The Good Girl Effect

Salacious Legacy, Book 1

De: Sara Cate

Narrado por: Jason Clarke, Meg Sylvan, Brandon Francis, CJ Bloom, Samantha Brentmoor

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 decide: can love heal a heart still grieving, or will their passion destroy them both?

©2025 Sara Cate (P)2025 Sara Cate

Oh Sweet Baby Jesus

Jason Clark. That is all. His voice is just so perfect. He's making my expectations high. If my future husbands voice isn't drop and raspy like Jason's I don't want it.

Duel narration makes me so happy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sara Cate has done it again-The Good Girl Effect is everything I hoped for and more. I'm absolutely obsessed with this book, just like every single one of her others. She never misses.

If you love:
✨ Single dad
✨ Off-limits romance
✨ Boss/nanny dynamic
✨ A perfectly grumpy MMC
✨ Steamy lessons
✨ A swoony HEA

...then this story will completely own your heart.

The chemistry between the characters was electric, the emotional tension was beautifully written, and the way Sara builds their relationship had me glued to the page from start to finish. It's the kind of book you think about long after you've finished it.

This was such an amazing addition to the Legacy series, and honestly one of my favorites so far. Sara Cate continues to prove why she's an auto-buy author for me-I know I'm going to get romance that's passionate, angsty, heartfelt, and unforgettable.

I especially love the audio, this book just hits on so many levels!

Highly, highly recommend. 💕

It’s all about taking a chance.

I finished this one a couple of days ago and have been trying to formulate words for my review. This was different from the salacious players club in a sense because of the dynamics between the characters. Though different it was still fantastic. Jack such a grumpy lonely man who was struggling with the grief from his wife’s passing. Camille a lost woman herself managing her own grief and finding purpose in her life meet by chance. Id love to think this was their loved ones doing forcing them to do things they never would do.
Jack struggled throughout his story and it was very sad to watch the impact his unresolved grief had on so many people and factors in his life. Camille didn’t know this man at all but on a whim met him and his amazing bea and truly fixed the gaping whole in this family. She was a very strong willed person to face the grump day in and day out breaking down walls.
It was so fun to see some familiar SPC faces again and their children. I’m very interested in the rest of this series.

Loved the story but not the narrators

I loved the story itself. Sara Cate never disappoints! My biggest issue though was the narrators. I have no problems with duel narrators; I like when a male narrator reads male chapters and female narrators read female chapters. What I don’t like is the random male voice or random female voice that gets thrown into the opposite’s chapters from a different voice. It always threw me off and in my opinion ruined the illusion of the story (at least for me obviously some people like it). I also don’t really like when the narrators get a little too animated during certain explicit scenes. I don’t need to hear the narrator groaning or moaning along. My imagination can do that for me. Other than those 2 things, I really enjoyed this book!

Love love love.

Adored this book. Cannot wait for more from this series. I was sucked in very quickly and very invested in the outcome.

Need the second book ASAP!

Sara Cate has done it again. The Good Girl Effect is everything I hoped it would be and more an intoxicating blend of grief, love, kink, and healing that pulled me in from the very first page. Set against the backdrop of Paris and a brand-new kink club, this second-generation story takes the children of the original Salacious Players’ Club cast and carves out a narrative that feels both familiar and refreshingly new.

Jack and Camille’s story is equal parts heartache and heat. Jack, a grieving single dad burying himself in his work, is a fortress of pain and control. Camille, on the other hand, is elegance and warmth, unintentionally stumbling into his world and shaking its foundations. Their connection is electric tender one moment and scorching the next. Sara Cate doesn’t shy away from the harder emotions either. The grief, the loss, and the weight of healing are woven so beautifully that the story stays with you long after you close the book.

If I had one wish, it would be for more glimpses of the original SPC parents especially given how invested I was in their journeys. Still, the dynamic between Jack and Camille is so consuming, it’s hard to complain. Rope lessons in the dead of night, letters tucked away like secrets, and a chemistry that builds into something unforgettable… this is Sara Cate at her best.

The Story
Camille Aubert never expected to become a nanny she only meant to return a lost love letter. But when she’s mistaken for a job applicant and hired by grieving single father Jack St. Claire, her life takes an unexpected turn. Jack has built walls of work and kink to keep his grief at bay, but Camille quickly challenges his control. As she discovers the shadows of his past and the passion he hides behind ropes and bondage, Camille must decide if she can love a man still haunted or if she’ll be destroyed by his darkness.

What I Loved
✔️ The second-generation concept—fresh yet tied to the world of SPC.
✔️ Jack’s grief written with such raw depth and authenticity.
✔️ Camille’s elegance, curiosity, and warmth balancing Jack’s darkness.
✔️ The rope/bondage elements adding both sensuality and emotional vulnerability.
✔️ The emotional build equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful.

🎧 Narration
Performed by a full-cast dream team Jason Clarke, Meg Sylvan, Brandon Francis, CJ Bloom, and Samantha Brentmoor. Every single performance elevated the book, but Meg Sylvan especially stood out to me. This was my first listen to her narration, and she ruined me in the best way. Her portrayal of Camille was elegant, layered, and utterly unforgettable. She’s now firmly on my must-listen list.

