title: An Academic Affair
author: Jodi McAlister
publisher: Atria Books
publication date: November 11, 2025
pages: 384
peppers: 3 (on this scale)
warnings:
- parental death (in past)
- parental abandonment (in past)
- mean parents (present)
- abandonment issues
- alcohol
- spousal abandonment
summary: Jonah and Sadie have been academic rivals for more than a decade with only six truces, none of which took. When Sadie hears about Jonah's reason for wanting to move to a new town she happens to be going to, something in her softens to want to find a way to bring him along.
tropes:
- marriage of convenience
- abandonment issues
- I'm unlovable
- secret pining
- only one bed
- know the tropes and fall into them anyway
- family in distress
- hate the parents
- life in academia
- slow burn
- evil boss
what I liked:
- Jonah's footnotes (I read the ebook, so I don't know if the footnotes would be fun on paper, but I really enjoyed them this way.)
- academic matters
- banter
- their families
- evil boss
- secret pining
what I didn’t like:
- I didn't quite buy her falling in love as much as his, but overall, this was a fun read for this English teacher!
overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)
As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.