e-book, 416 pages
Release Date: January 13, 2026
Published by: Avon
Read from: December 20-January 14, 2026
Academic Affairs, #1
Source: Netgalley (I received this e-book free from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review! I also used a credit from Audible to get the audio where I read them in tandem.)
Content Warning: Fatphobia, Classism, Body Shaming, Toxic Relationship, Alcohol, Death of Parent, Infidelity, Cursing
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ+ (They’re Bi), Family Diversity (One is divorced, the other’s parents died), Dual POV, Dual Narrators, Fat Leads, Sparkly Cover, Most Anticipated, New Adult, Realistic Fiction, RomanceFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone comes a brand-new college town raunch-com about a sexy single dad professor and a feisty law school grad turned nanny in this steamy tale of Academic Affairs…
She wants to be a good girl. He’s dying to teach her.
New to town and freshly single, rookie lecturer Maddie isn’t looking for trouble … until she ends up in bed with Bram – a sexy, grumpy single dad – on her first night.
The catch? He’s her new boss at home (he needs a nanny), and her colleague at work (he’s a professor, too). So to make it work, they set some ground
– No more sex
– They can never be alone in the house together
But Maddie’s great at breaking these rules, and Bram’s even better at dishing out consequences…
*MY THOUGHTS*
This isn’t my usual read, but I knew I had to grab it after seeing Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone back for another series. And now even though this isn’t my usual read, I NEED the rest of this series. Like yesterday lol
Ok so yeah like I said, this isn’t my usual so I was almost blown away when I caught that connection to Christmas Notch. After seeing that, I cared less about the politician part and read it more for the everything else. (I know that it wasn’t a huge thing, but even in that little part it showed how doing that made you into a shitty person.) But that’s just me. So yeah, if you’re wondering, there is a connection to Christmas Notch and a pretty fun one I think. And there are instances throughout the entire novel so don’t think it’s just like a one off lol
The plot was ok. I live for the professor, smart vibe. So yeah, I was feeling Bram lolol And the fact that she just so happened to get the job with him after their one night stand was hilarious. But like, the politician thing was not it. I LOVED Maddie, but I hated what they made her into. I understood the need for her wanting to feel power, but I hate politicians and I definitely don’t want to read about them.
The romance between the two of them tho was hawt. I love a vocal man and tho he was quiet, his words made quite the impact. They have the brat/dom relationship, but they spend a lot of the book trying to stay away from each other. But things do heat up and explore that relationship more. I do wish they showed them at their original scene and their rules, but I get it. They weren’t planning for another time so they didn’t have “real” rules. They set other new rules at one point that I had to fan myself at, but also had to cringe at lol But I really liked the two of them together. And I love the set up for the rest of the characters and their love stories as well.
I love finding books that’s either not my usual or that I don’t think I’d like and I end up liking them. It helps me to keep expanding myself and opening myself up to other things. This book just inspired me to try doing this a little more.
Overall, I give this
