Mrs. S as a story can best be described as sensual sapphic academia. Author K. Patrick has skillfully created settings that are so evocative that they nearly feel like secondary characters. An all-girls boarding school in the Spring, a rose garden, a car-filled junkyard. Most essential though, is the steamy, slow-burn, situational affair at the center of this novel. It progresses in a very real-feeling way.

I really enjoyed this book -- but only once I got into the rhythm of the story. Dialogue is included in descriptive paragraphs without any quotes or use of "she said" or similar identifying phrases. Here's an actual example: "I go to leave, I will have to walk them back to their dorms, to monitor them as they eat dinner, as they get ready for bed. Mrs. S stays at my side. I expect you find all of this quite strange. Me? Yes. I guess it’s not what I’m used to. No, I don’t imagine that it is. She stops before the door. I do the same. Must seem a rather extraordinary way to find a boy­friend, I expect you had simpler methods? Sure, something like that. I hold back, too exhilarated by the question, it could mean nothing. Not so old-fashioned where you’re from. Maybe more than you think. Is that so?" A bit of a challenge to get used to, but once I did, it was a much smoother and more delightful read.