Item: Learning Curves
Author: Brian

Full Send the Happy Tears

5 out of 5 stars

Rachel Lacey has done it again. Just like the other audiobooks of hers I’ve loved, this one was absolutely fantastic. A slow burn, sure, but the kind that makes the eventual payoff hit that much harder… and trust me, it’s worth every page.

The storytelling is so immersive that I was right there with Audrey and Michelle, cheering them on, hurting when they hurt, and smiling when they found joy. These characters felt real, and I found myself wanting them both to thrive not just in love, but in life.

The dynamic between them was handled with such care. Audrey, once a student, is now a colleague. Michelle, once the inspiring professor, is now burnt out and guarded. This could have easily slipped into “forbidden romance” territory, but instead, Lacey gave it nuance. Their conversations acknowledged the past without sensationalizing it, and that respect made the connection all the more believable.

I loved the contrast: Audrey’s youthful energy, boldness, and warmth against Michelle’s weary, measured approach. Watching them slowly peel back each other’s layers, from guarded professionalism to vulnerable honesty, was beautiful. And that pottery wheel scene? Let’s just say the sparks weren’t just in the clay.

The setting, the tenderness, the patience of the storytelling… everything clicked. Lacey writes with so much heart, and this one had me sobbing happy tears by the end. That’s the kind of romance that stays with you.

Book Description:

From the author of Stars Collide and Cover Story comes a steamy will-they-won’t-they romance about a bright young teacher reconnecting with the jaded professor she once pined for.

For Audrey Lind, working with clay still evokes memories of her favorite professor. The woman’s zeal for art history ignited Audrey’s own academic career—and her tweed blazers and British accent kindled her first female crush. After fate brings Audrey back to Northshire University to teach, she’s thrilled to be working alongside her former mentor, but the grumpy woman she encounters upon her return is nothing like the dynamo she remembers.

Divorce and a stalling career have turned Dr. Michelle Thompson bitter and guarded. When Audrey swoops in to teach the Women in Art class Michelle’s been pitching for years, she longs to hate her. But her young rival is too kind, too enthusiastic, too irresistible. And her passion for life slowly reawakens Michelle’s own.

Wary of age gaps and workplace politics, they suppress their smoldering attraction—until one wine-filled night at the pottery wheel puts their romantic truce to the test. Will they keep things on the tenure track or risk it all for love?

Learning Curves by Rachel Lacey
Narrator: Quinn Riley
Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
Published by Brilliance Audio on September 1st 2025
Genres: LesFic/Sapphic Fiction, Workplace / Office Romance
Also by this author: Read Between the Lines, No Rings Attached, Don't Cry For Me, Stars Collide

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Brian

I’ve loved reading since I was little when my dad would read me Dr. Suess books. Fast-forward a little and I noticed that he was always reading on his lunch breaks at work, and I wondered why.Then, I found a book that took me to another place and time, to another feeling,another sense of “being”.It was the first book that I ever fell in love with, and I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.