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.
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