The Good Girl Effect is a deeply emotional and surprisingly tender exploration of love, loss, and healing. From the first page, this novel pulls you into a story that balances vulnerability and sensuality with remarkable finesse.

When Camille Aubert stumbles upon a long-lost love letter in a library book, she’s determined to return it to its rightful owner. Her innocent mission leads her straight to Jack St. Claire—a grieving widower and co-owner of a Parisian sex club—where a simple act of kindness snowballs into a life-changing encounter. Through a case of mistaken identity, Camille finds herself hired as Jack's live-in nanny, a role she never intended to take but can’t seem to walk away from. Jack is a man buried beneath layers of pain, desperately trying to manage both his grief and a failing business. The dynamic between him and Camille is electric from the start—rich with emotional depth and a smoldering, slow-burn tension. As the two grow closer, Camille becomes more than just a caretaker. She becomes Jack’s mirror, his challenge, and ultimately, his salvation.

This book hits all the right notes: it's sensual without being gratuitous, emotional without being melodramatic, and it navigates BDSM elements with thoughtful care. It's not just a romance—it's a story about two broken people slowly putting each other back together. Highly recommended for readers who crave character-driven romance with layers of emotional complexity.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!

Sara Cate takes readers on a dark and romantic tale of grief, longing, and BDSM.

This is a continuation of a series from her that I did not read, but you don't need the background going into this one-- it's a new series based on the next generations of those characters.

"Jack St. Claire is desperate. A grieving single father, he buries himself in his work—running a brand-new kink club in Paris. Instead of handling his grief, he's built a fortress around his heart, and it's time he hired someone to help him take care for his daughter before things get worse.

Camille Aubert wasn't looking for a new job. She just wanted to return a lost love letter she'd found within the pages of a book. But when she's mistaken for a job candidate and hired as Jack's live-in nanny, something tells her this is exactly where she needs to be."

As Cate creates this new world of characters, Jack and Camille are drawn to each other despite his desperate attempts to resist her. What follows is an exploration of family roles as Jack tries to find his way back to his life after losing his wife, and Camille tries to make her way in the world after the death of her father.

Together, they use an instant connection to explore BDSM and find a new way to live their lives together.

It's dramatic and very spicy, an entertaining read!

The Good Girl Effect is an intoxicating mix of passion, grief, and irresistible chemistry. Jack and Camille’s story is raw, tender, and deliciously seductive, pulling you into a world where heartbreak collides with desire. The emotional depth and steamy tension make this a read you won’t be able to put down—equal parts heart-wrenching and utterly addictive.

I absolutely devoured The Good Girl Effect in one sitting. Loved the storyline and the well-developed characters. The spice is just right and I loved the easter egg revisits from the characters we met in the first group of Salacious Players Club stories. I will definitely recommend for my spicy romance readers and I look forward to more from the next generation of Sara Cate's characters!

This is the first book in a spinoff series from Sara Cate's popular Salacious Player series. You don't need to read the original series first. I was surprised by what a slow burn this was. Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely spicy! But Cate takes her time developing the relationship and the plot beforehand. I do think that the characters could have been slightly more developed as individuals: Jack's entire personality is broodiness, and Camille apparently has no life outside nannying. Still, the tension between them was great and the bondage scenes were fun. If you're a Sara Cate fan, you'll enjoy this! If you've never read her books before but enjoy a spicy romance with some kink, you'll like this too.

Wow! Sara Cate did it again. Fans of her Salacious Players’ Club series will enjoy this.
When grief and loss change Jack he shuts down. It’s not until Camille arrives and is hired as a nanny to his young daughter. What Jack doesn’t know is the reason Camille is on his doorstep, isn’t the nanny job, but rather to return a letter he wrote to his late wife- which she found in a used bookstore.
Jack is one of 6 owners of a sex club. The connection between him a Camille is palpable and takes a deeper turn when she enters his world of kink.

This is the first book in the second generation series of The Salacious Player Club, and I loved getting back into this world. However it is not necessary to have read the parents' series in order to enjoy this. It can be enjoyed on its own as a standalone without any problems.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and can't wait to read more from the series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️

𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚

When Sara announced the next gen in the Salacious Players series, I KNEW I would read it. Because come on, how could I not????

