Professor Platonic

Forever Wilde #9.5

by Lucy Lennox

I’ve had a very bad day and could really use a hug. Male ISO male for platonic but affectionate sleepover. No nookie or commitments. I don’t want to talk about it, just hold me all night and tell me it’s going to be okay.

When my grad school application to join the Raintree Arctic Expedition gets unexpectedly denied, I know exactly who to blame. Professor River Henry has always had it out for me. For some reason, he holds me to a higher standard than everyone else in the evolutionary biology department which means he probably failed to recommend me for the research expedition and he’s most likely going to give my final exam a big, fat F.

All I want to do is drown my sorrows in some platonic cuddles and pretend I haven’t hit rock bottom before my scientific career has even had a chance to get off the ground.

But when Professor Henry is the one standing on the other side of the hotel room door, I suddenly realize with breath-stealing horror, just how far I have left to fall.

originally published in Nightingale: An Anthology for Ukraine

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook, Novella, LGBT, Enemies To Lovers

50 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2022

About the author

I write M/M romance with humor, heart, and heat. Check out my backlist here on GR for a selection of series and standalone or visit www.LucyLennox.com!

I only keep a small list of my very favorite books and series in my bookshelf here. I read A LOT and it's hard to keep the list updated!

Reviews

[Celia {Hiatus until August} · Rating 2 out of 5]

•| ⊱✿⊰ |• 2,4 Stars •| ⊱✿⊰ |•

Too short, too fast.
I couldn't believe in their love story.
River is Jack's professor.
They both have a crush on each other, then both decide to use an app, and they're matched.
It started good, seemed good, but it was not the final result.

[Snjez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to rate this story since it's so short, but I thought it was sweet overall. I really liked the first 60% or so - the platonic part. It was so cozy and heartwarming. The rest of it felt rushed.

I usually avoid stories with this trope, but I was glad that everything I might find inappropriate was conveniently resolved here.

3.5 to 4 stars?

Edit: Feels more like 3.5 stars. Rating rounded down.

[Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp · Rating 3 out of 5]

|| 3.0 stars ||

This was very short, but also very cute. It honestly made me a little giddy.
I wish it had been longer though, because the progression obviously went way too fast now. I really feel like this had the potential to be absolutely fantastic as a full-length novel.


'Forever Wilde' series:
1. Facing West - 1.0 star
2. Felix and the Prince - 4.0 stars
3. Wilde Fire - 2.0 stars
4. Hudson's Luck - 3.0 stars
5. His Saint - dnf
7. King Me - 3.5 stars

Novellas:
4.5. Flirt - 3.0 stars
9.5. Professor Platonic - 3.0 stars

Other Lucy Lennox books:
‘After Oscar’ series - var. ratings
Shy Sheldon - 2.0 stars
Virgin Flyer - 4.5 stars
Say You’ll Be Nine - 4.5 stars
Hostile Takeover - 4.0 stars
Prince of Lies - 4.5 stars

[~Nicole~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very VERY short read in Lucy’s Wilde universe (46 pages) that I enjoyed even though River annoyed me a bit as I don’t find the “He likes you and that’s why he’s pulling your pigtails” scenario acceptable.He made Jack pay for something he wasn’t guilty (or even aware) of and he made his student days miserable because he felt attraction for him and couldn’t act on it because Jack was his student. Other than that it was a sweet story in Lucy Lennox style.

[Carol [Goodreads Addict] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Platonic is book #9.5 in the Forever Wilde series by Lucy Lennox. You can read this as a complete stand alone and love it, just as I did. It’s super short but there is still plenty there to make you fall in love with these two wonderful men! Lucy Lennox has once again worked her magic!

Jack Wilde is finishing up his graduate degree in Biology at Barrington University and is devastated when he gets a denial from his application for participation on a research expedition he was dying to be included on. He thought he was going to get it. And he has a very strong suspicion just why he was denied. A certain professor has been on his case all semester, treating him differently than all the other students. And it was a letter of recommendation from him that Jack needed to secure the position.



River Henry is the evolutionary biology professor at Barrington. He’s had a really bad semester but hasn’t been able to talk about any of the reasons that it was so bad. On top of it all, he’s fighting a huge attraction to one of his students.



When both of these men find an ad for one night of platonic cuddling, one night to just feel someone’s arms around you and making you feel like everything might turn out okay, they both answer the ad. But when that door is opened, and Professor Henry is standing outside the door, the whole night started looking a whole lot different.

This was so cute and sweet and sexy and romantic! It’s only forty five pages, so maybe an hour of reading. But so worth it.

For more about this book and so many others, come and visit me at Carol's Crazy Bookish World.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Carol...

[Vanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars!! Sweet story, likable MCs.. but the plot seemed crammed towards the end, but I guess when you’re trying to squeeze in an HEA within a really short novella; it was bound to happen. 🤷‍♀️ Still it was a fun read.. all done in 45 mins.. 👍🏻👍🏻

[D.L. Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
🎧🎧🎧

Honestly this was a short, to the point story that promised so much more than it delivered. I’m sad how excited I was when I saw it compared to what I actually got.

What a bummer.

[Cadiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fab little short from Lucy

This has just enough detail to bring the depth it needed for the background with such a short story.

It also had a great setup and lots of sparks between two men who haven't had the best start in their relationship up to the meet cute.

Jack's a Wilde cousin so there's a loose link with that excellent series but this reads well as a standalone.

