Sabbatical

Curriculum Vitae #2

by Katrina Jackson

Toni had a plan for the summer: rest, relaxation, and renovation. In the summer before her sabbatical year, all she wanted was to disentangle herself from her job. No work emails. Not departmental or university politics. No Dr. Antonia Ward.

But during the last week of classes, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with Dr. Mike Hernandez. The colleague she's known for years and never once thought twice about, suddenly seems taller, his voice seems deeper, and every time they find themselves alone together, they can't keep their hands to themselves.

In the end, Mike made sure that Toni's actual summer plans were live, laugh, and love. Thankfully, Toni already knew he was corny, but she found out that he was so much more.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook, M F Romance, Friends To Lovers, Adult

286 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 21, 2022

About the author

Katrina is a seasoned spinster with an active imagination, a love of romcoms and a keenly critical nature. She's a college professor by day who writes romances by...weekend. Right now she also happens to be on summer vacation. She enjoys yogurt, sparkling water and her three cats, who don't appreciate her love.

Reviews

[Booked and Busy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a man what a man what a man what a mighty good man!

[Weekend Reader_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y'all I waited for this book and it didn't disappoint. In full transparency I'm not sure how much of my personal experience working in academia and how much what happened in the book mirrored my life.

With that being said this entry was so unexpected. I often think Katrina Jackson is going to be hot and heavy from jump but Sabbatical babyyyyy was slow burn with lot of build up. I think it was an interesting choice but you know what I'm here for it. I think it gave us another opportunity to see character development. This book is about emotionally intimacy, safety, and vulnerability. The world might be weighing Toni down but Mike is there to relieve the load. Ugh how is it possible to love a character more than Alejandro. Mike was counter to everything possessive, alphahole but will probably punch someone if needed. Also we don't often get to spend time in MMC heads and oh we were in his head.

Anyway I'm trying not to make this review really long but it was refreshing to read about a friends to lovers who still took the time to learn about the ways to love each other. Yes, Toni fought it but lost. Mike was built in the foundation 🥺 with the constant reassurance that he was happy to take care of her not because she needed it but because it makes him happy that she's happy. Girl let that sink in.

Disclaimer: I'm a Katrina fan and always in her dms.

CN: microagressions, burnout, possible mental health, dating anxiety, toxic work environment, partner stealing work and taking credit, unionization talks and firing, food insecurity and waste,

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

A quite steamy romance in an academic setting! Toni is finally going on sabbatical from her tenured professorship and getting the rest she deserves after years of being the go-to woman of color on faculty to deal with problems and mentor students. But the last week of classes she's also just beginning to notice how attractive her colleague Mike Hernandez is- a man who has secretly had a thing for her for years. And now that she has less on her plate, there might be room for things to heat up between them.

I love how this series is clearly written by someone with intimate knowledge of academia, professorship, adjuncts, and all the things that go along with it, especially for non-white faculty. There are so many details dropped that are very specific. But it's also this quite sexy romance with a heroine who really deserves to have pleasure and love in her life. Definitely would recommend!

[mina reads™️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review here: https://t.co/Q46o2Pol6p

[Fal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m obsessed.

[anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

okay let's preface this review with the fact that I went into this knowing the audiobook was a 2024 Audie Award finalist for the category erotica. 1) it is not erotica, it's romance. there were barely any sex scenes, and they weren't that good. 2) I did not enjoy the narrator for Mike (personal preference). 3) Mike does not respect Toni and this relationship is doomed to fail. 4) I loved the cat.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, soft, sexy, sweet, full of pining, with two smart, competent MCs. Adore this world of academia Katrina Jackson has immersed her readers in, it feels real and authentic and Toni and Mike were perfect together, 2 adults having adult conversations and acting like mature adults as they navigated their slow blooming relationship.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and sexy but Mike sometimes sounded like a weird obsessed super fan at times. I love the academic setting but it also felt a bit unrealistic. Toni was described as some sort of academic rock star but there’s no proof. I can’t even remember what she teaches. The overused third act conflict as a plot device was annoying but overall it was fun sexy story.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up. This was really good in the set up. The pining from the jump was my kind of food. But about 25% in it lost my interest. I finished it begrudgingly bc I really wanted this to get better. It should've been better. A group of friends working at the same college on the cusp of summer break? Smart academic and older characters? Pining? All main characters are POC? Come on this should've been fire!!

