Jodi McAlister
@jodimca.bsky.social
Romance author, romance scholar. Senior Lecturer in Writing, Literature & Culture at Deakin (Naarm/Melbourne). My newest rom-com, An Academic Affair, is out now.
I've had approximately infinity AI slop author scam emails all desperate to tell me how witty and emotional and moving my books are and how their 1000/3000/9000 dedicated readers will love it (for a small fee), so this latest one feels pretty uniquely lazy
January 29, 2026 at 9:25 PM
I've had approximately infinity AI slop author scam emails all desperate to tell me how witty and emotional and moving my books are and how their 1000/3000/9000 dedicated readers will love it (for a small fee), so this latest one feels pretty uniquely lazy
literal opposite of cool
January 27, 2026 at 6:43 AM
literal opposite of cool
January 25, MIGHT CRY LATER, Kay Kerr (🇦🇺).
This is a messy, complex, raw depiction of a young woman processing her autism diagnosis after completely burning out - and desperately wanting to fix what she's broken with the boy next door.
This is a messy, complex, raw depiction of a young woman processing her autism diagnosis after completely burning out - and desperately wanting to fix what she's broken with the boy next door.
January 25, 2026 at 6:33 AM
January 25, MIGHT CRY LATER, Kay Kerr (🇦🇺).
This is a messy, complex, raw depiction of a young woman processing her autism diagnosis after completely burning out - and desperately wanting to fix what she's broken with the boy next door.
This is a messy, complex, raw depiction of a young woman processing her autism diagnosis after completely burning out - and desperately wanting to fix what she's broken with the boy next door.
If you're in the UK - the e-book edition of An Academic Affair* is currently only £0.99! The promo only lasts until January 28, so jump on it now if you're keen.
*they're academic rivals, and there's only one job... unless they get married
www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/An-Aca...
*they're academic rivals, and there's only one job... unless they get married
www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/An-Aca...
January 19, 2026 at 9:15 PM
If you're in the UK - the e-book edition of An Academic Affair* is currently only £0.99! The promo only lasts until January 28, so jump on it now if you're keen.
*they're academic rivals, and there's only one job... unless they get married
www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/An-Aca...
*they're academic rivals, and there's only one job... unless they get married
www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/An-Aca...
January 18, SON OF THE MORNING, Akwaeke Emezi.
If you like both magic and magical prose, then this book - about a woman powerful enough to bring both the devil and his lieutenant to their knees - is one for you.
If you like both magic and magical prose, then this book - about a woman powerful enough to bring both the devil and his lieutenant to their knees - is one for you.
January 18, 2026 at 6:42 AM
January 18, SON OF THE MORNING, Akwaeke Emezi.
If you like both magic and magical prose, then this book - about a woman powerful enough to bring both the devil and his lieutenant to their knees - is one for you.
If you like both magic and magical prose, then this book - about a woman powerful enough to bring both the devil and his lieutenant to their knees - is one for you.
Well, this is a new (to me, anyway) and particularly nasty variant on the AI slop author scam. The name given is a real commissioning editor at PRH UK, although I feel quite confident her real email address is not at aol dot com.
January 12, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Well, this is a new (to me, anyway) and particularly nasty variant on the AI slop author scam. The name given is a real commissioning editor at PRH UK, although I feel quite confident her real email address is not at aol dot com.
January 11, THE LONG GAME, Rachel Reid.
You do not need me to recommend the hockey boys to you - we all know about Shane and Ilya by now! - but this rec is specifically for this book *as a series finale*. I absolutely adore the way it delivers on the seeds planted in previous books.
You do not need me to recommend the hockey boys to you - we all know about Shane and Ilya by now! - but this rec is specifically for this book *as a series finale*. I absolutely adore the way it delivers on the seeds planted in previous books.
January 11, 2026 at 2:10 AM
January 11, THE LONG GAME, Rachel Reid.
