Professor Stephen Worthington’s life makes perfect sense.

He teaches classes on Tuesdays and Fridays. He has dinners with his parents on the weekend. He goes to the gym with his comically crass stepbrother, Matt, a few days each week. And every night, he heads home at a reasonable hour, alone.

There’s only one thorn in Stephen’s perfectly organized side: Ms. Julia Wilde. Never has Stephen dealt with a more unruly student. She’s rude, provocative, infuriating—and she dresses in a way that is completely unbecoming for a lady. Stephen can’t wait for the semester to be over, and then he’ll never have to see her again.

That is, until Stephen finds himself out of the classroom and in Julia’s apartment. Suddenly, the student/teacher roles are reversed, and the professor receives a much-needed lesson between the sheets. Stephen thought his life made sense, but after his tryst with Julia, he finds himself changed in more ways than one. Maybe he’s coming down with something.

Or maybe, something a little out of the ordinary is exactly what this stuffy professor needs to really live.

This novel contains mature content.


Praise for Absolute Beginners:

“…a rare beast among romance novels…heated and passionate.” —Romantic Times

"SJ Hooks puts a unique spin on the teacher student taboo with an exploration of sexual awakening, and the tangled webs weaved through secrecy and deception. Absolute Beginners is a promising debut. I can't wait to see how Stephen and Julia's tentative, illicit relationship unfolds." —Helena Hunting, New York Times bestselling author of Pucked

“Absolute Beginners is a hilarious and fun romp through a college co-ed’s education of her older, inexperienced professor. She’s going to teach him a LOT, but only if he can keep it all a secret! Tear off the bow-tie, Mr. Teacher. It’s time to get schooled!” — Shay Savage, USA Today bestselling author of Transcendence

“Absolute Beginners is just so much fun…. Stephen's character is so set in his ways, older than his years, and organized to a fault (my heart ached when we learned why). Julia Wilde completely rips his life apart at the seams and it was SO MUCH FUN to watch him change over the course of the story. [It’s] damn good erotica, too. With a plot…about possibly finding that thing you didn't even know you were looking for, even when it was right in front of you the entire time. " —Amber L. Johnson, author of Puddle Jumping

“In her debut novel, SJ gives us sexy romance, humor, and heart-felt drama all within the context of well-edited, well-paced book. I felt so many emotions while reading, and isn’t that what we all want?…I really congratulate SJ on this novel---she strikes a great balance between drama and comedy within this story.” —We So Nerdy