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A Class Act

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Twenty-five-year-old theater grad student Rory Morgan walks into her Intro to Theater class expecting it to be a piece of cake. She isn’t prepared for the diminutive little fireball of a professor who walks in. She is instantly captivated by Dr. Margaret Parks, her forty-year-old professor, and even works up the courage to flirt a little, which Dr. Parks quickly dismisses. After their first class, Rory finds herself thinking about the professor more and more and spends most of her class time watching the professor as she passionately does her job. Rory really wants to ask her out, but she doesn’t know if the professor is even gay, to say nothing of the fact that she’s her professor. What follows is a romance full of humor, passionate awakenings, and college politics. Can they overcome the hurdles that lie before them and still be a class act?

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2016

9 people are currently reading
65 people want to read

About the author

T.L. Hayes

7 books15 followers
T.L. Hayes is just your typical overeducated, underemployed dyke, in the process of starting new journeys. She has held many jobs, including customer service agent, housekeeper, and poll-taker. None of them has been as satisfying as writing, especially writing stories with predominately gay characters. She holds master’s degrees in English and educational studies, and an incredible amount of student loan debt. She has recently moved back to her home state of Illinois and is enjoying all four seasons again.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

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5 stars
14 (17%)
4 stars
14 (17%)
3 stars
27 (34%)
2 stars
20 (25%)
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3 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for Diane Wallace.
1,455 reviews165 followers
December 17, 2017
Ok read! This storyline: i bang my head a few times and was screaming so loud for it to STOP! A painful read from the first page to the very last page. Its a bit too stereotypical from the start,its a turnoff,the writing was so cliche and too tiresome,it also did not have that spice to the writing to grab me or readers for that matter,no character built-up for the leading ladies,even less development with the other cast members,then there were lots of questions about certain storylines in this book of the how's,what's & where's the author was going with this because i was so lost. Had to finally just check out and give up because there was nothing to this book.
Profile Image for Pin.
457 reviews383 followers
March 7, 2017
After book like this one, I have the urge to revise half of my ratings on Goodreads. Not because it is so good, but just the opposite. I always try not to be too hard on debut novels, but A Class Act would have remained on my "could-not-finish" shelf if it were not a novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The book is a romance with a fifteen years age gap -- Aurora "Rory" Dawn Morgan (25 years old) is a theater grad student and Dr. Margaret Parks (40) is her college professor. I liked the synopsis that promised an interesting book with a student/teacher and younger/older woman romantic relationship dynamics, but that is about all I did like about this book. The premise of the story is good, but unfortunately it failed to deliver. The characters are unrealistic and wooden. There is no real chemistry between main characters. Their relationship is like a badly told fairy tale. The dialogue is poorly done, nobody speaks like that. For example, the main characters addressed each other as "my love" some thirty-four times. The conflict is reduced to an unknown group of professors who have something quite unclear against our ladies in love. Lame.
Too bad for the missed opportunity. I hope the author will try to improve her writing skills before the next novel.
1.5 stars, rounded up considering it's the author's first published novel

*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*
Profile Image for Tiff.
385 reviews236 followers
July 9, 2016
The cover of a book is often its first chance at selling itself. Now, I’ll be the first to tell you there are some awful book covers out there that have amazing stories within their lackluster cover. The opposite is true as well of course. The book cover for Class Act is quite well done and that's about it.

Rory Morgan is not the girl on the cover of this book. When I look at the cover the cover I see a preppy, put-together young woman who probably buys a lot of her clothes at J Crew. That girl is not Rory Morgan, I for the life of me cannot figure out why this cover would be used for this book. Rory a self-proclaimed butch, whose daily uniform, consists of a men’s v-neck white tee, faded bootcut jeans and engineer boots with wild unruly curly red hair. Within the first twenty minutes of reading this book I was actually over Rory, and quite frankly almost ready to DNF the whole book. The entire first two chapters are chock-full of so many stereotypes it was irritating. Her character comes across as kind of an ass, unrealistic ass at that too. She in no way sounds or acts like a twenty five year old, seriously how may college students sit around and listen to Simon and Garfunkel. (I am sure there are a few, but I am making a point here). Then, factor in that Rory consistently discredits all other female students, as giggling girls who only talk of whom they wanted to sleep with or they are all hipster lesbians with expensive coffee addictions who are offended by everything. Seriously, come on! She doesn’t want to date a kid. Excuse me but when did college students, grad students specifically become children, especially to a twenty five year old. Rory does not embody a mature student. No she embodies a much, much older woman with a giant chip on her shoulder.

