For two people that supposedly knew each other for 15 years, I felt like I knew nothing about them expect for surface level things. With that and the sporadic pacing, I just could not connect to these two characters and by the time you get to the crescendo, where they confess their love to each other... the spice just fell really flat and really cringey. Unfortunately, this just didn't work for me.

Thank you to Atria Publishing and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read this early.

When you start off with 5 instances where you had to ceasefire between each other you know that the relationship between the FMC and MMC will be a rollercoaster of emotions. Jonah and Sadie are the work enemies to lovers that you need in your life. The academia rivalry that was also created between the families also provided some background. Sadie was raised by her sister Chess when her parents abandoned them. Jonah has his family but their relationship is strained. An Academic Affair gives us the story of Jonah and Sadie that enter into a marriage of convenience that in the end brings so much more to their lives. From the friendship that they develop to the family dynamic that is created I loved how they both communicated and made sure that regardless of anything they had each other's back. Eucatastrophe was the perfect word for so many reasons. I am all for a cardigan and tweed wearing professor and his gardening professor wife.
(Sadie listening to Hamilton Not Throwing Away My Shot had me dead love that reference)

Literature professors Sadie and Jonah have sparred for as long as they can remember—from their first day of undergraduate to their current (unstable) jobs as new academics to the house-share they just both happen to live in. Full-time academic positions are so hard to come by, with only a handful open each year, when the perfect opportunity for both of them comes up, and the battle is on. Only neither feels quite right about it, and each knows the other deserves the job too.

And that’s when Sadie see the provision about a partner hire: if they’re married, the university will have to hire Jonah as well. It’s a perfect situation for both of them, right? Only they don’t expect friendship, chemistry, and love to come into play….

I ADORED this book. This is my first Jodi McAlister read and I will be all over her backlist now! The whole story exudes tension, from their rivalry to the close living quarters to their office; you can just feel it everywhere. Both MCs were so well-developed, likeable, smart, interesting, loyal, supportive, and just genuinely great people despite their imperfections. Both grow and develop so much throughout the book, Jonah becoming a better sibling and an amazing husband; Sadie being independent from her overbearing sister and learning to function without her. And they can achieve this growth at least in part because they have each other’s backs and they care. Plus, the way Jonah always lifted her up, kept her from spiraling, made her see her worth—amazing!

Everything else was fascinating too—the glimpse into academia, witty writing, hilarious footnotes, banter, side characters. I am REALLY hoping Fiona gets her own book next….

Thank you to Atria Books for my advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

Don't let the length of the prologue scare you! I really enjoyed this book and the character's dynamic. The footnotes were a great addition, I love a good interjection.

I'm afraid Jonah and I feel the same about Chessy.

And I'm also curious about Julia and Elias' story...

Oh okay McAlister! This was amazing! It gave me similar vibes to Alli hazelwoods STEM books by following two PHD profs who are grown adults, acting like teenagers. It had some great witty banter and kept me totally enthralled! I love love loved it!

“Sometimes, despite all the odds, something good happens.”

Short Synopsis: A charming new romance about two English professors who embark on a fake relationship…only to discover that it may be harder to pretend than they realized.

I enjoyed watching Jonah and Sadie, who have been academic rivals since Uni, navigate the academic job market, especially when one single ‘perfect’ permanent position opened up, leading them back into competition with each other.  I thought the obscure contract provision allowing a ‘partner hire’ was an interesting take on the marriage of convenience trope, allowing them to both get a much-needed job, but also force them together.  I enjoyed their sparring and all the literary references set against the (unfortunately) realistic university politics and academia.  And I loved the wine and used book bar, whose wine label was Bibliophile.  This is a spot I would visit or that would make a great book club meet-up spot.

Thank you Jodi McAlister, Netgalley, and SS Atria Marketing for the digital arc to read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book and read it in one day. I loved the storyline and the characters. I thought the characters had great growth! I would definitely recommend this book.

this is ali hazelwood for english majors and i ate it up. very much he falls first she falls harder, and academic rivals eats down. the downfalls? i wanted to bash chess up like girl get your act together. and then after all of the pages of yearning the get together was a little anti-climatic dare i say. like duh of course you guys love each other it's been so freaking obvious. but at the same time it's realistic enough to overcome all of that and i appreciate that there is not a weird power dynamic involved.

