Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Title: Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl

Author: Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone

Release: January 13, 2026

Publisher: Avon

Pages: 416

Review: 4 Stars

Synopsis:

From #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…

Class is in session.

Maddie Kowalczk is ready to be a bad girl. When the rookie lecturer lands at Astra University, she’s looking to start fresh after a messy breakup. But her first night in town takes a twist when she bumps into Bram Loe—a reserved but incredibly handsome single dad she (not so accidentally) stole a parking spot from earlier that day. The unspoken chemistry as he locks eyes with her while she gets a birthday spanking at a local bar is hotter than a Bunsen burner at full flame.

Bram is looking for a break from his hectic life as an ecology professor and dad to rambunctious twins and a busy teenager. So when his college friend’s divorce celebration brings him face-to-face with the same delectable brat who stole his parking spot, he’s ready for a night to remember. But the next morning, Bram’s world turns upside down (and that’s not just the hangover talking). His new nanny? None other than Maddie, who also happens to be the new poli-sci adjunct at the university where he teaches. 

Maddie is desperate and broke, so when Bram offers her a raise and the chance to set some ground rules, she can’t say no. As the two settle into their new roles, the normally unruffled Bram finds that no one riles him up like Maddie does, which is a problem when every argument feels like foreplay. Of course, Bram is an educator first and foremost, and he very quickly finds he can’t resist the temptation of instructing Maddie in the fundamentals of being a good girl. 

And it turns out Maddie’s a hands-on learner…

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Review:

I definitely enjoyed this book, but I also have some quibbles. On the fun level, this was fantastic. I was highlighting funny lines left and right. Maddie in particular was hilarious. I loved how she saw the world. The footnotes were also great, though reading them was difficult in ebook format. Hopefully in the physical editions they will be on the bottom of the page instead of having to flip to the back of the book. Upside, this did have hyperlinks to each one, so getting back and forth wasn't too difficult. My problems happen with all the rest of the characters.

Our main couple is Maddie and Bram. Maddie has just come off of a bad breakup and over the course of the book you really get to see her grow as a person. I'll try to avoid spoilers, but I will say that her final 'epiphany' that ends up making the relationship work felt a little weak, and I think it's because that part of her character was weaker overall. Those ambitions never felt as fully developed and she just sorta swung from goal to goal. But even with this, Maddie's character is much stronger than Bram's.

If Maddie's Barbie, Bram is Ken. He's lovely, lovable, really funny, smart, a good dad, and also just sorta there. In my opinion, he didn't actually have any sort of character arc or growth. Beyond being a little lonely in the romance department, he's put together and doesn't have much room to grow. He goes from a single lovable guy to a lovable guy with a girlfriend. In the book, he just sorta exists as a foil to a specific set of Maddie's goals. He's the perfect guy, which makes for a sweet but boring love interest. And certainly hampers plot.

But Bram at least has a personality, even if he doesn't have much room to grow. From the beginning we are also introduced to Bram's friend group, the Andromeda Club (something explained in a footnote but I still don't understand). I imagine at least a couple of them (Leo and Sloane for sure) will get there own books, but they're thrown on the page like we already know them from another book instead of truly introduced to the reader. There's some amount of personality making them distinct from each other, but very little characterization beyond that. And possibly most important, I have no idea why they're actually friends. Something about going to high school together? Even though one of them (Leo) bullied several others?

In general the weakest part of this book was the characterization, and when you're in a character-heavy romance novel (vs fantasy or another genre where plot and world are pulling a lot of weight), that's something that is *much* more noticeable. None of it is bad enough to take away from basic enjoyment, especially because the writing is pretty witty, and I don't expect a literary masterpiece from my smutty romance, but I know the authors have stronger writing skills than this and I would have liked to see that on the page.

Author Bios:

Sierra Simone is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and former library employee (who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk). Her notable works include Priest, American Queen, and Salt Kiss. She lives with her husband, teens, and two giant dogs in the Kansas City area.

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A former librarian, Julie is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of books for all ages including Dumplin’ (now a film on Netflix and one of TIME Magazine's 100 Best YA Books of All Time), Dear Sweet Pea, and If the Shoe Fits. She is also the co-author of the Christmas Notch series with Sierra Simone.

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The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

Title: The Incandescent

Author: Emily Tesh

Release: May 13, 2025

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 432

Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Naomi Novik's Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by instant national and international bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

"Look at you, eating magic like you're one of us."

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.

Walden is good at her job—no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from—is herself.

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Review:

While I don't know if anything will be able to top Some Desperate Glory, The Incandescent was still amazing! I started the book Thursday afternoon and stayed up until midnight to finish it. I love how it plays with the magical school genre. Some of the key tropes/plot devices are turned on their heads, but it never makes fun of it. It's both a celebration of the magical school and reminder about how responsible, caring adults are necessary for young people to grow.