Tropes & Vibes
Single Dad x Nanny
Grumpy x Sunshine
Age Gap
Forced Proximity
Forbidden Romance
Found Family
Rope / Bondage Play
Letter Writing
Paris Kink Club
Second Generation

Final Thoughts
The Good Girl Effect is tender, steamy, and devastatingly beautiful. Sara Cate blends kink with grief, pain with healing, and darkness with love in a way that feels both daring and deeply human. This book isn’t just about falling in love it’s about choosing to live again after loss. I adored every page, and I cannot wait for the next installment in this second-generation series.

I never leave reviews

I'm not a reviewer but this book.. it hit home for me. I am blessed to have a husband that absolutely adores me. I couldn't imagine the pain my husband would go through if something happened to me. This book made me write letters to my husband just incase. No one should have to morn this long alone. 😪 I only hope my husband finds a "Camille " when I'm no longer on this earth, that he finds someone that loves him and our kids. This was a fantastic read and a great continuation of Salacious which was "chef kiss" .

Good girl

Just applause and greatness true happiness even if it is a little of emotional pain

Hot 🥵

“Good girl, little bird. Good f*ckin’ girl!”

You betta say that, Jack! 👏🏽 lol.

This was such a great read—rope play, sub space, and praise. What more could you want? Oh right… a brooding widower trying to find his way back to life. Enter an inexperienced cashier who just so happens to get hired as the nanny. 👀

A perfect blend of banter, control, and discipline.
And trust me—get the audiobook! 🙃✨

Exceptional Story & Listen🎧 Gripping & Emotional!

I love, love, loved Sara Cate’s “Salacious Players Club” series and was wondering how she was going to top that or even keep the momentum going. Well, she outdid herself with this first book of the “Salacious Legacy” series, not that I had any doubt since everything she writes is absolutely brilliant. This book starts with a brief introduction to the key characters, the children, now adults, of the “Salacious Players Club” characters and their current relationships, basically laying down the foundation for the series. The parents are not happy with the state of their children’s relationship, and are going to give them a chance to make it better by making them work together as a team to run their own club in Paris, where they were already living and working, Ronan’s club, now theirs, the second generation, Julian, Amelia, Phoenix, Weston, Jack and Elizabeth, the other three children, Liam, Austin and Scarlet are off doing their own thing and may or may not join them at some point. Each will bring something different to the club, doing their own thing with Jack St. Claire and Julian Kade at the helm running it together, which will be interesting since they have not gotten along in years.

“The Good Girl Effect” is Jack St. Claire and Camille Aubert’s story, an enthralling story that tugs at your heartstrings. Jack is a widower and a single dad, a broken man lost in his own grief. He has been running his uncle’s club, but plans to leave Paris and return to the States to be near his family and raise his daughter there. He only agreed to his uncle’s plan of taking over the club because he needs to make mends with his sister Elizabeth, he does not mind working with his bestie, Phoenix or her brother Weston, though he is not happy to be partnered with Julian. Times had not been good after his wife died, but he has his daughter back with him and he needs to find a nanny to watch her while he works. It hasn’t been easy for Camille Aubert, taking the death of her father and loss of his restaurant hard. She is working at a bookstore but has dreams of moving to Paris one day. Intrigued by a picture and letter she found in a book in the store, she needed to find and return the letter to the addressee. After learning the person died, she went to return the letter to the person who wrote it, Jack St. Claire. Except that is not what happens when she arrives, the person who answered the door assumed she was there for the nanny position, for Jack’s young daughter. Not sure why, but she just went with it, and she and the little girl, Bea, clicked right away. It was her comments about knowing what it was like to be raised by a single parent, and Bea liking her that led to her getting the job. Sara Cate put her own unique spin on the nanny/single dad trope, creating a multi-layered story with complex characters, and it was great watching everything unfold. The chemistry between Jack and Camille was electric, and she saw past his angst and heartache, and penetrated the wall around his heart, and it became easier to see past his grief. There is never a dull moment in this book, and the story has the perfect balance of drama, angst, heartfelt emotions and steamy romance. As always, the writing, plot and world building are incredible, as are the character growth and development. Sara Cate, thank you for another exceptional story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the amazing multi-cast production performed in duet by a superbly talented cast with character voices that are fitting for a perfect portrayal of each. Jason Clarke and Meg Sylvan were fantastic at performing the roles of the two lead characters, Jack and Camille, and equally fantastic were Brandon Francis, CJ Bloom and Samantha Brentmoor performing the roles of the side/secondary characters. Clarke nailed it as Jack, grasping every aspect of his personality, from his angst and despondency to his alpha Dom and all in between. Sylvan was a natural in Camille’s role, showcasing her personality perfectly, her strength and determination, as well as her easiness with and as Bea. The supporting cast were equally amazing in their roles, and I hope to hear them reprise those roles for their character’s own books. These entertaining storytellers are a pleasure to listen to, and their captivating performance not only rivets you to the story, but it takes the already exceptional story to another level.