When the young, handsome, outgoing and loquacious Dr Jonathan (Jonty) Stewart inadvertently occupies Dr Orlando Coppersmith's chair on his first day at St Brides, Cambridge, little does he know what the consequences will be. Orlando, quiet, severely introverted and with methodical mathematical mind seems to be the complete opposite of Jonty, the new English tutor, yet Jonty sees possibilities for friendship, which are soon realised, and it is not long before the friendship blossoms into love.

But the are real obstacles to overcome. Firstly Orlando is not only socially inept, but he is totally naive in matters relating to love with another man. Secondly, Orlando stumbles across a book that depicts such 'love', and is horrified by the violent depictions contained therein. Thirdly, this is 1905, and such activities between two men can lead to two years hard labour. Fourthly, as if they did not have problems enough, there is a serial killer on the loose with the walls of St Brides, and his victims are men with the same proclivities as Jonty and Orlando.

When the investigating inspector enlists the aid of the two young lecturers, they risk either exposure for what they are, or being new on the serial killers list. But accepting their responsibilities, they cannot refuse to assist.

The story follows the ongoing investigation, at the same time exploring the developing love between the two men as Jonty delicately tries to overcome Orlando's fears and introduce him to the pleasures of love.

A good detective story with plenty of likely suspects, not excluding the college chaplain, and a tense and dramatic conclusion. Combine this with a touching love story and it all makes for a most pleasurable read. ( )

Charlie Cochrane’s Lessons in Love is a lovely Edwardian mixture of romance and murder mystery. Set in 1906 at Cambridge University, two fellows (a term we Americans are unfamiliar with, but refers to a former student of the University who is now on staff, generally in a teaching position) meet and slowly fall in love. Jonathan (Jonty) is a high-spirited, jocular English teacher who sets his sights on warming up the reticent, brooding mathematician, Orlando. No sooner does Jonty break the ice, than a murder occurs at the college. As the murdered boy is one of Orlando’s students, he and Jonty get involved and aid the police in the investigation.

Most of the story’s charm lies in the romance, which is allowed to take its sweet time to come to fruition. Both men are acutely aware of the dangers and in Orlando’s case he needs the “lessons in love” that Jonty tenderly provides to assuage his guilt over what he doesn’t understand.

Cochrane does a good job weaving the romance and mystery together in a way that felt comfortable and the nail-biting conclusion to the mystery had me hooked clear through to the climax. The writing style is so beautifully simple and straightforward that it is effortless to read. I should also mention that I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sex in the book is romanticized and not explicit – Linden Bay, shame on you for lying about the heat rating!

I heartily recommend this breezy historical romance and look forward to spending more time with the adorable Cambridge Fellows in the next installment: Lessons in Desire. ( )

Jonathan Stewart, Jonty for the intimate friends, and Orlando Coppersmith are both young professor in one of the Cambridge's college at the beginning of the twenty century. They are at opposite in work and behavior, Stewart a literature professor and Coppersmith a mathematics, Stewart open and friendly, both with students than colleagues, Coppersmith aloof and always lost in his mind. They also had very different family, Coppersmith now orphan and with two very cold and distant parents, Stewart still surrounded by a loving family.

But they are both rather young and so they click together. Jonty has no problem to admit that he has also a personal interest in Orlando, being him not new to feel a maybe not appropriate moving for another man. Instead Orlando is more hesitant, but not since he judges inappropriate that feelings, but since he never before has felt something similar for a man or a woman. Orlando was taught to avoid any personal emotion, to suppress any physical urges, so soon and so strong in his youth that he never allowed himself to disobey that teachings.

When Jonty tentatively tries to introduce Orlando to such physical contacts, Orlando believes that kissing and cuddling is the greatest extent of what two men can do together, not having any knowledge of what happens in bed between man and woman let alone between two men. But Jonty, even if in love with Orlando, can't be satisfied with simple being a little more than a dear friend for Orlando, and gently pushes for something more.

Just when Orlando is letting go a bit, a string of murders targets the students, and all the victims are men who were known to prefer the company of men. To Orlando's inhibitions is now added also the fear of what it could happen to Jonty if someone should know of their "particular" friendship.

The story is a good mix of romance and plot; the relationship between Orlando and Jonty has the lion share on the plot, leaving the investigation on the killing in second line, never interfering with the development of Orlando and Jonty's exploration of love. Even if the relationship reaches and deepens to a sex level, it's never in graphic details, always maintaining a sweet romance grade.

The setting is the same of the previous tale by Charlie Cochrane, the Old University buildings of Cambridge, with its all male atmosphere where women are only seen as intruders.

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