FIERCELY FICTIONAL: Courtesy of Cupid
FIERCELY FICTIONAL celebrates fierce, inspiring fictional girls we know you’ll love. To us, “fierce” isn’t just about slaying dragons or solving mysteries. It’s about breaking free from your comfort zone, discovering your confidence, fighting for what you believe in, & discovering your emotional strength. Any girl can shine bright & be fierce, & in this series, we’ll connect you with a new fiercely fictional character every month!
In this special Valentine’s Day edition of FIERCELY FICTIONAL, we’re bringing the love, spotlighting a middle grade rom-com and fierce girlie we think you’ll heart! Ambitious and unknowingly magical Erin Johnson in Courtesy of Cupid, in the playful new read by Nashae Jones.
Erin Johnson is an eighth-grade student with a passion for science. She’s the kind of girl who’s always early for everything and her schoolwork is perfectly researched and polished. The list of dreams she’s laser-focused on achieving is impressive, including getting into a prestigious medical school and becoming the first Black woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Right now? Her biggest goal is to become president of the Multicultural Leadership Club. Her lifelong academic rival, Trevor Lim, is also going out for the spot, and neither of them is known for backing down from a challenge.
Courtesy of Cupid:
In this middle grade rom-com sprinkled with a dash of magic, a girl uses her newfound ability to make people fall in love to sabotage her rival.
Erin Johnson’s thirteenth birthday unfolds like any other day, from her mom’s quirky and embarrassing choice of outfit to racing her nemesis, Trevor Jin, to the best seat in class—front row, center. But her gifts this year include something very out of the ordinary: magical powers.
Erin discovers her mysterious father is actually the love god Cupid and she’s inherited his knack for romance. It’s not the most useful ability for an overachiever with lofty academic and extracurricular goals…or is it? Erin desperately wants to be elected president of the Multicultural Leadership Club, and as usual, Trevor is her fiercest competition. He’s never backed down from a challenge before, but if Erin makes him fall in love with her, maybe he’d drop out of the race and let her win.
With her magical pedigree, wrapping Trevor around her finger is a snap, and having him around all the time is a small price to pay for victory. But without their cutthroat rivalry bringing out the worst in each other, Erin realizes Trevor may not be as bad as she thought, and suddenly her first foray into love gets a lot more complicated…
Courtesy of Cupid
AUTHOR: Nashae Jones
PUBLISHER: Aladdin
DATE: January 2, 2024
But after a totally embarrassing incident at her 13th birthday party, Erin discovers something impossible. Her dad is actually Cupid. Like – the Cupid. And she’s inherited some of the magical love powers that he’s known for. He even left a manual! Erin puts her new abilities to the test at school, meddling with a teacher, her best friend Bruno, and, of course, Trevor. If he’s lovestruck, he has to back out of the race and let Erin have the win, right?
It turns out love is trickier than she expected. With their usual competitive angst toned down, she notices that Trevor isn’t so bad, leaving Erin with some complicated feelings and facing the consequences of messing with fate – and other people’s feelings.
Courtesy of Cupid is a really fun read filled with academic rivalry, sweet crushes, and of course, our favorite a super fierce main character. Erin is determined, persistent, and unstoppable when it comes to her following her dreams. We love her passion for science and how she never backs down from a challenge. Her mistakes are super relatable, and you’ll cringe, cheer, and swoon right alongside her as you read this adorably magical romance-tinted rivalry and tale of growing up.
We’re excited to share that Courtesy of Cupid author Nashae Jones is here sharing a peek between the pages of this new read and all the reasons Erin Johnson is totally fierce!
Five Reasons Erin Johnson is Totally Fierce:
She believes girls belong in science labs:
Erin loves science. For her, science is one of the main things that keeps her grounded. Her future goals include:
1.) Going to John Hopkins Medical School
2.) Becoming a renowned biologist
3.) Curing colon cancer
4.) Becoming the first Black woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
She knows that women belong in science because, to quote Beyonce, “Girls run the world.”
She’s fiercely protective of the people she loves:
Erin doesn’t play around when it comes to the people she cares about. She will always defend her friends and family.
For example, when her best friend, Bruno, is mercilessly teased by his twin brother, Erin makes sure she gives Ben a piece of her mind.
She’s the definition of Black girl magic:
On the day after her 13th birthday, Erin finds out that the father she’s never met is actually Cupid, the god of love. Erin has her own Cupid-abilities, which makes her an example of actual Black girl magic!
She loves her family:
Erin’s family is colorful, to say the least. Her mom is cringy on a good day, and life-alteringly embarrassing on a bad day. Her father’s a very absent god, and her nana, who she loved more than life itself, has just passed away.
But even with all of her family’s quirks and absences. She loves them with all of her heart. Even if she doesn’t admit it all of the time.
She knows when she’s wrong. She owns up to her mistakes, so she can fix them:
Erin might not make all of the right choices the first time, like how she tries to make her arch-nemesis fall in love with her to trick him out of a fair election, or how she uses magic to make her best friend finally talk to his crush, or how she magically persuade a teacher to date another teacher.
No, Erin definitely doesn’t make great decisions all of the time, but when she does make mistakes, she owns up to them, and she does everything in her power to make things right.
📚Need another fierce read to add to your shelf after Courtesy of Cupid? Catch up on our FIERCELY FICTIONAL series!