Our main character is Sapphire "Saffy" Walden. I immediately loved her and if you don't we're not friends anymore. I related to her in many ways (amongst other things, she set off my autism tingle) and was always rooting for her to succeed. But that said, boy does she make some capital "b" Bad decisions. Particularly in the romantic department. You can guess pretty early who the 'true' love interest is, but Walden botches it, repeatedly. Luckily (I say sarcastically), a hot guy comes along. He set off my "no good, stay away" radar immediately, but Walden ignored me yelling at the pages. How rude.

I LOVED the world-building, particularly the demons. In many ways, the world is the same as ours. The book takes place in England at a fancy English boarding school, expect the boarding school specializes in teaching magic. Magic requires a combination of effort and talent, and occasionally someone has so much talent that oops, they do magic spontaneously as a kid and bad things happen. Magic is powered by a demon world that sits parallel to our own. There's everything from low-level demons like imps to super powerful arch-demons. Demons can possess anything that has been assigned personhood, which is complicated as we humans like to talk to furniture, devices, and objects, which is enough for a demon to possess it.

One aspect I really enjoyed was how magic is approached like science. It's explored, people run experiments, etc. There's mention of an ongoing experiment in the desert of Arizona that I desperately want to learn more about. Walden basically has a PhD in a specific type of magic (summoning demons). I loved how the author explains magic in a way that is easy to understand, but also hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud often while reading this book. Her description of how we "you" objects, the demons in the clock and the copy maker, were absolutely delightful.

One part I really liked was how, through her descriptions, you could tell who *would* be the protagonist if this was a typical YA magic school book. Walden's star pupil Cassie is clearly made to be a fictional teenage heroine, and don't get me wrong, she goes through a LOT over the course of the book. But Walden and the other adults around her refuse to give up on Cassie, and they fight for her to be able to be young, and student, not a savior of the world. Cassie has a group of friends that in another book is the ragtag crew, including the all-powerful teenage love interest. Just because they're not the protagonists doesn't mean they don't also help save the day, but they're only able to do so due to what Walden's taught them.

There are several lines from The Incandescent that stood out to me, but most prominent is a line that is repeated internally several times by Walden. In my opinion, it gets at the heart of the novel itself. Walden loves to teach, but is not always great with interpersonal interactions. Nonetheless, sometimes she is the one helping a student through a tough situation. In those moments, she reminds herself "every child was every adult's responsibility". Which, yes! This may be a school, and there are individuals directly responsible for any given student, but they're not always available or the right person for what that child needs. And in a time of crisis, the most important adult is the adult that is *there*. And as adults, we owe every child our responsibility. While coming from different places, it echoes the quote from James Baldwin "The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe".

Reading The Incandescent, I can tell Emily Tesh is from the UK (even if it wasn't in the author bio in the back). There is a LOT of UK terminology (particularly in regards to schooling) that went right over my head. Terms used repeatedly I got the gist of, but a lot of it I just ignored. I think most of the terms should be google-able if you're particularly confused.

Overall, The Incandescent is a brilliant follow-up to Some Desperate Glory. The writing is engaging and funny, the characters are great, and every nook and cranny of the world feels filled. It doesn't retread the same ground covered in Some Desperate Glory, but it doesn't shy away from the tougher topics. Discussions of class consciousness and who gets to benefit from magical private schools (not the poor the magical kids, that's for sure) are woven throughout. She doesn't beat you over the head with it, but if you don't come out of the experience with some deep thoughts of your own, I'm not sure you read it right.

Author Bio:

EMILY TESH is a UK-based author of science fiction and fantasy. Her debut novel, Some Desperate Glory, won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. Tesh is also a winner of the Astounding Award, and the author of the World Fantasy Award-winning Greenhollow duology.

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Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Watch Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Release: April 15, 2025

Publisher: Storytide

Series: ShatterMe: The New Republic

Pages: 368

Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Lose yourself in this exhilarating return to the #1 global bestselling Shatter Me universe, the first book in a new series set ten years after the fall of The Reestablishment.

James Anderson had a plan. Or half of one. All that matters is that he managed to do what his older brother, the famous Aaron Warner Anderson, never did: infiltrate Ark Island, the last refuge of The Reestablishment. In the past decade no outsider has breached the stronghold of the authoritarian regime, but James is in. In a prison cell, sure, but as far as James is concerned, a win is a win.

It’s been ten years since the fall of The Reestablishment. Ten years since the notorious duo — Juliette Ferrars and Aaron Warner Anderson — led a worldwide rebellion and established the New Republic of the West. But after a decade of unsettling quiet, The Reestablishment is ready to make a devastating move, and they have the perfect person for the job.

