Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl | Audiobook Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

The Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl: A Novel by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Narrated by Connor Crais and Victoria Connolly

Standalone Spicy Contemporary Romance

The Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone is a spicy single dad, professor, curvy nanny romance. But it’s also a lot more than that. I enjoyed it overall, but it felt chaotic. There were so many storylines layered in that it became overwhelming at times.

Maddie Kowalczk is a new poli-sci adjunct professor at a local university. She moves there with nothing after breaking up with her politician boyfriend and is literally living in her car while she saves for an apartment. One night, she locks eyes with a man she may have stolen a parking spot from earlier… while she’s getting a birthday spanking. Bram is instantly intrigued by the curvy brat, and they share one very hot night together.

The next day, she shows up to interview for a nanny position for a fellow professor’s three kids. And of course, the professor is Bram. The same ecology professor from her school. The same man who did very dirty things to her the night before.

When he finds out she’s living in her car, she becomes the live-in nanny. They try to keep their hands off each other, but that fails quickly. So he sets ground rules. In other words, she needs to be a “good girl.”

No doubt, the sex in this book is hot. The core story is strong. But there’s so much extra woven in that it sometimes feels like it loses its focus. Maddie struggles to earn respect from her students as a young adjunct, which becomes a full storyline on its own. I appreciated how the book tackles sexism and fatphobia in academia and in the workplace. That part felt intentional and well done.

But then we also have the three kids and their individual issues. Bram’s friend group, who clearly have stories of their own. The nanny situation. The forbidden relationship. The workplace drama. And then suddenly Maddie is being targeted to run for office.

That political turn honestly came out of left field for me. Yes, they mention she was groomed to be the perfect political wife, but we don’t see any real political ambition from her until this plot point drops in. It felt disconnected from the rest of the story, almost like two different books were condensed into one. It pushed the book into chaotic territory for me.

And then there were footnotes. They may be fun to read in print, but I hated them in audio. Even with Teddy Hamilton narrating them, they pulled me out of the story every single time.

Likes:

It had really good spice with a praise kink.
I loved how the book addressed sexism and fatphobia in academia and beyond.
The kids were great and felt distinct.
Bram is a walking green flag. You would never guess the dirty brain hiding under that plant-daddy nerd exterior.
The age gap was never treated like a huge dramatic issue.
Fans of their Christmas books will catch some fun cameos.
I loved his plant-daddy nerdiness.
It was more memorable than most books I read.
I liked that her size wasn’t constantly centered in the relationship. She’s confident, and he loves her curves without turning it into a lesson.

Dislikes:

There were too many side stories and too much time spent on secondary characters.
I hated the footnotes in audio.
Her sudden pivot toward politics felt unnecessary and would have worked better in a sequel.

The Narration:

Connor Crais and Victoria Connolly both did a great job. Connor saying “good girl”? Yum. But Teddy Hamilton’s footnotes completely pulled me out of the story every time.

The Down & Dirty:

The Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl stuck with me. It’s been a little while since I read it, and I could still remember everything clearly when I sat down to write this, which honestly doesn’t happen often. So it definitely made an impression. The spice was great, and I really appreciated that sexism and fatphobia were part of the story without turning the whole book into a lecture.

But there were just so many characters and side plots that it started to feel crowded. And when the political storyline kicked in, it changed the direction of the book in a way that didn’t quite fit for me. It made everything feel a little mashed together instead of fully cohesive.

I’ve noticed this before with this author duo. It sometimes reads like two big ideas sharing the same space without completely blending. There was a lot I genuinely loved here, but enough that didn’t work for me that I can’t fully recommend it.