Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️
Tropes: brother’s best friend; best friend’s little sister; virgin heroine; prolific hero; series of interconnected standalones
“He wasn’t wrong. I was a good girl, but sometimes, especially when I thought about him, all I wanted was to be bad.”
And that, my friends, is the crux of Nikki Sloane’s deliciously steamy The Good Girl, another story in her Nashville Neighborhood world. Preston and Sydney (Preston of The Doctor and Sydney who is the little sister of The Frat Boy’s Colin) remind us what we love most about Nikki Sloane’s brand of romance: it’s pure spice. This story is an insta-attraction between her main characters. Sloane deftly weaves Preston and Sydney’s forbidden journey with themes about overwhelming parental expectations and the danger of falling in love (or lust) with your best friend’s little sister, lending more gravity to her story beyond just smutty romance. Preston’s journey into maturity redeems him from his role in Sloane’s The Doctor, and you can’t help but fall in love with him as he negotiates his intense attraction to Sydney while starting a business with her brother. If I have any criticism, it’s the forbidden nature of their relationship. This has nothing to do with Nikki Sloane’s ability to write romances. Her easy prose and the pacing of the characters’ progressions make for an unputdownable read. However, I’m weary of the protective older brother trope. I’m not a fan of a big brother having a “say” over his little sister’s choices. I’ll fight against this as long as I can, hoping that authors will allow little sister’s agency and autonomy.
If you’re looking for a quick bit of romance, one that will satiate your erotic hunger, Nikki Sloane’s The Good Girl is the perfect read.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 