Review: Getting Schooled by Christina C. Jones
Getting Schooled by Christina Jones Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform on June 5th 2016
Genres: African American, Contemporary, Humor, Romance
Pages: 240
Format: eBook
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When 26 year old Reese accepts a position as a grad assistant, she has no idea an unpleasant encounter with a student will lead to the discovery of what she calls "the trifecta": fine, intellectual, and a little bit rude - three qualities she finds irresistible in a man. She has no intention of doing anything with that discovery - nothing long term, at least. But everybody knows what happens to best laid plans. Jason is a grown man. 28 years old, seasoned and scarred by his real-life experience in the world, he's at Blakewood State University to finish his degree and move on. The last thing he's interested in is the female population on campus... but sexy, infuriating Reese might be a notable exception. This isn't a story of opposites attract. More like counterparts clash. Neither of them is afraid to do battle, and neither is willing to back down. Love and war, win or lose... somebody's gonna end up getting schooled.
I’ve been familiar with Christina Jones for about a year or so as I listen to the Girl, Have You Read podcast that she hosts with another author, Alexandra. However, I had never gotten around to reading any of her books until this week.
In Getting Schooled, Reese is a grad student and assistant for her mother’s Modern Black Literature course (which I would I love to take). She first meets Jason as J. Wright, he is one her mother’s students and she is reading an assignment that he wrote for the class. She is intrigued by his work though she doesn’t know what he looks like at the time.
When Reese and Jason first meet, they don’t like each other. She seems a little too bourgeois, he seems too arrogant. But we know what they say about not judging someone so quickly, and when you start seeing each other as often as these two did, sparks are bound to fly. That annoyance they had with each other quickly turned into something steamy, and maybe even something long lasting.
I loved the familiarity that Getting Schooled had. The two main characters had a nice healthy banter between them and I even chuckled during a lot of their back and forth. I could relate to Reese and Devyn’s friendship dynamic and her mother had me in stitches at times.
Aside from the comic relief the book provided, which normally I wouldn’t be a fan of, there was a great balance struck between the comedy and emotional vulnerability we witnessed. Both Reese and Jason suffered significant losses prior to the meeting but It wasn’t too over the top in either direction.
You know what I really liked about Getting Schooled? The fact that Reese and Jason didn’t get married at the end of the book! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind those, but at times it can seem rushed, and I don’t think these two ready for this step, and I liked that the book stayed true to their personalities throughout the entire book.
Getting Schooled is a solid book showing great accuracy as it deals with modern day romance and relationships.
Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.
You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.
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