Rosabelle Wolff had a plan. She always has a plan. On Ark Island, where constant surveillance is packaged as security, even emotions must be experienced with caution. A trained assassin, her every movement is monitored by synthetic intelligence—and when she’s given an order to kill, she never hesitates.

Brimming with pulse-pounding action and torturous romance, Watch Me is an explosive journey through a dystopian landscape where enemies-to-lovers has never felt more impossible. Step into a beloved and breathtaking world that demands an answer to a desperate question—

Who are we when no one is watching?

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Review:

The Shatter Me series was one of my all-time favorites as a teen, and as soon as I heard about this new spin-off, I knew I needed it! It was so great catching up with some of my favorite characters, while also distinctly shifting the focus to a new generation. It's so fun to see James all grown up! We also get to see what the parts of the Reestablishment have been up to in the intervening years. Unsurprisingly, it's not good.

One thing I really appreciated was that Mafi did not hesitate to name the Reestablishment as a fascist organization. Many of the things they promote are reflected in current events, and Mafi makes it clear both are incredibly wrong. She also does a good job of showing how individuals get wrapped up in fascist movements, how some do so directly for power while others are under threat and coercion. I also liked how she showed the dangers of over-surveillance, and how fear can make people behave in ways that are against their own interests.

We only get a little dip into the evils that the Reestablishment is up to, but we know the long-term plan is pretty nasty. Given a certain Klaus, I have a feeling we will be exploring AI and how it's used to assist fascist goals in further books. The nature of the narrators (and what they do and don't know) means that our knowledge is also pretty spotty. As a result, things are a little confusing, but I expect Mafi will show us more as the books go on.

My one quibble was the main character's ages. James is 21 and Rosabelle is 20. To me, this is outside the bounds of YA. However, the actual writing style and content felt very YA. I think the book would have been just as strong if the characters were 17/18 or 18/19. James in particular does curse a lot, but even if that's not super common with YA books, it sounded just like how a young adult would talk. With the lines of YA and NA already being blurred, I would like if a book that is a spin-off of a very popular YA series was more clearly YA.

I read Watch Me in an afternoon, so I definitely enjoyed it! I will be eagerly anticipating the next book! And given the *cough* ending, I will need to chat with other readers to discuss what we think will happen next!

Author Bio:

Tahereh Mafi is the #1 New York Times bestselling, #1 international bestselling, and National Book Award-nominated author of over a dozen novels.

Best known for the Shatter Me series, her books have sold millions of copies, and have been translated into over thirty languages. Her first contemporary novel, A Very Large Expanse of Sea, was named by Time magazine as one of “the best YA books of all time”, and is in development for film with Levantine Films. She currently resides in Southern California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs, and their daughter. Her most recent novel, the second book in a new fantasy series, These Infinite Threads, is on shelves now.

Her work is represented by Jodi Reamer of Writers House, LLC.

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The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

Title: The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy

Author: Brigitte Knightley

Release: July 8, 2025

Publisher: Ace

Series: Dearly Beloathed #1

Pages: 384

Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other—or, worse, fall in love.

When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.

Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.

As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction which only fuels the tension between them.

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Review:

I really enjoyed this debut fantasy! I discovered it here on Goodreads and immediately knew I needed to read it. Luckily, it popped up on NetGalley in February and my request was granted! It's a blast from the beginning and I think a lot of folks will enjoy it.

After downloading the ARC I was made aware that the book is built on Harry Potter fanfic, which is uh... not great. I am of the belief that it is up to us to make HP culturally irrelevant, and that includes developing fan works and books explicitly inspired by those dynamics. In this case, the book is built on Hermione/Draco fan fiction. The author has stated that this isn't an adaptation of her popular fanfic (and thus the original isn't being pulled down) but anyone vaguely familiar with HP can see where many of the characters and aspects of the world come from. The story itself is definitely original and there are a lot of characters that wouldn't map on to HP, but there's enough that it bothered me.

On its own merits, the book is delightful. I love the FMC Aurienne. She is regarded as icy by many, and some readers might struggle with her (because complicated female leads don't always go over well) but I personally related to her. She is incredibly dedicated to her work and doesn't easily shift from her principals. Much of what she does in the book (that is against her ethics) is at the behest of one of her superior's that she respects. Aurienne can fall into some black and white thinking, but in a way that rings authentic to my personal autistic experience. While I didn't relate to Osric the way I did Aurienne, he is a hilarious lead character. My eARC is full of highlights from all the funny lines. Aurienne also has a magical familiar that is very grumpy and loves to yell at Osric.

When the tags say slow burn, trust me, it means that. This is the first book in a series, and it isn't the romance novel format of one couple per book. I won't go into spoilers, but plot-wise, the book didn't end where I thought it would. The bickering-to-kissing ratio of the book is heavily skewed toward bickering. I assume this will change in later books as the slow starts burning.

