Teach Me Tonight by Natasha Washington Blog Tour

Kim Junseo owns a Korean fusion restaurant he built from the ground up, and he keeps himself busy running it and taking care of his 5-year-old daughter, Hee-Young. Though on the surface he seems successful and happy, he's also lonely – and terrified of relationships, since his marriage to his ex-husband Noah ended in disaster three years ago.

When Junseo comes to Nic Moretti's classroom to throw Hee-Young a birthday party, sparks fly. Nic thinks Junseo is impossibly handsome, funny and sweet. Junseo's drawn to Nic's goofy, gentle spirit and thinks he's beautiful. Junseo doesn't even think twice about volunteering to teach Nic's class about food and cooking. One thing leads to another, and soon they're bonding over kimchi fried rice at Junseo's restaurant and salami and cheese sandwiches at the Getty Villa as the heat builds between them.

Then Junseo's abusive ex-husband Noah re-appears in his life, claiming good intentions, but Nic's afraid that Noah's going to try to worm his way back into Junseo's life and hurt him. Junseo, struggling to deal with old demons he thought he'd buried, pushes Nic away. With Nic and Junseo's relationship on the rocks and Noah refusing to keep his distance, Junseo feels like his whole carefully constructed world is crumbling around him. He has to decide which is more important: keeping up his perfect façade, or keeping the man who has so sweetly captured his heart.

 

 

Book 1
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“Probably good to get everyone cleaned up before anyone has any food,” Mr. Moretti told him, wiping his own hands on his jeans, which were as hopelessly stained as his shirt. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself. Hello, Mr. Kim. I’m—”

“Mr. Nic, this is Mr. Nic!” Hee-Young exclaimed. “The best teacher in the whole entire world.”

Nic turned a very attractive shade of pink and held out his hand. His grip was strong, his fingers slightly rough with callouses.

“You can call me Junseo.”

“Everyone, Hee-Young’s father has brought some snacks for us, but you can’t have snacks until you have clean hands. Let’s do this quietly and—”

There was an explosion of noise as fourteen kindergartners leapt out of their seats and made a mad dash for the sinks. Nic caught one boy by his collar when he went to press his red and green-streaked palms into a girl’s back, and two boys nearly went down in a pile after tripping over each other. There was paint literally everywhere. Nic looked like he regretted all of his life choices.

“The kids are a lot, huh,” Junseo said.

“I am supposed to be the captain of this vessel, but I am constantly reminded I’m just a passenger,” Nic said, mournfully, and Junseo laughed.

But ten minutes later, all of the students had miraculously clean hands, and Junseo was handing out snacks on little silver plates. While all of the students were eating, he uncovered the cupcake tray. At the center was a special pink one decorated with a sword-wielding little girl. He was proud of it – he wasn’t really that good at icing, but he’d gotten his pastry chef to help teach him how to do it, and it looked pretty professional.

“Where did you get these?” Nic asked. “They’re beautiful.”

“Oh,” Junseo said, and he felt his cheeks heat. “I made them. I—I’m a chef. I mean, I don’t usually make cupcakes. Just for special occasions. Normally, though, I own a Korean restaurant. Um – two restaurants, actually.”

“That’s… amazing,” Nic said. He cleared his throat. “That’s so cool.”

Junseo placed a candle in the cupcake’s shimmery frosting and lit it, and when he put it in front of Hee-Young, her face brightened so she looked like a small, exuberant sun.

“Appa, is it Mulan?”

“It is, my warrior princess,” Junseo said, and he felt like his heart was going to melt out of his ears.

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
I loved this story about a chef who falls for his daughter’s teacher. It’s a gentle, feel-good romance with a little bit of heat.

At the start of this story, both Junseo and Nic are a little lost and Junseo is attempting to rebuild his life after a difficult break up. I really like that the book is as much about both men’s personal growth as it is about their relationship. Junseo is more damaged by his previous relationship than he fully understands and Nic’s parents’ relationship has made him wary of any kind of commitment. The growth in both characters as they come together is really special.

With Junseo a single dad and Nic a kindergarten teacher, this is very much a family focused romance. There is probably a little too much focus on kids, especially Junseo’s daughter, for my tastes, but that is a personal preference. She’s a cute kid and Nic and Junseo connect through their work with Nic’s class. It’s cute, but not really my thing. Fortunately, both men were interesting enough for me to ignore the kid stuff.

I haven’t read any of the other books in this series, but I now want to read them all. I love Nic’s eclectic group of friends and I’m keen to read their stories.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆
4 stars for the story
3 stars for the flow

This is the first book in a new series, and I really liked how we get to meet a group of teachers who have formed strong friendships and a support network. I found some of the events a little unlikely, but they worked well in the context of the plot.

At heart this is a really good romance, but there is a lot of introspection, of issues which then aren't really issues and too much inner voice. We get some of their family background, and it is key to their behaviours, but rather than set a scene and explore it, there is a lot of thought dialogue about it. It meant that for a lot of the time we were privy to information which was key, but by not being revealed, meant we then had to wait and then hear about the issue again, and possibly even again, before it was shared. This made for slow reading, and some frustration for me. We all have our own preferred styles, and you may see it with a different lens.

I loved the premise of the book, I enjoy books set in a food/restaurant setting, and enjoyed the Korean fusion style of cooking embedded in the story, as well as how food had strong associations of family for both of them. Junseo's daughter was delightful and added both fun and structure to their relationship. The school scenes are fun, as is the karaoke, and the drama works well too.

Overall, I am glad that I read this book, as it was a satisfying story.

 

 

Natasha Washington lives in Philadelphia, where she writes queer love stories in both YA (as Sonia Belasco) and romance. She has spent much of her professional life working with young people as a mentor, tutor, or therapist. When not writing, she is likely cooking, taking long, meandering walks, or listening to dance music or 90s hip-hop.

Connect with Natasha

Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

 

 

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Teach Me Tonight (LA Teachers #1) by Natasha Washington to read and review for this tour.