Based on Principal by Marie Johnston 💕 Behind the Scenes, Book Tour & Gift Card Giveaway 💕 (Contemporary Romance)

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By day, Natalia is the strict principal of a private school with a staid, troubled legacy. By night, she’s a lithe, agile assassin with a penchant for latex. Or at least her cosplay character is. The two identities don’t mingle until she meets a handsome comic book shop owner at the local comic con. Now there’s a guy she’d be willing to peel her mask off for.

Too bad he’s the father of one of her students.

Single father Chris has no time to date, thanks to his business, his daughter, and his ex’s meddling family. But how can he resist a comic lover in a business skirt? She’s his perfect woman. Or she would be, if she didn’t keep the professional and play parts of her life so separate. And he swore he’d never date a woman ashamed of him again.

Too bad she’s obsessed with what the wrong people think of her.

Together, they could be an unstoppable duo, but when Chris’s daughter acts out at school, Natalia will be put in an impossible position: break all her school’s rules, or pack away her cape forever.

5 behind the scenes of Based on Principal

1) Some of the pop culture points I referred to in this whole series can be decidedly Marvel or DC, depending on which blockbuster was released at the time I was writing. I started writing the first book in this series a couple of years ago, so the process has covered Justice League releases, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man, maybe a Thor. It made for easy research.

2) But when research failed, all I had to do was turn to my hubs and ask. He’s all things Star Wars, Star Trek, and for a DC guy, he can out-Marvel a lot of fans. One day when I was working on Based on Principal, I had a question about The Flash. During supper, I asked and played witness to a deep discussion about the different Flash personas between my husband and son.

3) I’m a well-rounded fangirl. While my hubs is the most stalwart DC fanboy—we have a canvas of Batman vs Superman hanging above our bed—my brother was Marvel. I knew who Wolverine was before he was Hugh Jackman. I hope my brother gets to see a good Gambit movie release.

4) I didn’t have to ask a lot of questions about the few Star Trek references I made throughout the series. I grew up in the country and one of the few channels that came in played Star Trek: The Next Generation. I wasn’t into the other series, but I got full exposure after I met my hubs. He insisted on recording them in order, you know, in the VCR days.

5) The character Chris wanted to dress as for comic con but couldn’t (read to find out why) is Nightwing and that was an ode to my dear hubs. Nightwing is his favorite character, barely edging out Batman, and Batman’s a big deal (Michael Keaton was my favorite).

“About the name calling—”

Jaycee cut Ms. Shaw off. “Oh my god. Mr. Budinski’s an adult, and he’s getting snippy about a kid messing up his name?”

“Jaycee…” He hadn’t expected to finish his warning, but Ms. Shaw was gazing at him like she was waiting for him to finish. He scrambled to find an acceptable reproach. “It’s about respect.”

“Then he can respect what I want to be called. Yet he refuses to use Richards.” She crossed one leg over the other and folded her arms. He knew that mutinous look, the one she wore when she refused to listen. A spear of fear went through him when she pinned Ms. Shaw with that look. “I mean what if people called you Mrs. Shaw and knew perfectly well you’re not married.” He cringed at the way she stressed not married. It wasn’t a death sentence to be single. “Or what if they called you Natalie instead of Natalia.”

He jerked his head to face Ms. Shaw. Natalia Shaw. What were the odds her name was the same as—

What were the odds her butt was as spectacular in a skirt as in a cosplay costume? What were the odds he’d feel like they’d met before?

The odds were pretty damn good. She couldn’t hide that mouth, just like she couldn’t hide the poleaxed expression in her widened eyes. His daughter’s principal, the woman he couldn’t quit lusting over, was the same woman he’d held in his arms just days ago.

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Marie Johnston lives in the upper-Midwest with her husband, four kids, an old cat, and a young dog. After trading in her lab coat for a laptop, she’s writing down all the tales she’s been making up in her head for years. An avid reader of paranormal romance, these are the stories hanging out and waiting to be told, between the demands of work, home, and the endless chauffeuring that comes with children.