P+B: The Teachers of Hardwood High

The Teachers of Hardwood High #3

by Nina High

Bentley didn’t come to Hardwood High to fall in love.
She came to prove something—to herself, to the people who doubted her, and maybe even to the chickens named after Destiny’s Child living in her backyard. Her plan was survive her first year teaching English, build a community in her classroom, and absolutely not get distracted by anyone with a killer smile and thighs that make her rethink her professional goals.

But then there’s Priest.
DeAnthony Priest, the intense, focused assistant basketball coach with a body built like a problem and a heart he swears is off-limits. He’s done the casual thing, the serious thing, and the heartbreak thing—and getting involved with the bright-eyed new teacher next door is definitely not part of his game plan.

They both know better.
But between after-school drinks, stolen hallway glances, and one dangerously closed classroom door, the line between coworkers and something more starts to blur. And when a talented student with everything riding on basketball connects them in unexpected ways, their emotional guardrails start to crack.

She’s trying to find her place. He’s trying not to lose control.
Neither of them expected their biggest challenge this school year would be each other.

290 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2025

Reviews

[SAM_Reign · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Spoilers**

I want to preface this review by saying that I am always biased toward the female characters point of view in disagreements. However, Bentley irked me from the moment she got pregnant. You don’t tell him before dinner with his family so his mother figures it out before him. When you do tell him, he has an indifferent initial reaction that he corrects that same day. She says she understands but continued to ignore him because her feelings were hurt. Okay. She then pushes him away for being there for her “too much” without clearing expressing the issue. Priest creates an outline to help prepare for the baby and he is accused of taking over. But she is overwhelmed and procrastinating issues that need to be resolved. IMO she continued to shut Priest out/hurt his feelings (and she knew that’s what she was doing) but somehow every time it came back to being his fault. She is owed grace because she is pregnant but she was pushing it. Maybe it was supposed to be a representation of their age gap that was not explicitly mentioned after the beginning chapters. Idk but Priest’s patience and willingness to let his own hurt feelings go allowed the relationship to survive. I did like the story overall and will be continuing the series.

[Papillon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Real rating: 0.25

I don’t think I can write an actual review without getting mad.

[Shanae]

While I've thoroughly enjoyed every book in The Teachers of Hardwood series, there was something about P+B that felt different. I couldn't connect with the FMC Bentley and the MMC Priest was kind of bland. The internal dialogue was repetitive and failed to truly advance the story to me. Though there was a significant age gap between the characters, the dialogue was the same. At no point in time did I get the feeling that Priest was more advanced than Bentley in any way. I also was not sold on the instalove between the two characters. It seemed very irresponsible for Bentley to get involved with a co-worker her first year as a teacher...not even her first year - her first month!

Things I did like:
1) Priest's commitment to the students, even though he was presented as a failure to his brother, to previous students, and to his head coach who was younger than him.
2) Bentley's chickens.
3) The depiction of Bentley as an eco-activist. I think I would've taken her character more seriously if she were a science teacher, too.

Unfortunately, P+B: The Teachers of Hardwood isn't as strong of a story as X+E or B+J: The Teachers of Hardwood to me. And at 70% in, I was not invested in the story enough to see it through to the end. It is my understanding that the series continues with a story about Ebony Calloway, a character who makes a brief appearance in P+B. I wish Nina High would get rid of the Pat Collins character and I hope to see characters from the previous books be more integral in this series.

[Castina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️,

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. It was so perfect, but after he disappointed me it became a push and pull. It was such a frustrating read after the 60% mark. I still enjoy this series, but I just keep saying IT COULD ALL BE SO SIMPLE, but they rather make it hard 🥹.

[Jessica Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying the series

This has been an enjoyable series. I enjoy humor in books and this had several moments that had me either giggling or straight cracking up (like anytime Dr. Randley spoke. LOL).
As far as Bentley and Priest, I was a semi-fan. Bentley irked me a good bit, and I wished people gave Priest the grace they gave her. She got a pass regardless of how she acted while he got the lectures and expectations to fix everything, regardless of his own valid hurt, and I didn't love that. But I did love seeing how he took care of her and how the families came together.

Looking forward to the next one. :)

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t read any of the books in this series before I read this one. My kindle suggested “P+B”, and I thought the cover and synopsis were cute, so I decided to read it.

And lowkey, I was kinda bored with Priest and Bentley’s story. They were cute and everything was copacetic, but there wasn’t anything about them that made me want them to be together or claim Priest as my man or anything of the sort.

