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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
🩷 Rivals to lovers
🩷 30+ FMC
🩷 Academic rivals
🩷 Banter
🩷 Romance
🩷 Spice
This book was genuinely so adorable!
The characters
From the very first page, the characters hooked me in; they felt so realistic, and each action they made actually made sense for who they are.Even when they just got married and were just pining after each other, I understood their reasoning so much, their choices regarding their relationship made so much sense for who the author built in the beginning of the book.
And the banter was bantering! I was screaming and giggling at these scenes. They were honestly just so cute together from the very start.
The writing
This writing was so much fun to read, it was engaging and fast, and a main reason as to why I ended up binging this in one day!
The setting
The setting in Australia was so much fun and really unexpected. It felt like I could actually go visit these locations.
Thank you to Netgalley, Jodi McAlister and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for the free e-arc. All opinions are my own.
🩷 30+ FMC
🩷 Academic rivals
🩷 Banter
🩷 Romance
🩷 Spice
This book was genuinely so adorable!
The characters
From the very first page, the characters hooked me in; they felt so realistic, and each action they made actually made sense for who they are.
And the banter was bantering! I was screaming and giggling at these scenes. They were honestly just so cute together from the very start.
The writing
This writing was so much fun to read, it was engaging and fast, and a main reason as to why I ended up binging this in one day!
The setting
The setting in Australia was so much fun and really unexpected. It felt like I could actually go visit these locations.
Thank you to Netgalley, Jodi McAlister and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for the free e-arc. All opinions are my own.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a lovely read. The characters are great, the banter is excellent and the story is interesting. An excellent travel or beach read.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for gifting me a free copy of this book as part of the StoryGraph giveaway. I haven’t read any of Jodie McAlister's books before but I will definitely be seeking out more in the future!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for gifting me a free copy of this book as part of the StoryGraph giveaway. I haven’t read any of Jodie McAlister's books before but I will definitely be seeking out more in the future!
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a warm hug of a book. Sadie and Jonah were brilliant protagonists, and their budding romance was well paced.
The third act ‘catastrophe’ didn’t go the way of most romance books which I loved.
Hoping that this becomes a series, would love to see the story of chess and Fiona each explored
Thankyou to Simon and schuster for gifting me a free copy of this book as part of the StoryGraph giveaway. I haven’t ever read Jodie McAlister but will definitely be seeking out more of her books in the future
The third act ‘catastrophe’ didn’t go the way of most romance books which I loved.
Hoping that this becomes a series, would love to see the story of chess and Fiona each explored
Thankyou to Simon and schuster for gifting me a free copy of this book as part of the StoryGraph giveaway. I haven’t ever read Jodie McAlister but will definitely be seeking out more of her books in the future
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a soft spot for a book with footnotes. And Jodi McAlister rolls out the footnotes very nicely here thank you very much.
This story of rival academics, Sadie and Jonah, was great. Beautifully written and paced, it is a slow slow burn with lots of pining. It is told in first person dual POV and set in Sydney and Hobart.
Did I get a little bit smarter reading this? Maybe. This was a love letter to fiction with lots of references to literary fiction, romance fiction and early modern drama.
I felt as if the book ended suddenly and I really wanted more of a resolution with Sadie’s sister, Chess. But this is book 1 in the Literary Lovers series so I am totally invested in this world and look forward to more Chess in future books!
Thank you Simon & Schuster (Australia) and NetGalley for supplying this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Sadie and Jonah are rivals - until Sadie obtains the highly coveted teaching position that they were both fighting for. Jonah wanted the job to move closer to his recently divorced sister, and Sadie finds herself feeling bad for beating Jonah to the job. Until, she notices the "partner hire" in her contract - and pitches an unhinged plan to Jonah to get them both what they want.
This was such a treat to read. I love when characters have already known each other for a long time, and know almost everything about each other. Their chemistry was the best, the book was overall well structured and written and was absolutely delightful to read.
For fans of:
💐 Romcoms
📚 Marriage of convenience (but make it modern)
💐 Rivals to lovers
📚 Australian academia settings
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for an e-ARC, all opinions are my own.
This was such a treat to read. I love when characters have already known each other for a long time, and know almost everything about each other. Their chemistry was the best, the book was overall well structured and written and was absolutely delightful to read.
For fans of:
💐 Romcoms
📚 Marriage of convenience (but make it modern)
💐 Rivals to lovers
📚 Australian academia settings
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for an e-ARC, all opinions are my own.
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
An Academic Affair is a rom-com about our FMC Sadie and MMC Jonah who have been, well, academic rivals for 15 years! 🤭 This was such a lovely read! Fast paced, well structured and just lovely. This is my first book I’ve read by Jodie but I’m going to have to read everything else by her! 📚
What to look forward to:
- Romantic comedy 💞
- Dual POV 👩🏼🦰🧑🏽
- Academic rivals 📝
- Fake dating/mariage 💍
- Yearningggggg 🥹
Release date: June 04 2025
Thankyou Jodi McAlister, Simon & Schuster (Australia) and NetGalley for and ARC.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i haven’t read any marriage of convenience stuff since my early high school years and good god did this book reignite that flame for me
i wish we had gotten a little more from them at the end 💔
i wish we had gotten a little more from them at the end 💔
Academic rivals to lovers is definitely one of my fave tropes and this one was done so well. I was hooked from the get go and I loved the context at the start. I honestly could’ve had more from this book, but was so happy with how this ended. There was so much packed in, but I was never bored.
I’m going to miss my time with Sadie and Jonah and their love story that starts in footnotes and then bursts onto the page proper. I love that McAlister wrote a complex, twisty dual-narrative of academia, competitive job markets, rivalry and love for it to be at its core a book about sisters. Lovely.