Julie Murphy is taking us back to school for the ultimate lesson in romance with a brand-new college-set series that has us absolutely has us feeling like we’re getting an A+ in Chemistry. This time she’s even taking some of our favorite tropes and putting never-before-seen spins on it and, trust us when we say that we are mind blown by it all. But don’t just take our word for it, you can also finally check it out for yourself.
Cosmopolitan has an exclusive first look at Julie Murphy’s The Undergrads: Student Union, which is set to be released on May 5, 2026. The book kicking off the series which will have three books following a set of BFFs as they head over to Wexley University. The first novel follows Clover as she comes up with a very unique way to save some cash and her housing situation when her original plan falls through.
Here’s some more info from our friends at Balzer + Bray:
This deluxe paperback edition features stenciled edges and a map.
“This is one addictively swoony book." ―Ali Hazelwood, #1 New York Times bestselling author
From #1 New York Times–bestselling author Julie Murphy comes a sexy rom com about a college marriage of convenience that goes way beyond chemistry 101...The first in a trilogy of romance novels that follows a group of girls as they navigate love, friendship, and new adulthood, this is perfect for fans of Elle Kennedy and Hannah Grace.
CLOVER ROWAN WALSH knows The Plan™.
1. Get a full ride to her dream school, Wexley University.
2. Conquer the school of business.
3. Say goodbye to the paycheck-to-paycheck life she and her mom have known for years.
There’s just one hiccup. With the first semester rapidly approaching, Clover learns her housing grant has fallen through. But a loophole presents itself: Married couples can live in the dorms for the price of one student. Clover is willing to sacrifice the sanctity of marriage . . . even if it means proposing to the one person she swore she’d never speak to again.
Bennett Andrew Graves is the only heir to the Graves Coffee empire. After spending his first year at Wexley, squeaking by in classes and becoming personally acquainted with the female student body, he is looking forward to living off campus. Until the girl he grew up with (and whom he completely devastated years ago) walks back into his life with the most absurd question: Will you marry me?
Bennett can’t refuse Clover. He owes her this, but that doesn’t change the fact that these two can barely carry on a conversation without getting at each other’s throats. Forget about sharing a dorm―much less one bed.
But as Clover and Bennett hide the true nature of their marriage, they find that playing house isn’t all that bad―especially with certain marital benefits in the mix. In fact, Clover and Bennett are soon forgetting the most important part of their fake marriage of convenience . . . that it’s supposed to be fake.
"Julie Murphy reached into my soul and gave me exactly what I needed." ―Julie Soto, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“I am so excited to launch my very first new adult series starting with Student Union! Writing this book was such a dream. The marriage of convenience trope is far and away one of my favorites, but finding a way for it to work in a contemporary setting can be a bit tricky,” Julie exclusively told Cosmopolitan. “The campus housing dilemma really worked as the perfect catalyst. In the excerpt below Bennett and Clover have been invited to meet up with other married couples living on campus and are forced to very convincingly play their parts as husband and wife.”
Will they pass the test? Class is now in session and you can check out an exclusive excerpt below! Just make sure to pre-order The Undergrads: Student Unionso you don’t miss out the required reading on the syllabus.
Chapter 7
Clover
“I thought you said people wouldn’t notice if we skipped,” Bennett whispers as we’re both bent over, tying the laces of our bowling shoes.
That was before Miss Linch emailed me personally to make sure we would be here.
He glances over to where the assistant director of housing sits behind a scorekeeper next to her boyfriend, a kindergarten teacher named Marshall who brought his own bowling shoes from home. The only way I can describe them is orthopedic.
“It’ll be over before we know it,” I tell him.
In the end, six other couples show up. We are spread out across two lanes.
Sandra and Greta claim us as their teammates no matter how many times I tell them that we have collectively bowled maybe two and a half times in our lives.
In our same lane is Miss Linch (who asks us to call her Madeline, but I can’t bring myself to do it), Marshall, Blake, and Danielle. The latter are in their late twenties and have a seven-month-old daughter, so they live in the campus apartments, which are so far out of the way that they’re technically in a different zip code. Blake seems to be very committed to competing, while Danielle is studying the baby monitor app on her phone like it’s the season finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. (The best in the franchise, obviously. No, I will not be taking questions at this time.)
Marshall is first up and before he takes his ball (also brought from home), he dons a leather fingerless glove from his bowling bag.
