Rating: 3.25 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novella
Elliot answers an ad for a nanny on a caregiver app, but the last thing he expects is the 14-year old he’s supposed to care for to be the one who meets with him. Benson convinces Elliot to come back to the house and meet his dad. Adrian is doing his best to take care of his kid, but with long hours at his law firm, he can’t always be there. Elliot might have been a bit bamboozled, but it’s clear both Adrian and Benson need him, and he takes the job.
The immediate attraction between Elliot and Adrian is a surprise to them both, but they quickly act on it. With Ben only being at Adrian’s every other week, the two men have a chance to connect on every level. Falling in love is easy, but with Adrian’s vicious ex-wife trying to cause trouble and Elliot’s home getting damaged in a storm, things move a lot faster than either man expected. But when it’s right, it’s right, and Elliot and Adrian will do what it takes to get their happily ever after.
This is the kind of story that takes suspension of disbelief. The story moves at lightning speed, the impetus of the men coming together is shaky at best, and the lack of detail makes it tough to really be all in. The narrative style is simple, though the dual first-person POV is a bonus here so that the reader can really understand where the MCs are coming from. All in all, it was a mixed bag for me.
What I liked about the story was that these two guys were exactly what the other needed. Adrian has some self esteem issues where it comes to parenting, in large part due to his ex-wife’s constant berating. He’s a confident lawyer, but he’s always worried he’s not doing what’s best for his son. Elliot is a bit of a lost soul, as he quit his job to care for his Nan, but when she passed, he has nothing in his life. Elliot is a consummate caretaker, and he sees both Adrian and Benson’s need. He’s quick to step in and take care of them, and thrives while doing it.
Adrian and Elliot have a connection right from the start, and the attraction sparks. But for me, it was very on the surface and never really got deep enough for me to truly believe that they were in love with each other after only a couple of weeks. I liked them together, but I just didn’t feel the depth of their emotions. It didn’t help that it was clear Benson didn’t really need a nanny at all, and that he was matchmaking instead. If Elliot had been hired as a housekeeper or something similar, that would have made more sense to me. But the premise was flimsy and that didn’t help the story for me.
I will also admit that I had trouble with the evil ex-wife, who was very over the top. It’s not something I like to see in books, and the author took the character to an almost cliched level. Ultimately, that behavior helped Adrian, but it was still sort of farcical.
So as I said, this book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While there were some parts I liked, overall it was just okay. The writing was fine, if not inspiring, and there were some cliches that were hard to look past. At the same time, it’s a sweet story of two men meeting at the right time in their lives and falling in love, which always warms my heart.