I loved being back in the world and seeing some familiar characters!!! It was so nice to see the kids all grown up and getting a peek into their lives and where this new series will take them!

Jack was such a hot and cold man, he gave me a little whiplash. I understand grieving his wife and feeling like he failed his daughter, but Jesus that man. Sometimes I wanted to smack him upside the head. You had a woman who was BEGGING to be with you in whatever way you wanted and you continued to push her away because you were scared? I get it, but like… come on man.

Camille…wasn’t my favorite. She felt a bit juvenile to me and incomplete. I felt like I could have learned so much more about her but the majority of her personality was all about Jack. Where was her character growth? Her backstory? Her hobbies, likes, dislikes? I didn’t know much about her and it put me off of her quite a bit.

The real winner of the story was Bea, honestly. Such a sweet little muppet!!! She was smart, adorable, and a little fashionista. How could I NOT love her?????

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series and hoping to see more growth from Jack and Camille and the rest of the crew!

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks for the ARC! 🫶🏻

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s good to be back!!! Honestly, diving into The Good Girl Effect felt like coming home. Sara Cate gave us the Salacious Players Club series (which I adored), and this felt like the perfect follow-up. It has that same addictive, emotional pull, but with a whole new vibe that still feels familiar in the best way.

The French imagery? Absolutely stunning. The way she described the streets, the atmosphere, the little details—it literally transported me straight back to France. I could see it, smell it, feel it. That backdrop added such a lush, romantic layer to the story and made everything feel bigger than just the romance.

What really stood out for me was how this book felt a little darker and deeper than SPC. The themes cut a bit sharper, the emotions hit harder, and it gave the romance this extra weight. And oh my gosh, was I rooting for the main couple. I needed them to find their way, and the journey was so worth it.

It’s also a touch less spicy than SPC, but honestly? The story is so strong you barely notice. The emotional intensity more than makes up for it, and the slower burn makes the payoff even sweeter.

All in all, this book reminded me why I keep coming back to Sara Cate. She knows how to balance heat, heart, and heartbreak like no one else. The Good Girl Effect is the start of something really special, and I can’t wait to see where this new series goes.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy!

It was so nice to be back into this universe. This delivered on Sara’s usual fast paced, entertaining, and spicy production.

This book follows Jack, as he navigates grief after losing his wife, and hires a nanny to help with his daughter.

I enjoyed seeing characters from the previous story. I believe Jack and Camille had several character flaws, and I just wish he gave her the chance to speak sooner, and Camille had actual…goals? Either way, I enjoyed the story, and will definitely be reading more.

"There will bе rules.
Rule #1 You cannot tell anyone about our lessons.
Rule #2 We will meet for one hour each night at midnight upstairs.
Rule #3: No sex."
Guess how many rules they are going to break? If you guess all of them, you'll correct. 😏

Brooding MMC, who is a single dad, say no more. I'm going to read it.

"The good girl efect" is second generation book, but you can read it even if you didn't read "The Salacious Players Club".
I can't wait for the audiobook so I can enjoy it again.
Tropes:
Single dad/nanny
Love letters
Rope play
Age gap
Forced proximity
He teaches her

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Mark your calendars for September 2 people.

Sarah Cate! You beautiful woman! I hope all your dreams come true and that your pillow is always fluffed and cool.

I DEVOURED this book! I never know how “legacy” books will turn out. Will the characters try to replace their parents in my heart? Will they live up to my expectations of how my favorite couples have raised these characters into adulthood? There’s so much on the line, and I get nervous that my expectations are too high.

Well, my expectations could have been on the moon, and this book still would have exceeded them. This story takes a genre that’s usually all thrust-for-plot and gives you characters you fall desperately in love with—characters you root for with your whole heart to get their happily-ever-after. Camille and Jack are so hopelessly in love and yet so convinced they can’t be together. The yearning was EVERYTHING! And the spice? Oh, God, the spice is so good.

