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First Man
Throw out the rules.
Let the sparks fly.
And pray for a happily ever after. . .
Adam Edwards drifts in the wide world, searching for his next adventure. When his journey around the globe brings him to America he finds a love he never expects and a loss he can't endure.
Ember Pierson is 18 and counting down the days until graduation frees her from small town life. Everything changes when Adam rolls into town and takes a job teaching high school English, and Ember hatches a plan. . .
Let the sparks fly.
And pray for a happily ever after. . .
Adam Edwards drifts in the wide world, searching for his next adventure. When his journey around the globe brings him to America he finds a love he never expects and a loss he can't endure.
Ember Pierson is 18 and counting down the days until graduation frees her from small town life. Everything changes when Adam rolls into town and takes a job teaching high school English, and Ember hatches a plan. . .
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First published June 27, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 6, 2021
This book is nothing like what I would usually pick up and read. It's not brash or dirty. What this is is a beautifully written book that is almost poetic. I had picked this up once before and I cannot fathom why I didn't finish it then, whatever the reason I'm just grateful that I picked it up again.
This isn't just a story of forbidden love, it's the story of Adam's life. Of his passions and loses, of happy times and heartbreak. No, it won't be for everyone, it details his time before meeting Ember, when he loved and lost Lily.
"I had loved Lily, and our common interests had drawn us together, but Ember fit me in a way no one else ever had. Lily had made me feel old. Ember made me feel like myself."
It's unlike any student/teacher story I've ever read, but in the best way possible. I will say again how beautiful the writing is here, I just wish we had more.
"We who clung to words and books like long lost friends made love in that half light, silent except for our breath and the crackling music of the record. There were no whispered declarations of undying love that night. Even then, we both knew that the stolen moments wouldn't last."
"I was a teenager, and he was a man so buried in loss and solitude that he'd allowed himself to fall in love with me."
I tend to avoid books that make me feel, other than humour and ya know dirty filthy things. I thought I would just get a naughty story here and while Ember did seem to want Adam just for the challenge at the start, you soon saw it turn into so much more and it thawed my black frozen heart a little bit when things went South. I was so close to leaking from my eyeballs with this one, but the ending left me all huggy and toothy.
This isn't just a story of forbidden love, it's the story of Adam's life. Of his passions and loses, of happy times and heartbreak. No, it won't be for everyone, it details his time before meeting Ember, when he loved and lost Lily.
"I had loved Lily, and our common interests had drawn us together, but Ember fit me in a way no one else ever had. Lily had made me feel old. Ember made me feel like myself."
It's unlike any student/teacher story I've ever read, but in the best way possible. I will say again how beautiful the writing is here, I just wish we had more.
"We who clung to words and books like long lost friends made love in that half light, silent except for our breath and the crackling music of the record. There were no whispered declarations of undying love that night. Even then, we both knew that the stolen moments wouldn't last."
"I was a teenager, and he was a man so buried in loss and solitude that he'd allowed himself to fall in love with me."
I tend to avoid books that make me feel, other than humour and ya know dirty filthy things. I thought I would just get a naughty story here and while Ember did seem to want Adam just for the challenge at the start, you soon saw it turn into so much more and it thawed my black frozen heart a little bit when things went South. I was so close to leaking from my eyeballs with this one, but the ending left me all huggy and toothy.
July 19, 2014
I knew nothing going into this book except for the fact that there was a teacher/student dynamic. This book was so much more than that. It's a fast-paced story about love, loss and trying to find your home. It was such a beautiful story that made me cry when I least expected it. It's hard to write a review for this because I don't want to give any of the story away so all I will say is that I loved this book, it was beautiful and amazing and I highly recommend it!
September 9, 2014
3.5 forbidden stars.
This was something a little different.
The writing has a poetic style, really beautiful.
Adam is the son of an academic. He's a lone wolf with a wanderlust, he's seen everything and been everywhere and suffered profound losses by the time he's thirty.
We're inside his head for most of his story, but once he meets Ember, we hear their story from inside her head too. By now, he's a cynical high school teacher and she's his eighteen-year-old student.
Much of this story is introspective, concentrating on what they're thinking and foreshadowing that moment when their affair is revealed so there's not as many secret scorching looks and forbidden clinches in the classroom as I'd like, but this story is too well written for that tawdry nonsense. Yeah, so I'd have preferred a little more base lust and a little less navel gazing, but a more sophisticated reader than me will lap this up.
Good ending, shame there was no epilogue though.
This was something a little different.
The writing has a poetic style, really beautiful.
Adam is the son of an academic. He's a lone wolf with a wanderlust, he's seen everything and been everywhere and suffered profound losses by the time he's thirty.
We're inside his head for most of his story, but once he meets Ember, we hear their story from inside her head too. By now, he's a cynical high school teacher and she's his eighteen-year-old student.
Much of this story is introspective, concentrating on what they're thinking and foreshadowing that moment when their affair is revealed so there's not as many secret scorching looks and forbidden clinches in the classroom as I'd like, but this story is too well written for that tawdry nonsense. Yeah, so I'd have preferred a little more base lust and a little less navel gazing, but a more sophisticated reader than me will lap this up.
Good ending, shame there was no epilogue though.
April 29, 2016
I am kind of disappointed in the way the book turned. I had such expectations for the book because the description sounded interesting. However, it was not for me. The characters were lacking for me. The writing style was lacking as well. The story was lacking and this is unfortunate because I usually love student-teacher relationships. However, it was confusing and boring. It is the kind of story that does not retain someone's attention.
April 7, 2018
Enjoyable
Quick read with a lot of heart and humor. Plenty of heat and well done. Teacher student romances can feel questionable but this one was done extremely well. Definitely worth reading on a rainy afternoon.