I was not a huge fan of the "friends" in quotes bc were they even friends or just folks that hung out together bc they're POC and all work in the same school?? Did they even like each other??? Have anything in common???? I mean we've all been in a work situation where there's folks that you're friends with at work and they stay at 👏🏾 work 👏🏾 Right? This group of banana heads would hang out actively disliking each other. For what?? Not fun to read and did not contribute to the plot in any way I could find useful. It was also so weird the way Toni would talk with Deja like they hated each other. So mean. I get joking with your friend but it was a bit much for me.

Also the couple from the first book were so beyond annoying and mettling like I could not wait for them to be otherwise occupied bc Jesus Christ they were nosy as hell. I wish this book focused more energy on the main couple and less on the previous couple tbh. Especially bc I did not read the first one and could not find it in my heart to care about these people.

Mike was cute at first but then became mad creepy 😂 bruv knew too much about her for them to only have been coworkers for however long. My guy was Obsessed with Toni. And Toni was Obsessed with work. Maybe everybody tone it down just a bit?

So anyway I wasn't a fan. I'll try another Katrina Jackson book just to see 🙈 I really did want to like this but it was just not in the cards my friend

[Arianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t rate this book anything less if I tried. Mike is a fucking simp for my girl. And as he fucking should! Toni is a powerhouse, a fanTABulous icon. I’ve loved her from the beginning. But Mike simply wants to bask in her presence and take care of her. WHUT? Doing yard work out here for fun. For FREE. Taking down and WASHING HER HAIR? I’m sorry, do these men come as a prepackaged deal or can I order one exclusive on eBay? I’m…in love with them. More specifically how in love Mike is in love with Toni. But also, just the beauty and care that gets put into Toni, knowing that she is a hardworking Black women that everyone turns to, that she feels like she has to hold up the weight of the world for herself simply because she can, because she’s always has and no one has shown her otherwise. Until Mike. 😏 and she freaking deserves it. Ugh. Anyways, I want to see Sharon and Marie get together. I’d be soo excited for that book. Especially with the union on the way!! Unfortunately Alejandro and Deja’s book is still my favorite (even if they felt insufferable as cameos together in this one lmao) but this was just great. 10/10 stars.

[mood_reading_maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

－ＢＯＯＫ ＲＥＶＩＥＷ－
Sabbatical by Katrina Jackson

Mike Hernandez 💜 This sweet simp of a male main character is a true beta hero. If that’s not your cup of tea, then it will probably be a big turn off in this book.

We’re again immersed in this small town academic environment, just like in Office Hours. Sabbatical focuses on the relationship between Toni Wade and Mike Hernandez. A note on Toni: POC, but especially Black and female, academics are held to a different standard within the institution. They have to publish more (and prestigiously), take on additional service work, manage & mentor their students of color, and combat being paraded as a paragon of the university’s IDE index. This is absolutely the case with Toni’s character. The concept of visibility is prevalent throughout the book.

Toni and Mike’s relationship is a slow and gradual one. Mike has been pining HARD for years, patiently waiting for that moment when Toni will really ✨see✨ him. And when she does? She realizes that she doesn’t really know Mike as well as she thought. But Toni is cautious, having been burnt before and abiding by the rule of “not shitting where you eat.” Again, Mike is the calm patient man letting Toni take the lead.

Sabbatical is a breath of fresh air. You get to see academic burnout, institutional expectations, workplace organizing (yeah, unionizing!), and finally, finally learning how to prioritize rest.

