Review: OMG! AMAZING! PHENOMENAL! GRIPPING! EROTIC! EMOTIONAL!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 2, 2014
The Education Series by Jane Harvey-BerrickThe Education of Sebastian & The Education of CarolineSeries: The Education Series #1-2Genre: Contemporary RomanceAge Group: AdultRelease Date: April 28th 2014Length: 925 pagesFormat: Kindle eARCSource: via tour hostReview Date: April 2014Steam Rating: ScorcherOverall Rating: 5 STARSReview:****Part One: The Education of Sebastian****Wow. Just wow… I had NO idea what I was getting into when I decided to jump into this one. I had heard amazing things about it so it has been on my TBR for awhile. But nothing could have prepared me for the emotional toll this series has taken on me–in a good way of course. I love to be emotionally destroyed once in awhile through reading, and this series has done just that. I am a mess. Living inside these characters has taken me on an amazing journey of all-consuming love that was so beautiful I wept from it. The writing is unbelievable, simply breathtaking at times. I was glued to Caroline and Sebastian’s story from the first page, and it was so hard to put it down.What I did not know when I went into it was that forbidden love is at its core. Let me first explain that I have virtually NO moral compass when it comes to the books I read–if it is written right, tactfully–then I will adore it. Be damned if it’s basically illegal or unethical. So if you cannot handle forbidden scenarios in your reads you may want to pass on this one.Why?Because Sebastian is 17 when Caroline and his love affair begins–she is 30. This is illegal in the state they live in. And she is married, so there is that too. But let me tell you her husband is a (insert expletive here) that I wanted to punch in the balls too many times to count. So I did not feel bad for him AT ALL.Although it may seem their love would be illogical, and weird it was not. It was amazingly beautiful, passionate, even innocent. Them being together never “felt” off, I loved them and was rooting for them from early on."I couldn’t think of Sebastian as a child, even though the law defined him as such. He’d made love to me; we’d made love together."Sebastian had loved Caroline since the first time he laid eyes on her at the age of eight. He has a horrific home life and she was caring and spent time with him. And for the first time he had known compassion. Of course it was innocent then. Caroline moves away, and when she comes back ten years later–Sebastian is no longer a child. And he is determined to have her.“It’s always been you Caro. The first time I saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful girl i’d ever seen. I thought you must be a princess, like Cinderella. It’s only ever been you.”As you can imagine this makes for a complicated and complex relationship. They have numerous roadblocks, but they become determined to be together. They know their love is real–and I felt that way too. I felt everything, and much of the time it was overwhelming sadness that they have it so hard.In addition I think the title is a bit misleading. Caroline and Sebastian are learning together. Yes Sebastian is slightly more “innocent” than Caroline, however they are both learning to love and make love. I would categorize this novel as erotic if the storyline wasn’t so heavy. It is very steamy–and I loved every second of it  ;-)I can’t tell you how this one ends, but just know you will NEED to jump right into the next one. It will be killing you.Overall, I can’t recommend this enough. I was mesmerized constantly by the originality and beauty of this story. And I know if you can get passed the age difference you will love it as much as I did. There is absolutely no way I couldn’t.****Part Two: The Education of Caroline****Warning: Contains spoilers to book one.OM*G! AMAZING! PHENOMENAL! GRIPPING! EROTIC! EMOTIONAL!If it is possible I am more in love with these characters than I was before. It is ten years later and Sebastian is in the military and Caroline is a freelance journalist going to Afghanistan to report on the front lines. Things have not been easy on them these last ten years. This time has made Caroline stronger but she has built up a wall around her heart. Sebastian has also built up a wall around his heart–a heart that was broken in a thousand pieces by Caroline so many years ago.Their reunion does not go quite as I expected it to go. They don’t just immediately trust each other again. It has to build, and they make mistakes. Lots of them. But this is a story about love conquering all. They have many reasons to give up and only one to stick it out.There are so many ups and downs in this one I feel like I am went nutz at times. I am “with” them through all of this. The angst level is high, and I am on the edge of my seat. I was up until 2AM when I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.And then there was the bonus scenes. WOW! Absolutely hit the spot! I needed an epilogue–and boy did I get one. A few actually. Most of the bonus scenes are from Sebastian’s POV which was nice because we finally get a look inside his beautiful head. I LOVE LOVE LOVE him soooo hard!Overall, this series is now an absolute favorite of mine–and I know I will NEVER forget this amazing journey. I VERY highly recommend it! Thank You Jane Harvey-Berrick for taking the chance and publishing this amazing novel.~StacyHggBooks Unhinged Book Blog