You do not need me to recommend the hockey boys to you - we all know about Shane and Ilya by now! - but this rec is specifically for this book *as a series finale*. I absolutely adore the way it delivers on the seeds planted in previous books.
You do not need me to recommend the hockey boys to you - we all know about Shane and Ilya by now! - but this rec is specifically for this book *as a series finale*. I absolutely adore the way it delivers on the seeds planted in previous books.
January 4, POWER MOVES, Leesa Ronald (🇦🇺).
Books about tightly wound heroines unwinding gradually (or all at once) are my catnip. This rivals-to-lovers romance set in NSW state politics* is an early contender for my favourite reads of the year.
*NB: not in an across the aisle sense, don't worry!
Books about tightly wound heroines unwinding gradually (or all at once) are my catnip. This rivals-to-lovers romance set in NSW state politics* is an early contender for my favourite reads of the year.
*NB: not in an across the aisle sense, don't worry!
January 4, 2026 at 5:46 AM
January 4, POWER MOVES, Leesa Ronald (🇦🇺).
Books about tightly wound heroines unwinding gradually (or all at once) are my catnip. This rivals-to-lovers romance set in NSW state politics* is an early contender for my favourite reads of the year.
*NB: not in an across the aisle sense, don't worry!
Books about tightly wound heroines unwinding gradually (or all at once) are my catnip. This rivals-to-lovers romance set in NSW state politics* is an early contender for my favourite reads of the year.
*NB: not in an across the aisle sense, don't worry!
So: my local wine bar has a bit of a Cheers vibe, in that if you're a regular, everyone knows your name. A couple I met there are having a big wedding overseas, but needed to do the legal ceremony in Australia, and wanted to do it somewhere meaningful.
Yesterday, they got married in the bar.
Yesterday, they got married in the bar.
January 2, 2026 at 10:35 PM
So: my local wine bar has a bit of a Cheers vibe, in that if you're a regular, everyone knows your name. A couple I met there are having a big wedding overseas, but needed to do the legal ceremony in Australia, and wanted to do it somewhere meaningful.
Yesterday, they got married in the bar.
Yesterday, they got married in the bar.
I have three books out in 2026, and the first of them arrived bright and early! Meet The Bonkbuster: Women's Popular Reading in the Long 1980s, cowritten by @dramyburge.bsky.social and me. www.bloomsbury.com/au/bonkbuste...
December 31, 2025 at 9:45 PM
I have three books out in 2026, and the first of them arrived bright and early! Meet The Bonkbuster: Women's Popular Reading in the Long 1980s, cowritten by @dramyburge.bsky.social and me. www.bloomsbury.com/au/bonkbuste...
No prizes for guessing what my number one accomplishment of the year was.
An Academic Affair is by far the biggest book of my career. It's been unbelievable to see how Sadie and Jonah and their totally just professional marriage have travelled. bookshop.org/p/books/an-a...
An Academic Affair is by far the biggest book of my career. It's been unbelievable to see how Sadie and Jonah and their totally just professional marriage have travelled. bookshop.org/p/books/an-a...
December 31, 2025 at 8:33 AM
No prizes for guessing what my number one accomplishment of the year was.
An Academic Affair is by far the biggest book of my career. It's been unbelievable to see how Sadie and Jonah and their totally just professional marriage have travelled. bookshop.org/p/books/an-a...
An Academic Affair is by far the biggest book of my career. It's been unbelievable to see how Sadie and Jonah and their totally just professional marriage have travelled. bookshop.org/p/books/an-a...
I also have a bunch of honourable mentions - I adored IN THE LONG RUN by Emma Mugglestone (🇦🇺), BAD REPUTATION by Emma Barry, THE EX VOWS by Jessica Joyce, and FIRST-TIME CALLER by BK Borison, which were all wonderfully emotionally grounded romances with characters I really believed in.