I really, really enjoyed this book. Sadie and Jonah are both academic rivals who get married to secure elusive permanent positions at a university, but Jonah has loved her for years. The tension, the yearning, the wit, and the slow burn was so good. I felt like their relationship felt so seamless. The only thing that caught me off guard was how rushed the ending seemed — I really enjoyed the character development and wanted to see resolution take a bit longer.

It had a promising start but I just couldn’t connect to the story.

I’m an absolute sucker for academic rival stories but this just wasn’t giving me what I was looking for. I’m a mood reader at heart, so it’s difficult getting into ARC reads.

The writing was definitely interesting and so was the plot. But I just couldn’t connect to the story.

This review will be posted more in depth after the release

3.5 stars

An Academic Affair portrayed the ~world of academia~ so accurately you could totally feel the underlying anxiety. The couple, Jonah and Sadie, are academics that have been competing since freshman year. It’s not an enemies to lover thing as much as you’d think. More of a relationship that slow burns and has lots of history. Enjoyable but the ending left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied. The ending conflict (while not a third act breakup!) felt very built up and the resolution was like half a page. Overall, it was good but my socks remain on.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

WISH I HAD A SISTER but still this book acc made me want to tear my heart out and cry lolz!

love that they are both like real adults and have their own lives outside of their relationship + the academia vibe was a plus given my constant change in mind about my career path :D

4.5 :D

Not a bad read, sweet romance, slow burn, then on it like donkey Kong.

I liked the University professors trying to exist in Academica concept.

Romance, and following the tropes. In this case, "marriage of convenience."

3.75 🌟
first of all, i wanted to thank atria and netgalley for the arc (my first arc🫣) in exchange for an honest review!
not my best with words but here were some of the things i loved !
- [ ] starting off with jonah’s pov… i was hooked. dual povs always get me! i liked reading what he thought of her since the beginning because it immediately told me he was down bad already. 🫶🏽
- [ ] academic rivals, fake dating and marriage of convenience. sign me up !
- [ ] we love seeing a strong, smart fmc ! sadie being a smart woman that knows exactly what she wants and works hard to earn what she deserves! i did like that she still gave some credit to jonah for being someone that challenged her and she saw him as someone she had to beat especially because he already had some sort of advantage but she still worked hard to be at the same level and even surpass him. yup !
- [ ] the bickering and conversation flow between them felt so natural i could see it play out like a movie.

This is absolutely going to be one of my favorite books of the year. Absolutely everything about the realities of academia was spot on, and made the book so believable. The pacing was masterful, and I literally just cannot wait until the future books that hopefully feature all of the side characters. Also, the footnotes!! 10/10 highly recommend this one.

If you like Ali Hazelwood, you’ll love this book.

This was like a Hallmark movie but in book form. I enjoyed it. Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy to read, and review.

4.5/5 ⭐️ rounded up
2/5 🌶️

WOW!!! I haven’t read such a wonderful writing style like this in a hot minute. I love love love the authors writing style. Can’t put my finger on it but the tone felt - elevated. It really added depth to this romance book (it’s not just about the tropes which I’m always here for).

The only thing I took issue with and hence isn’t a full 5 star read is the ending felt so rushed!!! I was thrown off when I read it was at the epilogue already?!

But overall the story was phenomenal and the banter was bantering truly and their enemies/academic rivals to lovers was really great and fleshed out. The sibling relationships were so endearing and I can see the set up for other stories of side characters being set up and I’d read em all!

Definitely now a fan of this author!

If you love academic rivals to lovers, wine, and romance books - this is for you!

Overall was a decent book with some enemies to lovers and had some real life problems. Some parts about the academy were confusing and didn't stick to my head. 4 stars.

4 stars. What a sweet read! The story follows Sadie and Jonah, two PhD professors who have been rivals since their undergraduate days in Australia and years later decide to get married so they can both get a job they want. I love the trope of academic rivals to lovers, and though I would consider this more like unrequited love from Jonah’s side, I really enjoyed Jonah and Sadie’s dynamic and smart banter. Jonah was more up front about how he cared for Sadie, but we really explored Sadie’s complex feelings around relationships through the dual point of view.

I really liked the side characters Fiona and Chessy as well and exploration of complex sibling relationships. We also learn about the life of an academic, which was generally interesting.

If you like reading about academic rivals, I would definitely recommend this one. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely a slow burn with the characters revealing themselves as the book went on. I thought the academic world working in a university was very interesting and added an extra layer to the story. The side characters were great but I felt like the author left Chessie at the end...something about her felt unfinished. Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend!