Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Christmas Manny
AUTHOR: Sammi Cee
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 137 page
RELEASE DATE: December 16, 2021
BLURB:
This single dad needs to find his joy.
When Jace is hired to watch the precocious Rebecca and her adorable little brother Max, this sunshine manny can’t help noticing the dark cloud hanging over their lonely dad.
Bringing love, happiness, and cheer, Jace sprinkles so much joy and glitter into their lives, that even the workaholic father gets caught up in his spell.
Will one holiday season be enough time for Jace to turn Mitch’s house into a home again? And with the magic of Christmas, will they fall in love along the way, making their family complete?
REVIEW:
Jace is hired as a manny for an adorable young boy, Max, who is 5 and his sister Rebecca who is 8, when their grandmother is traveling over Thanksgiving. She’s been acting as a primary caregiver for over two years since her daughter-in-law died and her son has needed the help. Jace hits it off with the kids and suddenly, nana is just too busy in December to handle the kids to, so she hires Jace herself to look after her grandkids.
Jace loves being a manny. He went to college for teaching, but he didn’t enjoy it too much, so he returned to mannying. He really enjoys the Teake kids and their dad Mitch isn’t too hard on the eyes either – even though eh does work crazy long hours. As Jace takes on some of the holiday decorating and activities, he does so gently because he doesn’t want to overstep, but he wants this Christmas to be magical for the Teake children. And their dad. While decorating the tree and generally making Christmas a wondrous time of year again for the Teake family, Mitch realizes that he’s ready to maybe open his heart again after the tragic death of his wife and the children’s mother, Brandy. And he’d like to take that step with Jace. He recognizes what a gift Jace is with his big warm heart and his affection and caring for the children and for Mitch. Doesn’t hurt that he’s absolutely adorable and sweet. His sunny disposition and helpful attitude and wanting to make everything special for the Teake family is a welcome change to the past years as the family was grieving. Jace is happy to be part of their healing process. If his own dreams come true in the process, so much the better.
This is a really sweet story of a family that needs some help. I loved how Mitch’s mother was the instigator of helping her son get out of the rut he was in. She’s even more pleased that the manny turns out to be delightful and that the kids are completely taken with him. She realized that Mitch needed a wakeup call or he was going to miss out on his family while he spent all his time at work trying to provide for them. Jace is a really good guy – younger – but definitely mature. He loves taking care of the kids and helping them grow into good confident people. He’s not too sad about the handsome dad though 😉 One of Jace’s best character traits is his sensitivity to others emotions – whether it’s the kids attachment to things or Mitch’s story with his deceased wife. He never pushes when he shouldn’t and he’ s just a lovely lovely young man. Almost perfect in fact 😉 While that part of the story might be pushing reality a little bit, the story takes place over the course of the month, so it’s a little bit fast, but there you have it. Your teeth might itch a little from the sugar, but it’s really a nice little story. If you’re looking for a super sweet holiday romance with a second chance vibe and minimal angst, this might be the story for you 🙂
RATING: 
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