Dr. Margaret Parks is the other main character in this story. She also happens to be Rory’s Topics in Theater professor. I don’t even know that to write about her to be honest. She’s meek at times when her character is supposed to have a hard no-nonsense approach to life. She’s indecisive and quite flat as a character goes.

I cannot recommend this one. Literally, the best thing about this book is the cover and it is not a reflection of either character. Blatant stereotypes annoy me. For the record, no, I am not a hipster with an expensive coffee addiction. I can drink Maxwell House quite fine, thank you very much.

1.5 stars. I was given this book by Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books in return for an honest review.
Profile Image for Catherine.
280 reviews18 followers
July 5, 2016
I'm rating this book 2.5 stars.

I absolutely love a good college teacher and students romance. I love the tension that a story like this can create due to the taboo nature of the relationship. So when picking up a book with this story line you expect that tension build up and when it isn't there it just feels flat. In this book the tension wasn't there for me as well as zero chemistry between the characters which I think goes hand in hand with the tension I wanted.

I didn't really like the characters either they just acted all over the place for me. Rory was meant to be mature but honestly I felt that Maggie was written to be immature. I pretty much skimmed the last 20% of the book, it was hard to finish for me.

I'm so sad because I was looking forward to this book but it just didn't work for me.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review.
Profile Image for Chand.
234 reviews
July 8, 2016
There is more telling than showing in A Class Act. We are told that the characters have this uncontrollable passion for each other, but we don't see it. We are told that they have deep love for each other, but we don't see it. We are told that the faculty doesn't approve, hm, maybe we can see a little bit of that. There is no chemistry between the main characters, the dialogue is lazy, the narration is flat and the story is full of stereotypes about butch women. And sentences like these make it worse: "In a matter of speaking." "Despite what I had told myself from the moment we sat across from each other at the diner and you made it clear how you felt, I have not regretted a single moment since then."
Profile Image for Samantha Luce.
Author 7 books26 followers
January 14, 2017
It was okay. The characters never really grabbed me. Their personalities never quite gelled and both of them seemed to vacillate too much on their views.

Professor/student romances are expected to be scandalous, angsty and exciting. This one just fell a little flat.

Net Galley ARC received for an honest review.
Profile Image for Tara.
783 reviews374 followers
December 18, 2016
2.5 rounded up. This book was okay and brings together a couple of things I love (age gap romance, professor/student relationship), but it didn't do anything new. I think it's about as realistic as it can get in terms of that type of relationship can/should be handled between a grad student and professor. I can't really say I recommend it, but maybe if it comes up for the BSB deal of the day?
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
104 reviews35 followers
July 27, 2016
I received an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of this book from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for free in exchange for an honest review.

This novel had some promise in the beginning. Though a little fast-paced for my liking in the introduction and creation of each character and their individual, as well as relationship, development, the story took a turn when the two main characters finally came together. It felt rushed, a bit all over the place, and unrealistic. I was shocked to find that in just a few pages the relationship had completely turned on its heel without much in the way of leading the reader into its new development. I did not enjoy any of the characters in the long run - main or otherwise. My "favorite" character, if given the choice, would have to be Rory's best friend, Rachel, because she provided some additional characteristics besides the stale one-notes from the main character. But because she was laden down in stereotypes, even her character lacked. Because of these things, I did not enjoy the novel. I hope to see some more developed titles from T.L. Hayes in the future.
Profile Image for Alex.
329 reviews19 followers
July 24, 2018
It’s a story about a tenacious student asking out her teacher. About school politics and people who should mind their own business. And how in the end love conquers all. At least I think that’s what the author was going for writing this. The whole book was a struggle to me, it’s just a forced instant love with an age gap between an intense 25 year old that apparently looks like a Disney princess (and acts like one, you know declaring eternal love after five minutes and never thinking things through) and a stubborn (more like prone to tantrum, irritable, and very bleh) 40 year old teacher AND it has a A FLASHMOB!!!
Profile Image for Shannon Castle.
39 reviews25 followers
August 16, 2017
I had really been looking forward to reading this as I love romance novels with an age difference. Unfortunately this fell flat. It was predictable and forgettable. I'm actually quite disappointed as this had all the right ingredients to do well.
Profile Image for Leeanna.
538 reviews100 followers
November 22, 2016
This review originally appeared on my blog, Leeanna.me.

