Daniel Goodman is a man on a mission. For years he has striven for perfection, fighting for the pinnacle achievement in his world of academia, Headmaster of Westover Academy. Westover, established before the American Revolution, is still one of the most prestigious schools in the country. They accept only boys whose parents fit a certain mold and only those teachers who hold to a stringent set of mores, on and off campus. Jonah considers his brother a prig. Daniel sees himself as doing his best to serve his students. How much better can he serve them as headmaster? That is what he seeks to find out.
Suddenly, into his cut and dried, strictly black and white life of moral and upright behavior, comes Eve Star, formerly one of Europe's foremost exotic dancers. Her life is anything but cut and dried, black and white. Bad enough that she's enrolled her son in Westover Academy under false pretenses. More, she runs the town's most disreputable bar. Worst, much to Daniel's dismay, he finds himself drawn to her like a kid to chocolate. Nothing good can come of this attraction. Or can it? He is after all, a good man.
Teaching in the real world
I'm not sure I've lived an exciting life, but I've certainly lived an eclectic one! After graduating from college with a fairly useless degree in sociology, I married. From that point forward, my life was anything but staid, and, I'm sure, nothing like what my parents had planned for their only child. I've been a librarian, a technical writer, an editor, a receptionist, a long-distance trucker, and a teacher, in multiple residences and thirteen locations. Every move and each occupation has been interesting in its own way, but I'd like to focus on my 12+ years teaching for this post.
Before I started teaching—and I taught at a private school, so I imagine these things to be magnified in public schools—I thought education was a profession that embraced change and innovation, held thought and learning as the ideal, and valued the student above all else. It didn't take too long to find that teaching is like most every other job: neither the best nor the worst of professions, but definitely based in realism. I drew upon my years in the classroom as the basis for Daniel, the protagonist in my book, Only a Good Man Will Do (Book 1 of The Good Man Series). I'd like to draw the comparisons to Daniel and my own discoveries in the world of education.
1. Daniel Goodman teaches what his school calls upper form, which equates to my high school students. Michael Haynes, one of Daniel's students gets into a bit of trouble and calls on Daniel for help. Since his school was residential and mine was, too, I can identify with students who really wanted and needed positive attention from their parents but didn't receive it. After a weekend home, many kids came back to school with lower morale than before they'd gone home—the same situation Michael had to deal with. Just as I and my colleagues faced, there is only so much Daniel can do except wish to knock some sense into those parents. For the most part, the kids who attended the school where I taught were loved and had their parents' attention and care. But like Daniel, my colleagues and I sadly had to teach kids who didn't.
2. Daniel wants more than anything to gain the position of Headmaster of Westover Academy, a highly prestigious private school in New England. For that to happen, he had to toe the line in many ways. Any hint of impropriety would throw a monkey wrench in his dreams. Because of that, he fought his attraction to Eve, a former stripper who captures his heart. The academy where I worked was not a religious school, but it did have the backing of the Southern Baptist Association. I never would have been able to teach there if it had been discovered I wrote erotic romance, even if I wrote under a pen name. I had been writing for years before I breathed a word to any of my friends, and by then I had been gone from the school for a long time. I sympathize with Daniel!
3. Daniel wants to do what he thinks is best for the students—as do most teachers. But he learned, as did I, that while welfare of the students is important, their parents are the school's clients. Kids could be unhappy (not mistreated, mind you), but parents could not be. Without parents there was no money; without money there was no school. They should have had that engraved about the teacher lounge door!
4. In teaching, we try to prepare children for the world in which they will live once they leave the classroom. But no profession is slower to adjust and/or adapt to a changing world like education. Maybe it's part of the funding problem, but I think a larger part is the slowness (or in some cases, the refusal) of school officials and teachers to change what they know already. When computers started to become accepted in schools, we had teachers who outright refused to accept to use them for anything—grade keeping to helping kids write. Other teachers jumped in and loved using them. The administration refused to endorse either side, neither helping teachers see the good the machines could do nor admitting that technology in the classroom was a train that had left the station.
You might think from the descriptions above that I disliked teaching. Not true! I taught high school for 12 years and then taught as an adjunct teacher for another year and as a corporate computer application trainer for another two years. Teaching in all its forms is noble. Good teaching—the basics rather than all the touchy-feely stuff some schools do now—is so very necessary, especially in today's world where things shift so quickly. I know the world has changed but I can't help but think on my own school experiences and how I was taught.