After a while, I was fighting tooth and nail to finish this book. It wasn’t poorly written (aside from a few spelling mistakes), the pacing wasn’t off, or anything like that. “P+B” just wasn’t something I usually care to read about, and I didn’t feel connected to the characters 🤷🏾‍♀️

I prefer romance books that are about the development of the couple’s relationship before they have kids together. And while “P+B” does have a bit of that, Bentley becomes pregnant early on and the story becomes about them learning how to be a couple as well as preparing for a baby.

I can’t even lie. Towards the end when discussions of the baby shower started happening, I started skimming. I just didn’t care, and my eyes were glazing over.

Also, the timeline for how long Priest and Bentley have been dating is all over the place, as well as their ages. If you decide to read “P+B”, just pick a number and go with it or you’ll become frustrated. But as I mentioned before, this book isn’t terrible. It just wasn’t for me.

As far as the characters, Priest is an overthinker while Bentley is easy going. There’s a bit of a push and pull in their relationship, but they tend to always work things out. Priest and Bentley also have a very supportive group of family and friends.

[January · Rating 5 out of 5]

P+B by Nina High (2025)
The Teachers of Hardwood High #3
Related The Martin Brothers Series
290-page Kindle Ebook story pages 7-287

Genre: African-American Romance, Contemporary Romance

Rating as a movie: XXX for strong sexual content

Featuring: Replay Format for Series, Fictional Ambiguous City in Texas, Scholastic Setting, Workplace Romance, High School, Teachers - English, Math, Basketball Coach; Dual POVs, Family Dynamics, References to The Martin Brothers Series - Overlapping Characters and Setting, Chickens, Department Heads, Racism, Scholastic Politics, Sex - Detailed, Thanksgiving, All Through The Year, Drama, Christmas, Revelation of Whose Next, Author's Links, Bibliography for Nina High

Songs for the soundtrack: "She's Playing Hard To Get" by Hi-Five, "Bills, Bills, Bills" by Destiny's Child, "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" by Mint Condition, "4 Page Letter" by Aaliyah, "Every Year, Every Christmas" by Luther Vandross, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" by Whitney Houston

Books and Authors mentioned: Sonnet 18 by Wiig Shakespeare, Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Legally Blonde by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith [based on] Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown; Lean on Me by Michael Schiffer [based on the story of Joe Louis Clark]

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½🏫👩🏾‍🏫⛹️🏾‍♂️📚🏀🇨🇱

My thoughts:📑 Page 13 - I knew it. I see why this couple was delayed and not Book 2, this story has the same scenes from Book 1 from a different POV, which would have been boring in Book 2, but is exciting in Book 3.
📑 Page 20 - I'm wondering if Ebony is up next because her name is getting dropped a lot, is she the new side couple setup?
📑Page 46 📖 My sister is yelling. I know she’s pacing her room, wheels turning. I should lie and end this conversation, but Ebony will know I’m lying.📖 [Her sister is named Brandee and her roommate is Destiny, Ebony isn't there.]
📑Page 81 (Chapter 10) - There are more continuity issues. Bentley is soon-to-be 25n he claims he is 10 years older than Bentley but his brother says he's 33, previously he said his brother was 2 years old, but he tells Bentley Andre is 3 years older. Now he is saying Andre is 46. 🙄 5-star zone officially lost.

The was great, although Bentley got on my nerves in the second half. It could have been a 5-star read if the math hadn't been off and the ages had stayed consistent. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Looks like we'll get a new school year, hopefully.

Recommend to others: Yes. I truly am enjoying this series. I'm going to recommend it to everyone.

The Teachers of Hardwood High
1. X+E (2024)
2. B+J (2024)
3. P+B (2025)
4. T+E (2025)
5. Q+C (2025)
6. A+J (2025)

Memorable Quotes: “You’re going to get all twelve inches from me. I know you can handle it.” I’d zoned out, but after Dr. Ranley’s last line, I know it’s time to zone back in, or quit my new job now. Eyes wide, I look around the table, and everyone has a smirk on their face. “Twelve inches?” I whisper to the teacher sitting next to me. She snickers. “He made a metaphor about faculty meetings and sub sandwiches.” Jesus Javonte Christ. “He loves a metaphor, and he never realizes what’s coming out of his mouth. If we played a drinking game, we’d die of alcohol poisoning every school year.” I suck in a breath to suppress my laugh. This is a hell of a first meeting. “Let’s introduce our new teachers now.” Please no. Dr. Ranley starts off by introducing the older bald man sitting at the table next to mine. I avoid eye contact with him as Xavier rattled off too much information about himself. God, please help me to keep it short and sweet. Several ‘thank you for your services’ later, Dr. Ranley zeroes in on me. Shit! “Bentley Lewis is another first-year teacher. It’s like we’ve hatched a whole clutch of teacher babies!” Deep breath, Sis. You got this. “Hi, I’m Bentley, as Dr. Ranley said. I’ll be teaching freshman English, and I’m super excited to try some new things in my classroom. And I’m happy to be a part of this faculty.” Whew! Nailed it. I sit back down, proud of myself for staying in my lane and not going off the rails.