==

I’m not always a fan of romance, but as A CLASS ACT has two of the tropes I do like (older/younger and professor/student), I thought I would like it. Combining the two should have resulted in a make-me-happy romance, but I just couldn’t get into this one.

I almost put A CLASS ACT down after the first few chapters. Rory is so judgmental of other women that I got sick of her thoughts very quickly. From the first chapter: “She always fell for good conversationalists who could challenge her on any given topic and who were not slaves to fashion and makeup.” It’s like her brain is full of stereotypes on how butches should think and act.

But throw all that aside, because Rory’s immediately attracted to her professor, Margaret Parks. By chapter two, Margaret’s noticing how attractive Rory is. Soon after that, Rory’s pursuing Margaret, and the rest is mostly history. But here’s the thing: I never felt any chemistry between Rory and Margaret. I could have been reading about two stick figures.

I wanted to like A CLASS ACT. I did. I even pushed through my initial “this isn’t for me” feeling and finally finished. But all I remember is the blah characters, insta-love romance, writing full of cliches and honeyed dialogue (Rory and Margaret refer to each other as “my love” 30+ times), and a lame conflict.

==

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See more of my reviews:
leeanna.me
Profile Image for Amy.
232 reviews13 followers
August 6, 2016
3.5 stars
Truthfully, I don't know how to rate this. I enjoyed the book; it turned out in some ways much better than I thought it would at about a third of the way through. But in other ways, there are some things that just missed the mark. This is a May-December book, an age gap book for those who don't use months (I had to explain the term to someone recently). Rory is a grad student, aged 25, who falls for her professor, Maggie, aged 40. One of my first problems was Miranda's character. I do like the direction Hayes took it, but at first Miranda seemed like a cliched, contrived character - the mean girl who ruins things for others out of spite and because she's not getting what she wants. And my opinion of the book would have gone south if Hayes had continued with that as the main conflict. But after Miranda stopped being the main impediment to the relationship, and actually the main catalyst as well, the story coasts with no major conflict the rest of the way. Hayes lost the opportunity to use the age gap and Maggie's feelings about it to explore the biggest stumbling block to their relationship. As the May in an age gap relationship myself, let me tell you those feelings don't go away easily for the December portion. There was no real problem with Rory's parents accepting the relationship, which again I think is a lost opportunity. The problem with Maggie's coworkers also feels a bit underdone. Maggie is supposed to feel extremely uncomfortable with how much they're intruding into her private life, but other than a note, an email, and the knowledge that they're going to the board, and subsequently getting shut down, there isn't a whole lot there that makes me believe the whole change of jobs would be necessary. In all, the book was entertaining, and the romance was sweet, but missed being as deep as it could have been.
I received a copy of this book from Inked Rainbow Reads for review.
Profile Image for Jade.
203 reviews15 followers
July 1, 2016
*Arc given by Netgalley and Bold Strokes for an honest review*

This was an okay read, I won't say that it was amazing but it wasn't horrible either. I enjoyed Rory's character and how comfortable she was with herself. I was happy to see the new modern approach to parenting in this book in the form of Rory's parents, they didn't make her feel like a disappointment,they just accepted her for who she is. I fully appreciate the need to bring attention to difficulties that a majority of the LGBT community faces from their families when they come out but I was overjoyed by the fact that the author showed how it should be when one comes out.

The reason that I haven't given this book a higher rating is because I felt like it lacked some depth in the character developement, although I can't say that I missed the constant angst that seems to be a recurring theme in lesbian fiction, I would have liked to have seen that there was something more to each character outside of the teacher and the student.
Profile Image for Alicia.
360 reviews13 followers
June 30, 2016
I'm a sucker for teacher/student relationships and would love to read more about this couple.