3.5/5 ⭐️

#23for23

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Mike's pining has come to fruition and boy did I enjoy watching Toni finally open up her eyes and see who has been in front of her all along! This had so many things I love: home renovation, Mike bonding with Toni's cat, union organizing, and Mike learning how to do Toni's hair. An absolute treat.


Characters: Toni is a 40 year old Black political science professor. She has a cat named Paw Robeson. Mike is a 35 year old Salvadoran physics professor.

Content notes: past divorce, union organizing, past death of FMC's grandmother, past death of FMC's advisor, past IP theft and plagiarism (FMC's ex-boyfriend stole her dissertation proposal), past immigration to US as a child (MMC), family planning discussion (secondary character), unsafe sex practices (no condom for penetrative sex without discussion of STI and pregnancy prevention), on page sex, public sex, anal play, masturbation, sex toys, alcohol, p-in-v sex is the only "real" sex, gendered pejoratives, mention of past workplace sexual harassment and racial discrimination

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE romances with home renovation content, and basically the only thing that could have made this better for me would have been even more home renovation. I really wanted to be in the backyard with them putting in a garden especially, but Katrina didn't even ask me. Anyway, I really enjoyed this romance, and I'm so glad we got more time with this friend group. Removing it from the hustle and bustle of the school year was a refreshing change of pace while still staying grounded in the struggles of being a Black woman in academia.

Toni and Mike existed in a sort of fever dream summer. Toni was suddenly seeing him in a new light, and Mike was just glad that she was finally looking. It was more intimate in scope than the previous book, with so much of the time just being the two of them, but it did a wonderful job of tackling how a relationship has to change to move out of a protected bubble and into the real world. Lovely.

[scthoughts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike was so pathetic and down bad for Toni but he carried the story on his back.

[Donnela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Chidimma Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike was just so pathetically in love with Toni and I loved every second of it. Mike and Toni’s buildup was actually found in this book which I felt was missing in the first book with Deja and Alejandro. Even though Mike has been pining for her since the day they met we still saw Toni slowly realize that Mike can be more than a friend. Mike was just so sweet like literally anything Toni needed he was there. Mike and Toni just felt so natural.

[Lynn Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars 🌟 we all deserve that slow love, and boy do I love a man who simps! 🥹

[Emmalita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sabbatical was so great. I loved seeing Deja and Alejandro irritating their friends with their joy. I loved that Paw Robeson drops Tony as soon as he meet Mike, because cats are jerks like that. But most of all, I loved Tony and Mike.

[Elly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars? Pretty good, but honestly Mike was kind of stalker-y and excessively selfless. That he’d been obsessing over Toni for actual years and memorized tons of stuff about her was a little creepy, not romantic (to me) as it was portrayed here. I also feel a little weird about him hiding his feelings for so many years instead of just asking her out. He kept saying she was “worth waiting for” but there was no particular reason that the waiting had to happen? I dunno.

I liked Toni as a character, but the majority of what we learned about Mike is that he’s super into Toni and busy strategizing what to share with and hide from her about that. We get some hints that there’s more to him than that, but really he’s a shell of a character.

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up.

I knew the rating before even finishing because the conflict came out nowhere. I prefer for the confit to be built into the story but this made absolutely no sense. All of a sudden, Toni is worried about having a relationship at the start of the school year, meanwhile she’s going on sabbatical? There was a throwaway line early on in their relationship about this not being a serious commitment but the anxiety of their relationship only being a temporary one didn’t show up much in Toni’s thoughts until 5 pages prior to the “breakup”. The chemistry was good-ish, if not a little one sided, but the plot lacked direction.

[Sofia (Bookish Wanderess) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the first book a little more but this was still a solid romance. I loved both of the main characters, the friends to lovers, slow burn romance was fantastic and the steamy scenes were great. I also appreciated the commentary on how it is to be in academia as a person of color.