Stepping into my classroom brings me joy. The room is bright, but not busy. I really Pinterested the hell out of this place. If there’s a room decorating contest, I’m winning. “Knock, knock!” I look up from my desk and into the dark brown eyes of the same coach from the meeting. Cool, day one stalker. “Hey, neighbor. Thought I'd introduce myself. I’m Coach Priest. My class is right next door.” I stand up from my desk and walk over to him. Politeness over everything. “Hi, Bentley.” I offer him my hand. He’s incredibly handsome. The kind of handsome where oops, I fell on a dick. That means he’s dangerous. And he’s next door.

After reconsidering my life’s choices for a few minutes, I grab my meetings notebook and head to room 123. I’m in 223, so I’m assuming it’s directly beneath my class. I still give myself time to get lost because this is a big ass school. Her classroom is right off the stairs, just like mine, so that’s good to know. I walk in, smile plastered on my face, and choose a desk towards the middle of the room. No one else has arrived yet. “Uh uhn. We have assigned seating. Who are you?” is how I’m greeted. I freeze and pray for strength and patience because I know the hell this lady didn’t. “Bentley Lewis.” “Fourth row, second seat from the right.” Bitch moved me to the back of the bus? I stare at her for a beat, but she doesn’t even look up from the massive binder she has at her podium, just turns the page. A dozen different responses run through my mind—most of them ending with me jobless—so instead, I exhale slowly and make my way to the very back row and sit my ass down. Other teachers file in, and no one says a word. There’s just silence like we’re all robots awaiting programming.

“Don’t you dare put it in the microwave. Set it on the stove on low.” I have a thing about microwaves. The house came with one built-in, and my dad wouldn’t let me get rid of it. Since he owns the house, I don’t argue. Destiny uses it all the time, and I just know it's destroying all the nutrients in her food and sending out dangerous waves into the air.

The AI message says, “No changes detected.” Essence and I look at each other and burst into laughter. “These fools probably ran this through AI and had it reword everything.” I laugh. “Oh, you know they did. And took all the time they were given to complete this and all the pay.”

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nina, you did it again! I really enjoyed this book and finished it in two days because I wanted to see how this played out.

Bentley is a first year teacher at Hardwood who is earthy, quirky, cute but passionate about walking in her truth and saving the world.

Priest (DeAnthony) is just a good guy all around. Seriously, this dude had no flaws except getting a little hyper focused about things, but other than that it's just so genuine. It's rare you get a male character who isn't so hung up or wrapped up in himself that he doesn't pay attention and adjust.

The thing I loved about their relationship is their willingness to see what happens but stay open. I think they balance each other well and they are surrounded by family and friends who adore them and cheer them on and call them out as needed. Sometimes we never know what curveball life will throw at us but as long as we have someone who is willing to go through it with us, it makes it worth it.

PS: I can't wait to see what happens with his brother Andre. I sensed there may be more there than we realize. Can you imagine two sisters marrying two brothers?

[NubianJoí · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hippy Dippy

Hmmm 🤔, “P+B: The Teachers of Hardwood High - Book 3” had the potential to be a better read, even possibly a great romance on the horizon, until Priest met Bentley, & his life ain’t been the same🤨 🤦🏾‍♀️ (bittersweet ⚖️)‼️Meanwhile, if hippy-dippy, annoyingly combative & daily emasculation of Priest’s dignity while maintaining sustainability awareness is/was the appeal than mission accomplished 🤯‼️Otherwise Priest’s should concede defeat & just take care of your new responsibility. …he ain’t the first & definitely won’t be the last man to get caught up 🤷🏾‍♀️😿🥴‼️ Thereafter, Bentley needs to mature, she’s indecisive, insecure & unapologetically hippy-dippy weird always🤦🏾‍♀️🤭. Unfortunately, I just tolerated “P&B: The Teachers of Hardwood - Book 3” and its antics. More so, I just didn’t care for the character Bentley for numerous reasons. Nevertheless, 3.75 - 4.0 ⭐️’s was a generous rating and that was primarily attributed to the characters Priest & mama Pansy 🤷🏾‍♀️‼️

[Danielle Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the feels

This books incorporates every emotion (anger, love, hurt, sadness, etc.) through the pages.