Arc Given by NetGalley for a honest Review
Profile Image for Kat.
666 reviews12 followers
August 9, 2017
I picked this book because I liked the back cover, and never read reviews ( I rather create my own opinion) . It is nice story, moving fast, not as deep as I like. Even though I like romances, this one was slightly bit over done. Not in a bad way, just a little too much here and there. All in all good book.
Profile Image for Heidi.
701 reviews32 followers
April 26, 2020
Only 3 stars. It wasn’t the subject matter or age difference that brought down my rating, it was that at times I just wanted to skip ahead to finish it. I didn’t get lost in the story and want to read every word so I wouldn’t miss anything.
Profile Image for Lorraine Rusnack.
1,129 reviews33 followers
May 9, 2020
I didn’t read other reviews for this book before I started reading and I’m glad of that. I enjoyed the story. I too pursued an old woman and won. This was a love story and not all about sex. I liked the change in Maggie after she found Rory. They stood together against nay sayers.
Profile Image for Aly.
283 reviews11 followers
December 6, 2017
Didn't hold my attention very well, I found myself skimming a lot. The romance was awfully quick. Though I am happy for the couple!
Profile Image for A.W..
203 reviews4 followers
February 11, 2017
Aurora "Rory" Morgan is twenty-five years old and is an old theater grad student. When she sits in for her Intro to Theater class, she instantly crushes on the teacher, Dr. Margaret "Maggie" Parks.

As much as Dr. Parks tries to stay away from Rory, she eventually caves in and must deal with whatever consequences may come from dating a student.

Perhaps it was because I had low expectations, I didn't actually mind reading the book. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst book I've ever read.

I did think that it was rather childish of Dr. Parks to suddenly change her mind of dating Rory for the reason she did. I do have to give her props for how she handled her relationship with a student when forced to make a decision between her job and her relationship.

Although I gave this book three stars, I wouldn't re-read this book as the story didn't really grab me.

Review also posted here: http://wp.me/p4Pp9O-wh

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Amanda.
344 reviews9 followers
July 10, 2016
I had pretty high expectations for this book, so I may have gone in wanting too much. I usually enjoy older/younger relationship dynamics; this one just didn’t do it for me. This book wasn’t an awful read, I have read many books more poorly written, with less character development, and over used phrases. I would say that this book didn’t deliver the expectations I set, but I would give the author another shot. I found myself several times thinking things like, “This is why you do not date children.” Rory has moments where she is super sure of herself, then instantly throws a 25 year old fit when Maggie meets her parents. The dialogue wasn’t good, a couple of times I actually cringed. If I had that conversation and someone used some of the phrases in this book, I would laugh. Because I would assume they were being funny. I typically like butch characters but overall Rory just got on my nerves. Maggie just came over as a bit immature and needy. I think the majority of the issues that I had with this book were character flaws. I didn’t like the author’s use of stereotypes, and the conflict (which wasn’t really a conflict) didn’t make me feel very bad for either character. ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review.
Profile Image for Danni Mladenovic.
233 reviews29 followers
July 21, 2016
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review, and this would be my impression:
It's a nice, sweet read. It's not GREAT, but it's good. The whole taboo of professor - student relationship and the age difference is always a really interesting topic in romances. In my opinion, the whole "getting together" process was too fast, and I think Maggie's reasoning for finally giving in to Rory was kind of wrong; I didn't really like that after all that turning down, she finally did it out of spite... but the second half of the book gets better.I was almost surprised to read a book without classical drama of a break-up, but it turned out well at the end.
I must admit I had a problem imagining the way Rory looks. The image of Merida just stuck with me and there was no way of imagining the girl as butch, but that's beside the point, I suppose. I really loved the humor in it, loved their exchange of words, and I especially laughed at one moment, when Maggie talks to her ex: "Calm down? Let me tell you something, in the history of pissed-off people, not once has anyone ever calmed down because someone told them to." That one goes on my post-it note quotes. :)
I'm giving it 3 stars, but the whole topic had the potential for 5 if it had been slightly differently written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Penelope.
366 reviews16 followers
September 17, 2016
An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This was an ok read; the taboo factor is what kept me reading. Plus I did love the character of Rory; this book had the potential to be amazing. The problem was the chemistry between Maggie and Rory. If there was some more chemistry between the two of them, I could like this book. This felt like a book full of potential that just didn't meet the mark for great. Instead, it stayed at good. This was a good read and is enjoyable and fast if you don't keep high expectations you really will love it.
Profile Image for Cathy Williams.
155 reviews
May 11, 2019
This is a well written story, a May to December romance. Once I started it I couldn't put it down.
The story flows and the characters developed well.
My only criticism would be that I think the author could have added a little bit more to the tension to the opposition of the relationship

Waiting this authors' next novel. It is a must buy
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