“We’re fucked,” Bennett whispers. “The guy has invested in equipment.”
Sandra claps a hand down on his knee as Greta slings an arm over her shoulder. “Intimidation tactic,” she says. “My Greta throws a strike her uncle taught her called the One-Eyed Willy.”
“He was a dirty old man,” Greta says, “but his heart was in the right place.”
I crack a smile until Miss Linch turns her attention on us. “I’m curious, Clover. How did you and Bennett meet?”
Shit. We hadn’t really prepared for this question, which feels absurd, but honestly, we’ve known each other for so long that I didn’t even consider it. That’s okay. The best lie sounds like the truth. I’ll just say we were childhood friends.
“We met in a haunted house,” Bennett blurts.
There’s no stopping the way my head snaps up at him and the absolute nonsense that’s just come out of his mouth.
“You’re up,” Greta tells him.
He turns to me, no hint of apology in the crystal of his blue eyes, and then tucks a strand of hair that’s fallen loose from my half-up bun. “You tell the story, baby. I love to hear you tell it.”
The moment he stands, Sandra slides over to sit closer to me. “A haunted house? Now, that’s a meet-cute I’ve never heard of.”
“You listening to this, baby?” Blake asks as he motions to me with the neck of his beer bottle.
Danielle hums in response while not looking up from her phone, and I swear Miss Linch leans in like she’s just caught me in her web.
“Uh, right, so a haunted house.”
Bennett approaches the lane with his ball in tow, and with everyone facing me, he looks back over his shoulder and blows me a kiss.
A vulgar retort sits on the tip of my tongue, but I’m forced to smile and pull a story out of my ass, because even Danielle is paying attention now.
“It was a few weeks before Halloween and I went to a haunted house out in Cannon Beach with some of my friends. I don’t like haunted houses,” I explain, my cheeks warming up. “Because I hate surprises. They just really, really get under my skin.” I emphasize each word just for Bennett. “But it was my friend’s birthday.”
Bennett steps back from the lane after missing every single pin and walks down to retrieve his ball. “What was that friend’s name again?”
My eyes dart around searching for inspiration before landing on the beer bottle in Blake’s hand. “Coors—ina.”
“Ah, that’s right. We haven’t seen Coorsina since the wedding.”
“She’s one busy girl,” I tell everyone.
“Didn’t she start brewing her own beer?” he asks as the machine spits out his ball again.
I shake my head. “I don’t recall. Anyway, the haunted house. We went inside and everything was so cheesy, but the jump scares were awful. Then . . . then this clown appeared out of nowhere—”
Bennett spins around, his brow pinched and jaw dropped open.
“I screamed right in his face. And I guess I must have startled him, because he screamed right back at me.”
Sandra snorts. “Gave him a taste of his own medicine.”
“Exactly!” My lips curl into a grin as I nod my head. “It was this high-pitched, girlish scream.”
“I was in character,” Bennett says as he makes his return, having knocked out four pins before his ball fell into the gutter. “She always leaves out this part. The clown was maniacal. His backstory was really interesting actually—”
Danielle gets up to take her turn, and I wrap my arm around Bennett’s bicep, leaning my head there.
“Oh, darling, you’re always so serious about your craft.”
“Ben,” Brady says, “can I call you Ben? Are you a man of the theater?”
“He is!” I answer for him.
“Oh, dude!” Marshall scoots to the edge of his seat. “I’ve been looking for an improv partner for months now.”
“Do you hear that, honey?” I ask before turning back to our audience with big doe eyes. “He has such a hard time making friends.”
Miss Linch doesn’t really know what to make of all this. “So, he was a clown in a haunted house?” she asks.
“Yes,” Bennett chimes in. “And then my fragile little bird choked on her piece of gum, so I immediately knew what to do.” He turned to Sandra and Greta. “I take first aid very seriously.”
Sandra is enthralled and Greta is charmed by this.
“If only more young people would,” Greta tells him.
Bennett looks down at me and runs his knuckle along the apple of my cheek, and I suck in a breath. His finger is cool against my warm skin and it’s a bit of a shock is all.
“I started by pounding her back,” he says as he looks into my eyes with adoration, “but when that didn’t work, I knew it was time for the Heimlich. It only took one try and that little piece of mint gum that had been lodged in her throat went flying and hit a little boy right in the eye.”
I grit my teeth, holding my smile as I very quietly murmur, “You dick.”
He turns to everyone else. “The child cried, and my sweet, generous girl went over to comfort him. She nearly died and all she could think of was someone else.”
“Damn,” says Blake as Danielle reclaims her seat beside him and
Greta takes her turn.
“You two were destined for each other,” Sandra says. “There’s no other way around it. Just like me and Greta when she broke her ankle.”
“We’re young,” Bennett continues, “but who am I to question fate?” He looks back to me, watching from beneath his thick, dark lashes, and then drags the pad of his thumb down the center of my lips.
The bowling alley is suddenly very quiet and all I can hear is the blood pumping in my veins. We might as well be alone.
His teeth dig into his bottom lip, and he looks . . . hungry. “No more chewing gum for my girl,” he says just loudly enough for everyone else to hear, and then in a low tone meant for only me, he adds, “My wife.”
Miss Linch claps her hands together once. “My goodness. What an unusual story.”
“The best ones always are,” says Blake, and I sense a slight bit of annoyance from Miss Linch in return.
“And how did each of you meet?” I ask, disentangling myself from Bennett.
Blake and Danielle glance at each other and say in unison, “Tinder.”
When I stand up to take my turn, Bennett gives me a little pat on the butt. I shriek and everyone looks at me like I’ve just stepped on a spider with my bare feet.
I attempt to cover it up with a giggle as I take my ball and approach the line.
The last thing on earth I know anything about is bowling, but I stand there nonetheless to pretend I’m lining up my shot or something. Really, I just need this moment to settle my racing heart and attempt to have a single clearheaded thought.
This—the flirting, the banter, the pet names—it’s all just Bennett taunting me. In certain moments, I’ll admit, it’s easy to forget that he is who he is and I tell myself that’s normal. It feels nice to be touched and looked at lovingly, even though the person on the other end is telling a whole group of people that I spit a piece of gum into some poor kid’s eye.
I retrieve my ball and Bennett gives me another swat on the butt. At least this time I don’t shriek.
“For good luck,” he says.
As I walk up to the line again, I make a decision. Bennett wants to push the envelope? He wants to absolutely torment me in the name of playing our roles?
Well, let’s see what he does when I match his energy.
The bowling ball is heavy in my hands, and as I glance at the lane to my left and then to my right, I decide to hell with it and widen my stance before dipping into a deep squat and letting go.
Behind me, both teams fall silent and I think I can even feel some of them standing, inching closer for a better look.
The ball is steady and straight. I squeeze my eyes shut because I can’t look.
The sound of pins falling echoes and then there’s a sudden silence. I squint one eye open and watch as one last pin teeters back and forth before falling to the ground like its ill-fated brethren.
“Oh my god!” I scream. “Oh my god?” It comes out like a question because I am well and truly shocked. “Holy shit!”
I’m jumping up and down and pounding my fists in the air. Sandra and Greta stand to give me high fives as I squeal the whole way back to my seat.
“Now, that performance deserves a kiss,” Sandra says.
“Good job, gorgeous,” Bennett says as though he actually means it. “I know how shy you can be, though, so I’ll let you collect on that kiss when we get home.”
Someone sighs an awwwww.
“Actually,” I tell him as I sit down on his lap, my legs crossed and my arms circling his neck, fingers lazily playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. “I think I’d like to cash that in right now.”
I don’t give him a second to prepare or protest before I go straight for his lips. My mouth is already parted, and his is as well because I’ve caught him so unaware. His tongue is cool from the ice water he’s been drinking, and he tastes like spearmint and salt from the pretzel he’d been nibbling on.
I deepen the kiss, leaning farther into him and into the moment, my teeth tugging at his lip.
There’s a wolf whistle somewhere around us, and his brain finally seems to click on because the arm that had hung by his side circles my waist. Fingers dig into the soft curves there and I pull back quickly and breathlessly before the roles are reversed and he’s suddenly taken the lead in this little game of ours.
Panting, he looks down at me, and his tongue darts across his bottom lip where I nipped at him.
I turn back to the other couples. “I guess this means we have a real game going now, doesn’t it?”
Copyright © 2026 by Julie Murphy. Published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of Macmillan.
The Undergrads: Student Union,by Julie Murphy will be released on May 5, 2026 from Balzer + Bray. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice:
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