[Monica (The Accidental Romance Blogger) Barbosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie - this was on my TBL for Oscar Reyes. (I love Mari too, don't get me wrong, but I am definitely in my Oscar Reyes era).

A quite steamy romance set in academia, we follow Toni, who's finally taking a coveted sabbatical from her tenured position. All she wants to do is ... nothing. She wants to REST. And tackle a "few" renovation projects in her fixer-upper of a house. She can't wait for the last class, the last graduation until she leaves on her break. But something strange is happening: she's suddenly "seeing" Mike Hernandez, her colleague at the university. He's always been around as he's also best friends with her best friend's boyfriend and they all work at the same university. All a sudden, his voice seems deeper, his smile brighter and she doesn't know how to deal with it. 

Mike has been pining for Toni for ages much to the enjoyment of his best friend who goads him all the time. And he's had it. Time's up, Toni. And now that she's not overextended with work, Mike will make sure he'll be around and maybe win her heart.

A book that's been clearly written by someone who has personal knowledge of the academic world and it may be sometimes too much for people unfamiliar with the setting. However, the romance is top notch and Mike is not playing around when he finally decides to go for the woman he loves.

Narration: Mari is amazing as always as the no nonsense Toni - a woman who really deserves love in her life. Oscar Reyes has cornered the market for pining tortured heroes and it's OMG. No wonder their performances have been nominated for an Audie! So many stars!

Rep: Black heroine, Latine hero

Possible triggers: mentions of burnout, toxic work environment, microaggressions and systemic racism

[Zayah Wrights · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 of the Curriculum Viate series follows the life of Dr. Antonia Wade (one Deja's best friends in book 1).

Toni has received her tenure and has worked to her very bones to care for all students as well as her colleagues of colour on campus. she's basically the mom friend/lecturer whom everyone goes to for help with absolutely anything and they're guaranteed to get the assistance they ask of her.

The book starts when she's making preparations following the approval of her sabbatical application (about a year off campus and away from her usual responsibilities) and though it should be an exciting time ahead, she's lowkey dreading it because she has a lot of work she's been putting off at home.

Que, Michael Hernandez (Alejandro's best friend in book 1) who volunteers his services in helping her with her renovations. Mike has also had a crush on Toni since the very first time he saw her has been patiently waiting for her to catch on. She never does, even though everyone on campus knows about it.

They do end up together at the end but it's after great lengths that Mike goes to so he could show Toni she can put down the caretaker hat and let someone else do for her what she's so used to doing for others.

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. I'm glad I reread the first book since it has been so long and it refamiliarized myself with the characters. However, this book does give enough explanation so you know who is who, it just worked better for me.

This is a major slow burn of a book stretching out over the course of a summer. These two really took their time to build up the fire, though once they did, it was quite hot. Toni has some major trust issues, especially within the scope of dating co-workers, so Mike had to really earn her trust and his spot at her side. Mike is a gem because he's unique in a world of incredibly forward and pushy men. He respects Toni's boundaries to the utmost and waits on the sidelines until she gives the slightest opening. Even then, he still only nudges the door open slightly and waits for her to give major "all clear" signals. While slightly frustrating as a reader who knows they will be perfect for one another and end up together, I think this is mostly because this is not the norm. If this happened in real life I would probably really appreciate this, though I would be just as oblivious as Toni was for years. In the end, while not my standard catnip, I ended up really loving this and am looking forward to the next book. I also have really enjoyed the perspective of a college professor as a main character, especially one dating other professors rather than getting into icky gray area with students. Great series!

[Symonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0

Friends to lovers
Slow burn
Pining

Toni had a plan for the summer rest, relaxation, and renovation. In the summer before her sabbatical year, all she wanted was to disentangle herself from her job. No work emails. Not departmental or university politics. No Dr. Antonia Ward. But during the last week of classes, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with Dr. Mike Hernandez. The colleague she's known for years and never once thought twice about, suddenly seems taller, his voice seems deeper, and every time they find themselves alone together, they cant keep their hands to themselves.

