Today we’re spotlighting Good Luck, Babe! by Erin Baldwin!
Read on for more about the author, the book, plus enter the giveaway!
About the Author: Erin Baldwin
Erin Baldwin is a Filipino American author who writes vivid diverse stories that will leave you in happy tears. She lives in New Jersey with her partner and their two wonderful cats who’ve transcended the need for names. Her debut, Wish You Weren’t Here, was released in 2024. Good Luck, Babe! is her sophomore novel. You can visit Erin Baldwin at ErinBWrites.com.
About the Book: Good Luck, Babe!
In Erin Baldwin’s new YA romance novel, fake dating isn’t just complicated–it’s competitive.
“Good Luck, Babe! is nothing short of iconic . . . this book is fun and honest and relatable in the best way.” —Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl
Reality TV enthusiasts Noelle and Yumi spent ten years attached at the hip—until the summer after junior year. One ill-fated night (and one awkward kiss) ended their friendship, and after a year of no contact, fate throws the girls back together when they’re offered a last-minute spot on their favorite show—an Amazing Race analog called The Adventureverse.
It’s a chance to put their superfan status to the test, a dream come true. Except for a few snags: It’s an all-couples season, filming starts in two days, and Noelle hasn’t spoken to her “girlfriend” in a year. But Noelle already has plans to use the prize money on her ailing father’s medical expenses. She would do anything for him—including fake date her ex-bestie on national television.
Can Noelle walk a tightrope between reality and TV while juggling a pretend relationship and true feelings? Or will she get sent home empty-handed and brokenhearted?
~Excerpt~
Chapter 1
PREVIOUSLY ON
Twin flames. Platonic soulmates.
Too long; didn’t read: I had a crush on her. Obviously.
I mean, obvious in retrospect. At the time, I had fully convinced myself that getting secret matching quote tattoos with a girl you’d take a bullet for was unquestionably straight behavior.
To be fair, I didn’t know liking girls was, like, a thing I could do.
But apparently, I could. Intensely. And I did it for several years without even trying. I didn’t know my own strength, I guess.
Once I realized it, every intimate moment afterward felt like a betrayal. I was experiencing, as they say, queer panic. When Yumi talked about the people she liked, when she gave me a hug,
when we shared a spoon: panic. The problem wasn’t that I was super into girls and their pretty faces, it was that I was into a girl who trusted me not to be into her. I felt like an enemy spy anytime
we closed the door to her room or shared a pillow fort. I was too guilty to make a move on her, too weak to set boundaries, and too selfish to give up our friendship.
Because that’s what it would have been—the end of our friendship. Yumi maintains a scorched-earth policy for her exes— once she’s done with someone, she’s done. No matter how close they were before dating, no matter how amicable the breakup, it didn’t matter. Dating Yumi was a recipe for ruin. And this wasn’t just any other friendship; Yumi was my person. That’s not the
type of thing you torpedo because of some crush. Not if you’re smart, anyway.
My delusion was a monument I’d built over years, quiet yearning that snowballed until one single crack set off an avalanche: the finale of The Adventureverse Season 23. Our favorite team had just
won, which almost never happens. High on the adrenaline of Gabby and Christian’s win, I couldn’t help it; I turned to her and said, “Let’s film our audition.”
There had never been a question in our joint mind about whether or not we wanted to be on TV. The decision was made from the moment we saw our first confessional. I was immediately engrossed by the big personalities and even bigger drama.
We loved it.
And that’s what we told the camera, prostrate on her bedroom floor with our feet in the air; a tableau at the Altar of Reality. Yumi’s eye shadow shimmering every time she blinked, the smell
of Earl Grey tea on her breath. A laugh so deep in my body that it felt like it could turn into a sob at any moment. The impossible heat of her leg pressed into mine as we hit submit on the application
form. An overwhelming stillness that surrounded us like
break in case of emergency glass.
You can’t put that shit back together once it’s shattered.
Her lips were soft. A little sticky from her lip gloss. And she made this noise, like a sigh. What comes next, I can only view out of the corner of my eye. It’s the kind of memory that sneaks up on
you in vulnerable silence. Even when you’re alone, it makes you cover your face.
“No. This is a bad idea.”
I flinch. If I could take that night back, I would.
I’ve been to more than my fair share of therapy sessions since my mom’s death. In the intervening years I learned—many times, because this is one of those lessons you just learn and learn and learn again—that people aren’t great at expressing themselves in the heat of the moment. Well, not people. Me. I’m not great at expressing myself in the heat of the moment.
I practically ran. I was driving away before “bad idea” finished
echoing off her bedroom walls, but when I got home and the dust settled, I texted her I was sorry. She didn’t answer.
For the entire summer, that’s how it went: I did therapy worksheets, I texted her, she didn’t answer. The Adventureverse’s Season 24 promo aired, I texted her, she didn’t answer. I journaled, I cried, I waited, I texted.
She didn’t answer.
A year went by.
A year went by.
She never answered.
So, that was it. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Good Luck, Babe! By Erin Baldwin
Copyright © 2026 by Viking Books for Young Readers. Reprinted with permission.
Title: Good Luck, Babe!
Author: Erin Baldwin
Release Date: 6.23.2026
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780593622735
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ+, Contemporary, Social Themes, Mental Illness, Reality TV, Fake Dating
Age Range: 12 and up
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
Use the Rafflepress Form below to enter
*be sure to include complete mailing address for the second entry question to qualify to win*
Three (3) winners will receive a copy of Good Luck, Babe! (Erin Baldwin) ~ US ONLY!
