Extracurricular by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Ramona Wilder has spent her whole life in the spotlight. After a hit kids’ TV show, she transitioned into music, singing in arenas around the world and becoming an icon for millions of teenage girls. Now at age twenty-six, exhausted by the inhumane lack of privacy, she’s done”with all of it. She wants a chance at normal, whatever that might mean for her. And she’s starting with college.
Professor Nick Navarro is recently divorced but determinedly optimistic, allowing himself a very reasonable ten minutes per day to wallow. When his department calls a meeting about a celebrity enrollment, he plans to treat whoever it is like any other student. Except when Ramona blazes into class and causes an uproar, the typically easygoing professor is rattled, maybe for the first time in his career.
Ramona loves the way she flusters him, taking every opportunity to push Nick’s buttons, though what she really wants is to unbutton them completely. When a crisis brings them closer outside of class, they begin a tentative friendship amid an undeniable attraction. But Ramona can’t be so easily finished with her old life, and they’ll both have to confront their pasts if they want a chance at something real.
By Naomi
On Friday, September 4th and Saturday September 5th, ABC will be hosting an evening and afternoon with Rachel Lynn Solomon in Amsterdam and The Hague, respectively. She will present her latest book, Extracurricular, and will be interviewed by fellow author Birdie Schae. After, there will be a Q&A session and a signing. The Amsterdam event is after-hours, and a ticket costs €10. You will then receive a €10 voucher at the event, to spend on any book purchase that evening. The event in The Hague is during opening hours and free, but please sign up for it. I was lucky enough to read an ARC (advance review copy), so read on for my thoughts on Extracurricular!
I read romance because of the genre’s guarantee: there will be a happy ending. There can be no question about that, if there’s no happy ending it’s not a romance. That doesn’t mean the road towards the happy ending is always easy, however. Romances can be very angsty, making you wonder how it’s all going to work out for the characters. This is a very high compliment, but in Extracurricular, I was never in doubt. No matter how much anxiety the characters went through, I felt safe with the author the entire time, never questioning how it would end, just knowing that it would end well. That’s the beauty of romance. It gives you a safe space to feel all the emotions, to live vicariously through the characters, being there for their ups and downs, to process your own feelings, knowing that in the end it will all be okay. Even more so, everyone will be happy.
Let’s start at the beginning. Ramona is a world-famous pop star, and at 26 she’s had enough of that life. She wants to take back control, so she decides to retire as a singer and enroll in college. She ends up in 36-year-old professor Nick’s class, they strike up a friendship, grow closer and closer, and fall in love. (I don’t mind the professor/student trope, but if it is a hard no for you, this book probably won’t change your mind.) It’s a fairly straight-forward plot, but it’s so emotional and beautiful. My heart hurt for Ramona and all that she’s been through. She’s an extremely sympathetic character, and I just wanted her to be happy! Nick is a wonderful love interest (and character in his own right). He is steady and dependable in the best way possible. This book deals with some heavier themes (body image issues, sexual trauma, parental abuse), but it is so lovingly done. As I said, this is why I love reading romance: even when things are hard, you can trust that everything will end up alright. It certainly helps that this book is also deeply sexy and intimate, and I enjoyed every second of this lovely story.
If you’d like to hear more about the book from the author herself, sign up for one of the events!