Set in the same universe as Office Hours, Mike and Toni have such a simmering slow burn. Steamy, filled with tension and a well written story. A cute story showing how a long time crush can turn into a solid relationship. Toni was such a self aware character, she knew her flaws and strengths and was honest about it. Mike was a gem of a male main character. Together the two are freaking adorable. An easy to follow plot with loveable side characters and another great insight to different aspects of academia.

[Susi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars – much like book one in the series, this one was very slice-of-life heavy. The only difference being that while Deja spent most of the book being stressed out of her mind due to work, Toni‘s book takes place during semester break. Which means even less things are happening except maybe a possible teacher‘s union being in the making. But since both Mike and Toni are even worse workaholics than their friends, I‘m pretty sure we wouldn‘t have gotten a love story out of this if they‘d been on the job the whole time.

I liked that they took things slow and went at a steady pace. Though the final one week break-up didn‘t really have to happen as per usual, I couldn‘t even get worked up about it since there was no real conflict behind it (out of nowhere, without talking about it and for what felt like five minutes they just both assumed a relationship couldn‘t survive everyday campus life).

To sum up it’s a fun and relaxing read with adult characters who do act like adults (wow) but there isn‘t really much to remember in the way of plot or conflict :)

[Nevergreen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this to be fine....I really wish I liked it more but I didn't. Maybe I was part of a different type of university environment but professors do not take summers off like it showed in here....there are always grad students, grant writing, summer courses, etc, etc, etc. I feel like the book would have benefitted from starting a bit earlier than it did, to show what the dynamic had been like before things changed - this might be unfair to the book since this is the second one and perhaps that is in the first but a companion bok should be able to stand on its own. This book tried to do a few different things but didn't actually go there with any of them. It briefly touched on being a PoC professor but didn't do anything with it. The union plot line I figure will run into the next book as I'm assuming Marie will be the MC for that but it leaves this book with not resolution to the plot. The characters didn't give me enough to latch onto. Overall, a fine but disappointing read.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading these books is the perfect antidote to wanting to return to being a tenure-track faculty member, lol. In this book, we follow Toni (Antoinette) who is finally headed for her long-awaited sabbatical where she plans to work on her house and not her research (good for her!). But before she can get there, she's got to get through mentoring all the Black students and faculty of color who need her support. When one of those faculty members starts making his crush on her more apparent, she's taken aback and does what she usually does: retreats into her comfort zone. Only he won't let her and slowly, slowly works his way into her life by helping her with her house. It also helps that her cat adores him. In the end, they find a way to their happy for now ending. Oh, and it's Katrina Jackson so you know the sex scenes are spicy!

[squee me · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 but I can't round up to 4. I loved the first book in this series but was disappointed by this book. The first half moved slowly and I almost DNF'd a few times. Things picked up in the second half, and I really enjoyed the resolution, though oddly the romance actually seemed to lose heat as it progressed. I do think the representation of academia is accurate and interesting, and I also actually enjoyed the quieter moments like Toni and Mike shopping for paint or working on projects at Toni's house. I did feel that the secondary cast detracted from the story, in particular the couple from the first book, who were annoying and meddlesome. Maybe this was just too realistic at times! Overall just a rather odd reading experience, I liked the main characters and was rooting for their romance, but I was often bored or underwhelmed. Very good audiobook narration did help keep me interested.

[Angela Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got into this book and completely forgot every other book I was reading. It was just that good. I absolutely loved it. Mike and Toni are in my top 5 book couples. They’re both so well adjusted and great and I love that in a book. The story is paced well and I love the little moments between the MCs showing how they fell in love (well Mike was already there but yeah). And the little character moments that are so authentic like taking out braids, wash day, Mike’s numerous hair products, the bonnet. And how their chemistry was so great that he basically moved in without them even noticing that he basically moved his whole life into her home.

I was unfamiliar with Katrina Jackson’s game otherwise I would’ve read this book way, way earlier!