When I applied for my last job, I had to pass an objective, job-based test before they would interview me. During the interview, I was asked how I managed to pass with so high a score—many other applicants hadn't passed at all. The answer? I had good teachers. They taught me to learn by rote at first, and then by application, and then by thinking within new experiences and environments. I worry that we don't do that so much now, and I fear for our students' futures because of it.
I guess Daniel Goodman is my dream of how all teachers should be: dedicated, hard when necessary, soft when needed, demanding high standards because otherwise how will our students know what they should strive for, and determined to provide what the student needs over and above everything else. Thank you to good teachers everywhere!
Before I started teaching—and I taught at a private school, so I imagine these things to be magnified in public schools—I thought education was a profession that embraced change and innovation, held thought and learning as the ideal, and valued the student above all else. It didn't take too long to find that teaching is like most every other job: neither the best nor the worst of professions, but definitely based in realism. I drew upon my years in the classroom as the basis for Daniel, the protagonist in my book, Only a Good Man Will Do (Book 1 of The Good Man Series). I'd like to draw the comparisons to Daniel and my own discoveries in the world of education.
1. Daniel Goodman teaches what his school calls upper form, which equates to my high school students. Michael Haynes, one of Daniel's students gets into a bit of trouble and calls on Daniel for help. Since his school was residential and mine was, too, I can identify with students who really wanted and needed positive attention from their parents but didn't receive it. After a weekend home, many kids came back to school with lower morale than before they'd gone home—the same situation Michael had to deal with. Just as I and my colleagues faced, there is only so much Daniel can do except wish to knock some sense into those parents. For the most part, the kids who attended the school where I taught were loved and had their parents' attention and care. But like Daniel, my colleagues and I sadly had to teach kids who didn't.
2. Daniel wants more than anything to gain the position of Headmaster of Westover Academy, a highly prestigious private school in New England. For that to happen, he had to toe the line in many ways. Any hint of impropriety would throw a monkey wrench in his dreams. Because of that, he fought his attraction to Eve, a former stripper who captures his heart. The academy where I worked was not a religious school, but it did have the backing of the Southern Baptist Association. I never would have been able to teach there if it had been discovered I wrote erotic romance, even if I wrote under a pen name. I had been writing for years before I breathed a word to any of my friends, and by then I had been gone from the school for a long time. I sympathize with Daniel!
3. Daniel wants to do what he thinks is best for the students—as do most teachers. But he learned, as did I, that while welfare of the students is important, their parents are the school's clients. Kids could be unhappy (not mistreated, mind you), but parents could not be. Without parents there was no money; without money there was no school. They should have had that engraved about the teacher lounge door!
4. In teaching, we try to prepare children for the world in which they will live once they leave the classroom. But no profession is slower to adjust and/or adapt to a changing world like education. Maybe it's part of the funding problem, but I think a larger part is the slowness (or in some cases, the refusal) of school officials and teachers to change what they know already. When computers started to become accepted in schools, we had teachers who outright refused to accept to use them for anything—grade keeping to helping kids write. Other teachers jumped in and loved using them. The administration refused to endorse either side, neither helping teachers see the good the machines could do nor admitting that technology in the classroom was a train that had left the station.
You might think from the descriptions above that I disliked teaching. Not true! I taught high school for 12 years and then taught as an adjunct teacher for another year and as a corporate computer application trainer for another two years. Teaching in all its forms is noble. Good teaching—the basics rather than all the touchy-feely stuff some schools do now—is so very necessary, especially in today's world where things shift so quickly. I know the world has changed but I can't help but think on my own school experiences and how I was taught.
When I applied for my last job, I had to pass an objective, job-based test before they would interview me. During the interview, I was asked how I managed to pass with so high a score—many other applicants hadn't passed at all. The answer? I had good teachers. They taught me to learn by rote at first, and then by application, and then by thinking within new experiences and environments. I worry that we don't do that so much now, and I fear for our students' futures because of it.
I guess Daniel Goodman is my dream of how all teachers should be: dedicated, hard when necessary, soft when needed, demanding high standards because otherwise how will our students know what they should strive for, and determined to provide what the student needs over and above everything else. Thank you to good teachers everywhere!
An incredibly well-written story!
This is one of those books that just flowed. I honestly wasn't sure if I would like it when I first started reading, but I was steadily pulled through the book like a building crescendo and then BAM! Daniel's big realization about Eve hit and everything changed from there and it was SO awesome!
Daniel certainly had a tough decision to make, follow his head or follow his heart, and I enjoyed reading how he rationalized and hashed out what the next step in his life should be. He had plenty of doubt, and I felt that made him a realistic character.
