Veiled Innocence: Ella Frank

I'm on a bit of a 'student-teacher relationship binge reading' kick lately.  What can I say?  Forbidden love is kinda hot!  When I saw Veiled Innocence, I was immediately interested because of the subject matter and the author (I enjoyed Ella Frank's Temptation Series).

Blurb: 

Tick, tick, tock.

Time.

That’s all I have now.

A small room, a photograph, and time.

They want me to trust them and confess my sins.

They told me they wouldn't judge me—they lied.

I thought we could convince the world that this wasn't a crime.

We were wrong.

Time doesn't stand still.

The clock keeps ticking, the world is unconvinced, and now…

Now he is gone.

Review: 3.5 Stars

This book started off a bit rough for me.  Although it can be formulaic, I kind of prefer when the student-teacher relationship starts with the two MCs being unaware of the other person's status (as their teacher/student).  This type of glitch relieves some of the guilt associated with the forbidden hook up.  In Veiled Innocence, the relationship starts after Addison walks into Mr. McKendrick's class and decides she wants him.  His struggle with the ethics of his feelings made it difficult to want to see their characters together.  It emphasized how wrong the relationship was and made Addison's pursual feel overly aggressive.  

I will say, however, that the book got better for me toward the end as the past and present storylines started to come together.  For a long time, Addison's refusal to speak (in the present) made it difficult to latch on to the story. 

One thing I didn't understand throughout is why the relationship was illegal.  Immoral, yes...unethical, sure...Breaking professional conduct rules, absolutely.  But...illegal?  Is it illegal (anywhere is the USA) to have consensual relations with an 18 year old?