Quick read with a lot of heart and humor. Plenty of heat and well done. Teacher student romances can feel questionable but this one was done extremely well. Definitely worth reading on a rainy afternoon.
May 9, 2019
Supremely well written!
Erudite and compulsive. You just have to love the lovers.
Sadness becomes joy.
Well-devloped characters and story line. Just mildly erotic.
Erudite and compulsive. You just have to love the lovers.
Sadness becomes joy.
Well-devloped characters and story line. Just mildly erotic.
March 10, 2020
Beautiful Story ❣️❣️❣️📖🖊📚👨🏼🏫👩🏼🎓
Age gap, teacher-student, forbidden, books, old soul high school senior, tragic and beautiful British English teacher/writer, equals a tremendously satisfying love story. *happy sighs*
Age gap, teacher-student, forbidden, books, old soul high school senior, tragic and beautiful British English teacher/writer, equals a tremendously satisfying love story. *happy sighs*
July 30, 2014
Well I loved this!! I thought it was weird at first how the book was broken into those two parts, but it ended up being alright! I wouldn't have minded less time on Lily and more time with Ember, but all in all I still loved it!!
May 11, 2019
This book didn't really work for me. The writing style was strange. The story unfolded from such a detached point of view that I really never connected with any of the characters. The first part of the story is Adam's relationship with Lily who dies while they are travelling abroad. Adam comes to the states to put down roots and starts teaching at a high school. There he meets and starts a relationship with Ember, a senior and student in his class. I think because I was so detached from the characters that that storyline just felt icky.
January 25, 2018
Just not sure
I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. Ember seemed to be more mature than Adam at times and the story was rushed in a the sense everything was stated almost skimmed over at times. Had potential, but just fell short.
I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. Ember seemed to be more mature than Adam at times and the story was rushed in a the sense everything was stated almost skimmed over at times. Had potential, but just fell short.
April 18, 2019
1st book by Ava Martell I couldn't finish
Didnt finish this...disnt really start it. Couldn't really get into this one. Found the Fire From Heaven series a lot more intriguing. Might give it another go.
Didnt finish this...disnt really start it. Couldn't really get into this one. Found the Fire From Heaven series a lot more intriguing. Might give it another go.
January 12, 2018
This was better than what I expected . Great story
February 16, 2018
Good book
Such a great story about second chances! And loving and setting free! Loved it and can’t wait to read more!
Such a great story about second chances! And loving and setting free! Loved it and can’t wait to read more!
May 23, 2019
not a re-read
July 1, 2021
Too slow - DNF
I tried but this book is just too slow. Even the prologue was boring. Almost depressing with no redeeming parts in sight.
I tried but this book is just too slow. Even the prologue was boring. Almost depressing with no redeeming parts in sight.
Read
August 12, 2019feel kinda dirty after reading this. must rethink how nonjudgmental i actual am. easy dismissal of my favorite genre, fantasy, didn't help. was looking for a quick light romance read since i liked her other series, but am reminded of why contemporary romance just doesn't do it for me.
October 30, 2014
1.5 - 2 stars.
Honestly I started this book at chapter 7. Part Two. Ember.
I didn't care about lily and his loss I just wanted to read about Adam and Ember. I am a huge fan of teacher/student books so I didn't want to read so much about his past love. I skipped all of it.
When Adam and Embers portion of the book started I didn't realize it would be a telling of events instead of actually being in the present. That put a damper on things. Random parts were told as if they were happening in the now but they shifted back to a retelling again which was frustrating.
Their time together was so glossed over and not very descriptive at all. I would have liked more story in the present.
I couldn't even figure out the sex scenes it all happened in a blur without a good description of the events.
In the present they kept saying all the years that passed. So that made me confused, I was trying to figure out when this all took place.
Couldn't get to invested with either character because there weren't enough in depth conversations between the two. Even their thoughts weren't really exciting.
I was expecting a secretive affair between the two but it was over shadowed by... I don't even know what. Very odd book.
Honestly I started this book at chapter 7. Part Two. Ember.
I didn't care about lily and his loss I just wanted to read about Adam and Ember. I am a huge fan of teacher/student books so I didn't want to read so much about his past love. I skipped all of it.
When Adam and Embers portion of the book started I didn't realize it would be a telling of events instead of actually being in the present. That put a damper on things. Random parts were told as if they were happening in the now but they shifted back to a retelling again which was frustrating.
Their time together was so glossed over and not very descriptive at all. I would have liked more story in the present.
I couldn't even figure out the sex scenes it all happened in a blur without a good description of the events.
In the present they kept saying all the years that passed. So that made me confused, I was trying to figure out when this all took place.
Couldn't get to invested with either character because there weren't enough in depth conversations between the two. Even their thoughts weren't really exciting.
I was expecting a secretive affair between the two but it was over shadowed by... I don't even know what. Very odd book.
August 3, 2014
This is such a unique story in the way that it was told. We get Adam's POV for most of the first half of the book. It was critical to do it this way so that we see what he has gone through. He suffers the loss of his father and then someone else is taken from him far too early. When Adam meets Ember in his English class he doesn't quite know how to take her. Ember is an 18 year old girl who goes after what she wants. Ember wants Adam and comes up with an extra credit project in order to spend more time with him. I will not go further into the plot since I don't want to give anything away. It was a quick read and I read it in one afternoon and I really enjoyed it.
August 19, 2014
Very good story..however it seemed really rushed. Hoping to get more of Adam and Ember
August 13, 2014
Loved this book! Beautiful prose and very interesting characters!
August 16, 2014
Really beautiful story. I liked how it used the different narrators because I feel like you really got to see their different personalities.
October 22, 2014
I liked it but would have like more
June 8, 2015
First man wasn't what I was expected but I enjoyed it none the less.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews