by Alisa Dean
First published 2026
Christina Edmondson stares at her handwritten list of taboos. The daughter of a disgraced fundamentalist pastor, she attends her final semester at Hilltop University, an ultra-conservative institution that has suffocated her for years. Her Jezebel List contains everything her upbringing forbade: attending pagan festivals, getting Brazilian waxes, watching pornography, having one-night stands. After months of therapy, Christina decides to complete every item. At a pagan festival, she meets Danny Reeves, a documentarian who specializes in exposing Evangelical injustices. Danny sees potential in Christina's story despite his recent professional burnout. Christina agrees to let him film her journey with one demand: he must complete the list alongside her. As they check off forbidden experiences together, attraction builds between them. But Christina discovers that escaping religious trauma requires more than crossing items off a list. She must find the courage to rebuild her identity from scratch.
Genres: literary-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: character-driven, emotional, intimate, introspective, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, personal-growth, slow-burn-romance
Setting: Hilltop University
Period: Contemporary
336 pages · Paperback · Alcove Press
Content warnings: emotional-abuse