[Kaity]

lol i feel like a 46 page book is hard to rate with new characters.

but it was a cute, very fast read. this also has an audio, and you can find it on Audible or on Scribd.

it is typical Lucy Lennox, so if you like her writing you'll like this quick read. Also Michael Dean did a great job with this narration.

[taylor :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

cutesy :)

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the idea, but the story was W-A-Y- too short. At least they had a happy ending and they got to stay together...but it should have been a bit longer for us to at least get to know the two main characters a bit better. If River knew what was happening with the expedition that Jack applied for, he should have told Jack why he did what had done to keep him off of it and WHY he did it. Oh well...I have yet to write a book so I can't be too critical. it was well written, and Michael Dean did a fantastic job at the narration. What more could I ask for?

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out very sweet and promising, but was suffocated by what I feel was a too long and wholly unnecessary sex scene. It couldn't convey anything other than the mechanics, because we weren't given the chance to know the characters enough to feel any emotional connection between them.

Cramming a sex scene into a short story like this where I hardly care about the characters just makes me skip it, and the romance feels cheapened. I would have liked it better if the sex scenes pages were used to show us a bit more connection between the MCs.

This turned out to be a disappointing read, all the more so because it had potential :/

So, 2.5 stars, rounded down.

[Ash🍉 · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lot of the other reviews mentioned, this is hard to rate cause it’s so short. It’s basically just two scenes. But it was good! Fast and sweet, an easy read if you need something that takes about an hour to listen to (it was less than an hour for me on scribd at 1.5 speed)

[Em Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.00 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cute little shorty

[Ziezie]

I'm at a loss as to how many stars to give this very brief story. But I enjoyed it. Both MCs are likeable and complement each other well. When you have less than an hour and want to read a book, try this one; it won't leave you hanging because you'll have finished it by the time the timer runs out 😂.

[⭐Toonasa⭐ •Romance Book Lovers' Haven• · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick hot read with a professor and his student, who's gladly no longer his student at the time they finally took the leap to more.
I must say, I was pretty angry at the prof before things came to light, after that I was grateful (& feeling a bit annoyed with the whiplash feels lol).
I haven't read other Wilde books, but they sure sound fun!

[Pingmg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this short story, makes me crave more LL.😍

[25 Readings Or More · Rating 4 out of 5]

So freaking cute 🤩
There's only a problem: now I HAVE TO READ about this Wilde cousins and their men!!

[raccoon reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5, Maybe 3 ⭐️

Nothing exceptional. Not sure Lucy Lennox is my jam. It’s sweet and short. Nothing wrong with it, just nothing particularly memorable either.

[DJO · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too short, very underwhelming.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5, cute but too short. Would’ve been better if we got a scene of them interacting at the start versus Jack telling someone about it, so we got to actually see the before and after.

[Alyssa (hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ It would have been a 3-star story if not for the rushed ending. Right after they hookup, they start talking about getting serious (fine), about River's upcoming move for work (fine), and about Jack possibly moving with him since he has a research opportunity close by (that's way too fast?!). And I didn't even talk about this being their first hookup after knowing each other for a semester in a professor-student capacity... but then they decide to go at it bare? Back to the epilogue, I thought it was weird that everything moved so fast and that we got a glimpse at their future as husbands. It was cute, but for such a short story, I didn't expect a big time leap. With that being said, what I did enjoy is the audiobook: Michael Dean did a great job with the narration. I also thought River and Jack were very cute together.

[Axalia]

Trop cher pour ce que c'est.

[Janet (iamltr) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook Review

I bought this only because I love the way Michael Dean narrates Lucy's books. I did not know it was a part of the massive Wilde clan, of which I have not yet read. I wasn't lost though, which was great.

So in this short audio, we have Jack, who got some bad news and Professor River who apparently always had a thing for his student. They meet as Jack put up an ad for some cuddling and River answered it.

Sexytimes occur, they decide to start a relationship and the epilogue gives them a HEA.

Michael did a fantastic job and I enjoyed this immensely.

[Aղցela W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short quick read in the "Forever Wilde" series. Jack Wilde has just gotten some bad news he didn't get picked for some research expedition thanks to a hard professor so when his cousin Hallie suggest therapeutic touch. Professor River Henry has had a bad week it's his last day at the college his mother sent him a link for therapeutic touch he reads a post that makes him want to do it and when he goes to the hotel he can't believe his eyes when Jack opens the door. This was a good short quick read both of them wanted each other. River told him what was going on at the school and why he wrote the letter that got him rejected. This book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling.

[Silkeeeeeereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast

Fast and cute. Enjoyed these two characters and the premise of this short story, which usually just aren’t my thing.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have loved for this to be a full length novel.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un simpatica e deliziosa novella tra Jack Wilde & River Henry!!
💖💖💖💖

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ✨️

[Fernanda Fatio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. They spent months without barely saying a word to each other. Jack couldn’t even get in his office for a question without being shutdown with bullshit like “good students can figure their answers without relying on their professors”. River made him fail the research application and wouldn’t even talk to him about it if they had not met by chance. He made Jack feel the worst student there because he was always badly criticizing his papers on the justification of not wanting to be accused of taking a student side. Then, they meet, talk for 10 minutes, have bare sex under the disguise of using PreP (can you really trust a stranger of saying this because they have no condom?) and they are planning on moving together. Really? This short story doesn’t cover the whole idiocy of this. If they had time to develop an actual relationship, even if it was a friendship of sorts, and getting to know each other, I would understand. In the Wilde family universe, I get the insta-love, but even for them it was too much.