Overall Grade: B / B-
Tropes: student/teacher; interconnected series of standalones: forbidden; romantic suspense
Any time Skye Warren announces she’s returning to her storied Tanglewood, I’m in. The dark romances wrought from this universe have been some of my first and favorite romances. When she announced a spin-off series set at Tanglewood U, I jumped for joy. Like her earlier stories in Tanglewood, I found myself engrossed in the “cat and mouse” chase of Professor Stratford and Anne Hill. As with her other romances, The Professor is sensual and erotic. There is a darkness underpinning Anne’s journey to know herself. Warren guides us through their story through the POV of Anne which automatically makes her an unreliable narrator. This affords Skye Warren a surprise ending that leaves us on a cliffhanger and the promise of more in her next book.
Here are my criticisms:
- I need Warren to stop writing trilogies. I don’t know her direction, but I often feel like her stories would work as duets.
- There are places in the stories where the editor missed continuity issues as though scenes had been removed and the remaining scenes were spliced together. The story is not seamless.
Skye Warren has a craftsmanship issue, and I believe her stories could be stronger with a better editor. However, her storytelling entices me enough that I want more stories from her. I need to understand Professor Stratford’s real motivations; I need Anne to bring him to his knees and stand in her power; and I need another HEA for another couple in the Tanglewood world. It may take her three books to do so, but she always leaves us with exactly what we need in the end. I’m certain The Professor is simply a step in that direction.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 