “Please vacate the premises until we’ve contained the blaze.”

Summer dropped his eyes immediately—habit, staring down at his feet. “Oh, um—I came to help,” he mumbled through the collar of his shirt.

A pause, then, “You’re not a student. Who are you?”

That shouldn’t sting.

But then it had been seven years, he’d only been in two of Iseya’s classes…and he’d changed, since he’d left Omen.

At least, he hoped he had.

That was why he’d run away, after all. To shake off the boy he’d been; to find himself in a big city like Baltimore, and maybe, just maybe…

Learn not to be so afraid.

But he almost couldn’t bring himself to speak, while the silence demanded an answer. “I’m not a student anymore,” he corrected, almost under his breath. “It’s…it’s me. Summer. Summer Hemlock. Your new TA.” He made himself look up, even if he didn’t raise his head, peeking at Iseya through the wreathing of smoke that made the man look like some strange and ghostly figure, this ethereal spirit swirled in mist and darkness. “Hi, Professor Iseya. Hi.”

Copyright © 2020 by Cole McCade

What I thought about Just Like That

When I read the description of Just Like That,  the former-student-now-teacher forbidden nature of the romance had me requesting this title. I'm always on the look out for a new M/M author so I thought I would give this author a try.  This is my first book from this author.

Summer Hemlock returns to his home town due to family illness and ends up taking a job at his old school. The Albin Academy caters to rich socialite students, and Summer has never fit in, but he's eager to reconnect with his teenage crush, Fox Iseya.

Professor Fox Iseya has erected lots of protections for his own emotions which prove to be a bit of a challenge for these two to get together. Just Like That does a good job of keeping the slow burn going as Fox and Summer negotiate their relationship. Summer does a good job of warming Fox's cold heart. They also have a twenty-plus  age difference to deal with, which gave the story interest and another hurdle to jump in their relationship.Fox also has some past issues to deal with that color his view of the world. Good thing Summer helps him learn to live.

Overall, I enjoyed this story.  It has that a good boys-school feel to it, and I love it when two characters find their happiness together by moving on from the past, even when they have obstacles they have to overcome. Just Like That was a quick easy read, There is a bit of wordiness and the unique naming of these characters threw me off at times, but I'm left definitely wanting to read more from this author.  

An ARC was provided by the publisher. This is my honest review.

 About the Author

Cole McCade is a New Orleans-born Southern boy without the Southern accent, currently residing somewhere in Seattle. He spends his days as a suit-and-tie corporate consultant and business writer, and his nights writing contemporary romance and erotica that flirts with the edge of taboo—when he’s not being tackled by two hyperactive cats.

He also writes genre-bending science fiction and fantasy tinged with a touch of horror and flavored by the influences of his multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual background as Xen. He wavers between calling himself bisexual, calling himself queer, and trying to figure out where “demi” fits into the whole mess—but no matter what word he uses he’s a staunch advocate of LGBTQIA and POC representation and visibility in genre fiction. And while he spends more time than is healthy hiding in his writing cave instead of hanging around social media, you can generally find him in these usual haunts: 

Website & Blog: http://blackmagicblues.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisblackmagic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xen.cole

Tumblr: https://thisblackmagic.tumblr.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisblackmagic/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cole-mccade

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/ColeMcCadeBooks