Tuesday Reviews: The Good Girl Effect by Sara Cate

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 of 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.

Shortly after arriving, Camille discovers a strange room in the apartment that sparks her curiosity—and hints at a dark, mysterious side to Jack that she’s desperate to uncover. The lines between professional and personal blur dangerously as the heat between them becomes impossible to ignore. She’s drawn to the broken man who hides his grief in ropes and bondage, and she challenges him in ways he never thought possible.

Caught between her growing feelings for Jack and the ghosts of his past, Camille must can love heal a heart still grieving, or will their passion destroy them both?

This one was rough for me. I’ve loved a lot of Sara Cate’s books before, but The Good Girl Effect didn’t quite land the way I hoped it would. It’s emotional, spicy, and well written as always, but some parts just didn’t sit right with me—especially when it came to Jack as a father.

Jack St. Clair is a widowed single dad trying to rebuild his life after losing his wife. He runs a kink club and hires Camille, a young woman who accidentally shows up for a nanny interview, to help with his daughter. What follows is a forbidden, slow-burn connection between two people who are both hurting and looking for something real.

The spice absolutely delivers—Sara Cate always knows how to write tension and intimacy that feels raw and consuming. The bondage and kink elements were written tastefully, and the chemistry between Jack and Camille was undeniable. Every scene between them had that signature Sara Cate spark.

But what really got to me was how Jack handled his grief. Ignoring his daughter after the death of his wife really rubbed me the wrong way. He spent more time opening up to Camille than he did trying to comfort his own child, who was also grieving and clearly needed him. I get that his pain was overwhelming, but as a parent, that emotional distance was hard to read.

Camille was sweet, impulsive, and sometimes reckless, but she had good intentions. I liked how she brought warmth and life back into their home, even when Jack resisted it. Their romance had some great moments, but the emotional side of the story felt uneven at times. I wanted more genuine healing and less avoidance.

Still, there were things I really appreciated—the letters between them were beautiful, the emotional vulnerability felt real, and the theme of learning to move forward after loss had so much potential. It just didn’t fully connect for me the way I wanted it to