I found the world really fun. It's a fantasy England that is still separated into smaller kingdoms. There are various magical organizations, some of which are loosely associated with a kingdom. The book does a good job of breaking down how the world is organized, both political and magical. As we go through the story, we see a pox that is going through the children of the kingdoms. Aurienne and her fellow healers are desperately trying to stem the tide of sick and dying children (the only ones affected by the disease). They can't get funding from anyone to research vaccines or treatments and are struggling to handle it all. While it largely exists in the background of the story, it becomes increasingly clear just how important it really is. At times the political world mirrors our own, and can actions can hit a little close to home. This does a good job of providing the building blocks for a series-long arc.

Overall, I will be recommending The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy and likely buying a copy myself. But I also encourage readers and authors to do some due diligence and work to pull HP influences out of your work and reading habits.

Author Bio:

Brigitte’s modus operandi is to write what she wants to read: enemies-to-lovers romances that put the unresolved back in UST. Her work is enjoyed by fans of slow burns, tongue-in-cheek romcoms, and suffering. The spirits of Wodehouse and Jerome K. Jerome pervade her writing, but Austen is at its soul.

She is represented by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

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Firebird by Juliette Cross

Title: Firebird
Author: Juliette Cross

Release: April 8, 2025

Publisher: Bramble

Pages: 400

Review: 3.5 Stars

Synopsis:

LIMITED FIRST PRINT RUN--featuring original illustrated stenciled edges, foil case stamp, and designed endpapers. Only available for a limited time and while supplies last.

House of the Dragon meets From Blood and Ash in this epic, scorching dark romantasy.

A conqueror captivated…

A witch prophesied to save them all…

A world where dragons rule Rome.

From the moment Roman general and nephew to the emperor Julianus Dakkia laid eyes on Malina, he was enthralled by the Dacian dancer. Years later, the fierce beauty stands before him on a scarred battlefield, her life in danger. He instinctively shifts into his fierce dragon form to save her, an action that may mean his head on the imperial gate. But he and his dragon know one thing: she belongs to them.

Malina can’t believe that the centurion who had once bestowed a secret talisman on her is the Roman general of legendary brutality. His prowess as a warrior cannot be denied, yet they don’t reveal the secret he hides. All Malina knows is his protection and gentle touch. And she cannot deny how her soul has always seemed to answer his.

As they navigate a world where flying deathriders conquer and burn, their love will ignite a firestorm that can only end in heartbreak or death. Or both.

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Review:

There are many aspects of Firebird that I enjoyed, but one thing stood out from the beginning that bothered me. Set in a world adjacent to Ancient Rome (but with dragons), our male lead Julian is a Roman general and our female lead Malina is a Dacian dancer turned rebel. As was typical at the time, when she's captured after battle, Malina is enslaved. Yes, Roman slavery was different than our more modern understanding and yes there are compounding factors that are revealed partway through the book, but at it's heart, I did not like the master/slave dynamics. This is a conversation that has been had a lot in romance (no nazis, no master/slave romance), it hasn't been really touched in the growing realm of romantasy. I think there are ways the book could have been handled where there were still complex power dynamics at play without having Malina enslaved to the love interest.

I feel like in its desire to hit the romantasy beats Firebird rushed everything else. A romance plot that might have been stretched over 2-3 books is crammed into one book's plot. I have a feeling the series will be structured like a romance series (different main couple each book) and I think given what I've read I would rather more POVs from the beginning and everything stretched out, more like you might see in a fantasy series.

This is not to say the book was bad. There are many aspects I enjoyed. Beyond the insta-love with her oppressor, Malina was a fascinating character. I liked her interactions with the other enslaved individuals. Given her status, I think it would have been interesting if the book leaned in a Spartacus/slave uprising direction instead of a more basic "kill the emperor" direction. The level of rebellion that characters engage in would mainly benefit the noble and free Romans, neither of which includes Malina.

On a completely unrelated note, Julian is mentioned as being seven feet tall and I could not get that out of my head the entire book. Malina's height is never mentioned but context clues make her seem to be of average height. Despite likely being freakishly taller than her and everyone around him, Julian's height is never touched on again. I almost wonder if it was a typo and it was supposed to say six feet tall? Yes, being seven feet tall is totally possible, but would create a serious height difference that maybe should have been remarked upon more. Also, their sexy times would have required more contortions that there were.

I will likely check out book two in the series and am curious how the rest of the series is handled, but I do think this could have been handled better.

Author Bio:

Juliette is a multi-published author of fantasy, paranormal, and contemporary romance. She’s a mood reader as well as a mood writer if that wasn’t obvious by her eclectic book list. She loves lazy nights with her husband, old-fashioneds, and family gatherings.

She is represented by Rachel Brooks at BookEnds Literary Agency.

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