December 30, 2025 at 10:20 PM
I also have a bunch of honourable mentions - I adored IN THE LONG RUN by Emma Mugglestone (🇦🇺), BAD REPUTATION by Emma Barry, THE EX VOWS by Jessica Joyce, and FIRST-TIME CALLER by BK Borison, which were all wonderfully emotionally grounded romances with characters I really believed in.
And finally, allow me to scream from the rooftops about A SMART GIRL'S GUIDE TO SECOND CHANCES by Steph Vizard (🇦🇺). I know love triangles are divisive in romance, but please please *please* trust me - this is probably the best executed one I've ever read.
December 30, 2025 at 10:17 PM
And finally, allow me to scream from the rooftops about A SMART GIRL'S GUIDE TO SECOND CHANCES by Steph Vizard (🇦🇺). I know love triangles are divisive in romance, but please please *please* trust me - this is probably the best executed one I've ever read.
Easily the funniest book I read this year was IN SPITE OF YOU by Patrick Lenton (🇦🇺). Jeremy has to attend an event in which his awful ex-boyfriend is being lauded, so the only solution is to become as hot & successful as possible, right? But that nice boy he meets at the gym is such a distraction...
December 30, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Easily the funniest book I read this year was IN SPITE OF YOU by Patrick Lenton (🇦🇺). Jeremy has to attend an event in which his awful ex-boyfriend is being lauded, so the only solution is to become as hot & successful as possible, right? But that nice boy he meets at the gym is such a distraction...
I feel like Freya Marske (🇦🇺) appears on my end of year top ten lists every year, but there's a reason - her books are uniformly excellent. I adored CINDER HOUSE, an exquisite and surprising Cinderella retelling.
December 30, 2025 at 10:12 PM
I feel like Freya Marske (🇦🇺) appears on my end of year top ten lists every year, but there's a reason - her books are uniformly excellent. I adored CINDER HOUSE, an exquisite and surprising Cinderella retelling.
I gave myself a little treat this year and finally let myself binge read the Wedgeford Trials series by Courtney Milan. The clipboard-wielding heroine of THE DUKE WHO DIDN'T stole my heart, but I also loved the two sequels, THE MARQUIS WHO MUSTN'T and THE EARL WHO ISN'T.
December 30, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I gave myself a little treat this year and finally let myself binge read the Wedgeford Trials series by Courtney Milan. The clipboard-wielding heroine of THE DUKE WHO DIDN'T stole my heart, but I also loved the two sequels, THE MARQUIS WHO MUSTN'T and THE EARL WHO ISN'T.
I am *picky* about romances set in academia - especially modern academia - for obvious reasons. But I absolutely devoured MAKE ROOM FOR LOVE by Darcy Liao, about a trans woman grad student and the butch mechanic helping her unionise her department.
December 30, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I am *picky* about romances set in academia - especially modern academia - for obvious reasons. But I absolutely devoured MAKE ROOM FOR LOVE by Darcy Liao, about a trans woman grad student and the butch mechanic helping her unionise her department.
Romantic suspense isn't usually a genre I gravitate to, but THE PRINCESS AND THE PI by Nikki Payne grabbed me and didn't let me go. She's the internet sleuth trying to escape a cultish church and avenge her brother, he's the PI that's trying to help her and *definitely* not fall in love with her...
December 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Romantic suspense isn't usually a genre I gravitate to, but THE PRINCESS AND THE PI by Nikki Payne grabbed me and didn't let me go. She's the internet sleuth trying to escape a cultish church and avenge her brother, he's the PI that's trying to help her and *definitely* not fall in love with her...
One of my last romance reads of the year also ended up being one of my favourites. I made the critical error of reading PROMISE ME SUNSHINE by Cara Bastone on a plane, and it made me weep *buckets* (in a cathartic way - it's a romance about two grieving people, and it absolutely got me).
December 30, 2025 at 10:01 PM
One of my last romance reads of the year also ended up being one of my favourites. I made the critical error of reading PROMISE ME SUNSHINE by Cara Bastone on a plane, and it made me weep *buckets* (in a cathartic way - it's a romance about two grieving people, and it absolutely got me).