One of the things I appreciate and respect most about Sarah Cate as an author is the way she gives respectful, realistic insight into a healthy BDSM lifestyle. Consent, honesty, trust, and love are paramount. There’s real knowledge and real warnings in here, given to the reader through the characters, and it’s beautifully done—as I fully expected it would be.

Camille was me. I am Camille. She was so relatable and lovable. Being “too much” and constantly worrying about how people perceive you is a familiar fear for me, and watching her overcome that while experiencing honest communication with Jack was so rewarding—it just made me feel gooey inside.

I couldn’t have asked for more from the first book in this new/extended series. It comes out September 2nd and absolutely deserves a spot on every spicy romance TBR.

Sara Cate is an amazing author, in my humble, subjective opinion. I started my romance journey with the Salacious Club Series and it will be forever close to my heart. I was so excited when my rep from Source Books informed me that she was releasing a second gen series! Set in Paris? Sign me up. We get to know the kids? Sign me up! We get more BDSM? Sign. Me. Up! We get more emotional stories but still get happy endings? Again, I AM HERE FOR IT! I look forward to the continuation of this series.
First of all, thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, but thank you even more to Sara Cate... I absolutely LOVED it!

Such a binge-worthy read - it was hard to put this down! I always love Sara Cate's work!
So exciting to have the second-generation characters also.

Sultry, emotional, and irresistibly tense, The Good Girl Effect weaves grief, desire, and unexpected connection into a slow-burn romance with bite. When bookish Camille stumbles into a live-in nanny role for Jack St. Claire—a widowed club owner drowning in loss—she finds herself captivated by the shadows he keeps hidden. The Parisian backdrop adds a touch of elegance to their charged, intimate dance, where vulnerability is as binding as rope. Equal parts tender and provocative, this story explores whether love can truly break through the walls built to survive heartbreak.

Camille was amazing, this was exactly what I expected from it, Another fun hit from Sara Cate!! this was bingeable and I literally couldn’t put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to get an ARC for this book and let 👏🏾 me 👏🏾 tell 👏🏾 you 👏🏾!!! This book had me constantly smiling (when I wasn’t pining after the connection Jack and Camille have). It was probably one of the sweeter books I’ve read from Sara Cate, and the entire book was enjoyable.

That said, I do think the plot was a little fast paced. It went from strangers to bondage and feelings in no time at all, but I also prefer a good slow burn. There was some intimacy in the beginning that I wasn’t entirely enthused about because again, a little too fast paced (who lets a near stranger caress their face in the middle of the night?!). The forbidden love was an excellent trope to follow though.

There was an incredible amount of perfect knowledge of the dom/sub and rope bunny/rigger that made me feel like I could truly see what was happening, even if I did have to google some of the knots.

Now, stfu and read this book like a good girl.

I did not know there was going to be a SP Legacy series until very recently! What a great start to the series we have with single daddy Jack and his nanny, Camille.

I loved the connection these two had right off the bat. Even when Jack was not outright pining for her right away, his pov chapters gave away a whole lot of yearning. We also got some excellent spice but I would not expect anything less from Sara Cate and a SP instalment. We saw lots of cameos of the original couples here too - hello favs Emerson and Charlotte!!

We do get a third act break up in this one and, although I didn’t hate this one, I don’t love when we know right from the beginning what will cause the rift. And oh boy do we know what big shoe is going to drop for Camille and Jack.

I will forever be a Sara Cate and Salacious Players Club fan. Thank you for Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Salacious Players Club, you will always be famous to me!!!

Jack St. Claire, you brooding tortured widower… I fell immediately. Camille snooping through the places in his home and him losing it at her gave big Beauty and the Beast energy…in the very best way.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for the eARC, all opinions are my own

The Good Girl Effect is a scorching, emotional start to Sara Cate’s Salacious Legacy series, where grief, desire, and temptation collide in the City of Light. When a live-in nanny job drops into Camille’s lap, she doesn’t expect her new boss to be a guarded single dad, or the owner of a Paris kink club. With magnetic slow-burn heat and an undercurrent of vulnerability, this is the kind of forbidden romance that will leave readers breathless and already begging for book two.