I was rooting for this pairing of Bentley and Priest. Bentley is a teacher who’s embarking on a journey of navigating the rookie teaching year. Her next door classroom neighbor happens to be an attractive basketball coach who’s mesmerized by her.

Attraction cannot be denied by either caution is thrown the wind. After months of secretly dating, a meet the parents dinner turns into confessions that neither were ready for.

I was rooting for Priest until he dropped the ball during confessional. He redeems himself throughout the book but boy did he drop the ball.

Beautifully written book on how love takes compromises and learning each other to make it work.

[Kristal Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

P+B

I enjoyed this story from beginning to end. Priest and Bentley were cute together. I liked their ebbs and flows and pushes and pulls and the way they were able to make up and talk things out without yelling and being overly dramatic. I also liked that when they had their disagreements, they both took the time to evaluate things logically instead of emotionally to make sure they were responding on fact and not solely on feelings. I loved Priest with Bentley and how he just wanted to be near her no matter what. It was sweet and endearing. I’m looking forward to more from this series.

[_dulcekk · Rating 4 out of 5]

let’s talk it out!

3.5⭐️ Age-gap romance with miscommunication & an unplanned pregnancy… whew, what a rollercoaster Bentley took me on! Priest was a man that once he was in, he was in however, Bentley had challenges with knowing what she wanted & communicating in an effective way. “It’s ok for me to do it but not okay for you”- this applies to Bentley… I was frustrated with her b/c she did the same thing she chastised Priest for. Realizing a little too late does not take away the sting. Once effective communication was had, whew what a difference that made!! I enjoyed the friends & family of both individuals… hilarious!

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

ooh wee

This was a good one. Bentley know she was getting on my nerves. Lol. She eventually grew on me. And please can someone cuss Ms. Collin’s out for me. It’s time for her to retire . Great job Nina with this book. Bentley and Priest story was a the treatment of you have to put in the work .

[Michele Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Home Run

I loved this book. The writing, storyline and characters hit a home run for me. What I like best is how quickly the MFC and the MMC got together. I didn’t know what to expect but it all flowed smoothly. Priest and Bentley are two of my favorite people. They make a great couple.

[Chloe A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how this story mixes humor, heart, and slow-burn romance. The tension between Bentley, the new teacher, and Priest, the no-nonsense coach, already has me hooked. Add in a student whose future ties them together, and it feels like the perfect blend of swoon-worthy and meaningful. Can’t wait to dive in!

[Malika · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favorite so far in this series. Bentley annoyed me throughout the entire book. Like, did she even like him??? Homegirl took no accountability, had no self awareness, and seemed to be emotionally unavailable. Then again she was only 25 lol so maybe that explains it. Idk, her character was so cringy I had a hard time seeing this to the end.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely lovedddd Priest and Bentley’s story. This book had me tearing up so many times in the best way. I’m a sucker for Black love and a good teacher romance, and Nina High delivered both beautifully. The emotional growth, both together and individually—felt so real and heartfelt. Their connection was tender, mature, and so easy to root for. I loved, loved, loved this book!

[Kristen Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series!

I have absolutely loved every single book in this series. The side characters are hilarious, the banter and chemistry draw you in and keep you until the end. I finished this book in one day because I just couldn’t stop reading! Amazing job!

[Dai Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one!!! Bentley was putting me through it at times but her feelings were valid. I just loved Priest and how vulnerable he was. I can’t choose which is my favorite in this series yet. I’m looking forward to the next two books.

[Tarra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Def the best

This was definitely the best Nina High book. I've read all the ones listed at the back of this book (I think that's all of them). These 2, Bentley and Priest, they were so soft, they were truly themselves and I appreciate that. I really loved this book.

[Treya Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Circles of love

The story was amazing. But the epilogue was perfect. I wish for every Black child to have the experience of being received by a circle of people who love them unconditionally, speaking life ver them.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and this series..

[Tonya Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story.. loved the family aspect.

[ciera · Rating 3 out of 5]

bentley was definitely a handful at times, but i really enjoyed the book! chapter 27 was whew 😗🤭

[ABAgail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book! While it had greater conflict than X&E's story, I thought it was beautiful.

[Brittney Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the storyline

The book was amazing but I hate reading books with a lot of typos, other than that it was a great read.

[Jemeka Cotton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this one

Good read but lot of grammatical errors which was annoying to figure out exactly what was being said. Let me edit the books next time lol

[Lols · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Nina High. But DNF this because I didn’t like this age gap.