I predicted that my very first romance read of the year might end up being one of my favourites, and I was right. I love to read Type A heroines gradually unclenching their jaws, and THAT ISLAND FEELING by Karina May (🇦🇺) gave me exactly what I wanted.
December 30, 2025 at 9:59 PM
I predicted that my very first romance read of the year might end up being one of my favourites, and I was right. I love to read Type A heroines gradually unclenching their jaws, and THAT ISLAND FEELING by Karina May (🇦🇺) gave me exactly what I wanted.
Queer sports romance is having a bit of a moment right now, so if you're looking for a new one - stop what you're doing and read AFTER THE SIREN by Darcy Green (🇦🇺), which centres on two AFL boys drafted to the same team who do! not! like! each other! (or do they?)
December 30, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Queer sports romance is having a bit of a moment right now, so if you're looking for a new one - stop what you're doing and read AFTER THE SIREN by Darcy Green (🇦🇺), which centres on two AFL boys drafted to the same team who do! not! like! each other! (or do they?)
My absolute favourite read of the year was THE ORNITHOLOGIST'S FIELD GUIDE TO LOVE by India Holton (🇳🇿), along with its sequel THE GEOGRAPHER'S MAP TO ROMANCE. These are romps set in academia in a magical Victorian Britain, and they're both screamingly funny (like, *so* funny) and achingly romantic.
December 30, 2025 at 9:54 PM
My absolute favourite read of the year was THE ORNITHOLOGIST'S FIELD GUIDE TO LOVE by India Holton (🇳🇿), along with its sequel THE GEOGRAPHER'S MAP TO ROMANCE. These are romps set in academia in a magical Victorian Britain, and they're both screamingly funny (like, *so* funny) and achingly romantic.
December 28, THIS TIME NEXT YEAR, Ruby Barrett.
The perfect way to round out the year: I loved this little novella about two friends who keep only kissing at New Year until they finally figure things out.
The perfect way to round out the year: I loved this little novella about two friends who keep only kissing at New Year until they finally figure things out.
December 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM
December 28, THIS TIME NEXT YEAR, Ruby Barrett.
The perfect way to round out the year: I loved this little novella about two friends who keep only kissing at New Year until they finally figure things out.
The perfect way to round out the year: I loved this little novella about two friends who keep only kissing at New Year until they finally figure things out.
ahem if you are Australian and looking for summer reading...
Amazon: www.amazon.com.au/stores/autho...
Kobo: www.kobo.com/au/en/search...
Booktopia: www.booktopia.com.au/search?autho...
Apple: books.apple.com/au/author/jo...
Amazon: www.amazon.com.au/stores/autho...
Kobo: www.kobo.com/au/en/search...
Booktopia: www.booktopia.com.au/search?autho...
Apple: books.apple.com/au/author/jo...
December 27, 2025 at 9:41 PM
ahem if you are Australian and looking for summer reading...
Amazon: www.amazon.com.au/stores/autho...
Kobo: www.kobo.com/au/en/search...
Booktopia: www.booktopia.com.au/search?autho...
Apple: books.apple.com/au/author/jo...
Amazon: www.amazon.com.au/stores/autho...
Kobo: www.kobo.com/au/en/search...
Booktopia: www.booktopia.com.au/search?autho...
Apple: books.apple.com/au/author/jo...
Day 24 of my Australian rom-com advent calendar is An Academic Affair by me (I had to sneak one of my books in here!). The reception this year to this little academic rivals to lovers marriage of convenience romance has been amazing, and I'm excited to do it all again with the sequel in 2026.
December 23, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Day 24 of my Australian rom-com advent calendar is An Academic Affair by me (I had to sneak one of my books in here!). The reception this year to this little academic rivals to lovers marriage of convenience romance has been amazing, and I'm excited to do it all again with the sequel in 2026.