I admired Eve's dedication to her son. She was willing to do whatever it took to make sure he was taken care of, even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness. She fully accepted that, and Dee did an excellent job writing Eve's emotions as she prepared herself to make a life-changing decision. (No spoilers!!!)
I haven't read Dee's books before, but holy smokes is there some heat in here! Given that the setting is primarily in a boarding school, I wasn't expecting much in the heat department, but boy, was I wrong!
I learned of Daniel's two other brothers, and I hope they get their own stories too! I will DEFINITELY be reading them!!!
(I was given a copy of this book in consideration of my honest thoughts)
This is one of those books that just flowed. I honestly wasn't sure if I would like it when I first started reading, but I was steadily pulled through the book like a building crescendo and then BAM! Daniel's big realization about Eve hit and everything changed from there and it was SO awesome!
Daniel certainly had a tough decision to make, follow his head or follow his heart, and I enjoyed reading how he rationalized and hashed out what the next step in his life should be. He had plenty of doubt, and I felt that made him a realistic character.
I admired Eve's dedication to her son. She was willing to do whatever it took to make sure he was taken care of, even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness. She fully accepted that, and Dee did an excellent job writing Eve's emotions as she prepared herself to make a life-changing decision. (No spoilers!!!)
I haven't read Dee's books before, but holy smokes is there some heat in here! Given that the setting is primarily in a boarding school, I wasn't expecting much in the heat department, but boy, was I wrong!
I learned of Daniel's two other brothers, and I hope they get their own stories too! I will DEFINITELY be reading them!!!
(I was given a copy of this book in consideration of my honest thoughts)
“Daniel, am I talking to myself, here?”
“Oh, no, I’m…” He chuckled an amused admission. “Tell me what you said again.”
He could almost hear Eve smile. “I said, you called at four-thirty on Saturday and Sunday, so I took a wild leap that you would today, too.”
“Ah.” Smiling to the empty room, he squirmed to get into a more comfortable position. “A woman of logic.”
“Absolutely. You don’t want to play me in chess. I think five or six moves ahead.”
“I’ll remember that. There’s nothing worse than seeing a guy cry when he’s been beaten at chess by a girl."
“Oh, no, I’m…” He chuckled an amused admission. “Tell me what you said again.”
He could almost hear Eve smile. “I said, you called at four-thirty on Saturday and Sunday, so I took a wild leap that you would today, too.”
“Ah.” Smiling to the empty room, he squirmed to get into a more comfortable position. “A woman of logic.”
“Absolutely. You don’t want to play me in chess. I think five or six moves ahead.”
“I’ll remember that. There’s nothing worse than seeing a guy cry when he’s been beaten at chess by a girl."
Up for grabs:
💕 $10 Amazon gift card
💕 eCopy of Naval Maneuvers
Weighing Anchor (allowing a ship to move forward by retrieving the anchor): A professional woman sworn to avoiding all things military finds herself in love with a lieutenant commander in the Navy. Love won't conquer all if she allows her childhood memories to eclipse future happiness.
Dropping Anchor (securing movement by dropping the anchor): Two people find (surprisingly) that they are both in the Navy and love their chosen professions—until one turns out to be an officer but not a gentleman and the other is a gentleman but not an officer.
Anchor Home (safe, smooth sailing): When two former lovers find each other after more than a decade, will a long-hidden secret threaten the course of a rekindled romance or be the cause of it?
Thank you for hosting me on your blog! It's a pleasure being here--
ReplyDeleteDee
For those that like to feel a little somethin' somethin' when you read a romance novel then Dee K. Knight is the author for you. I read Naval Maneuvers and it was hot. I've read chapter one of Only a Good Man Will Do and I'm already hooked. Must read.
ReplyDeleteDee is an amazing author. If you love romance, I would definitely suggest checking out her books.
ReplyDeleteThink academics are boring and stiff? Think again. I fell in love with Dee’s character Daniel instantly. I highly recommend this sexy read.
ReplyDeleteI read Only a Good Man will do and really enjoyed it. It's a pacy, very well-written, sizzling hot but also tender romance. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the author bio. I'm glad she is doing what she loves and that she has a soulmate in life.
ReplyDeleteI like the cover
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! This looks like a fun read :)
ReplyDeleteGreat cover. I like the architecture of the building on the cover. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)Com
ReplyDeleteI love when you throw a carefree female in with a regimented hero!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading the post. Book sounds good
ReplyDeleteI love the cover and think the book sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteOh this sounds really good. Dee is a new author for me! Cannot wait to read!
ReplyDelete