Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Nanny Trap
AUTHOR: M.I. Lewis
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 87 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 26, 2023
BLURB:
Elliot: Dream job? Check! Or so I thought. Throw in one meddling teenager and his oblivious father…it’s a disaster waiting to happen, right? So what if Adrian is basically my wildest fantasy come to life? He’s my boss. But with his son playing matchmaker, and me moving in, it’s impossible not to fall in love—with both of them.
Adrian: My son brought home a nanny to help us out, or so he says. Feels more like he’s playing Cupid. Elliot’s beautiful and suspiciously perfect for me. And even though I shouldn’t, I fall hard and fast. But with the threat of losing my son, can we become one big, happy family? Or will it all fall apart?
The Nanny Trap is an insta-love novella featuring a warm-hearted caregiver, a frazzled single dad, and an insightful teenager with big plans. Swoony, steamy, and sure to make you smile.
Content Warning: difficult parent relationship, homophobia.
REVIEW:
Elliot, a former teacher, has recently lost his grandmother and inherited her house. He lost his parents early in life and his grandmother took him in. He needs to figure out what to do with his life and he needs to do some work on the house, so he decided to look for a caregiving job. He gets a response and goes to meet a supposedly single dad who needs help, but it turns out the instigator is the man’s son who does not want to move with his mother and her fiance. Elliot feels bad for the kid and realizes he’s a good kid at heart so he agrees to meet with Adrian – as long as Ben comes clean first thing.
Adrian is taken aback that Ben would do this, but he’s not exactly mad. First, he can see that Elliot cares about his kid. Secondly, Elliot has just the right skills to help them out. Thirdly, Elliot is exactly Adrian’s type. So he agrees to try it out. And it works out well – although they are both dancing around the elephant in the room of their extreme attraction. Elliot also suspects that Ben was not just getting manny help, but also trying to matchmake for his dad who hasn’t even been on a date since his divorce.
Cue the nasty ex who belittles both Ben and Adrian. Adrian’s law partner, Cameron, sees things for what they are and tries to advise Adrian about living his life, just like his ex-wife is living hers. There is drama and nastiness galore from the ex and her fiance. But all’s well that ends well.
*sigh* where to begin.
Things I liked:
- Benson, the teenage matchmaker
- Cameron, Adrian’s law partner
- Elliot, a sweetheart of a guy
- Adrian, a struggling single dad doing his best
What I didn’t like:
- caricature ex-wife
- unrealistic sex scenes
- caricature future step-dad/mother’s fiance
- unrealistic courtroom behavior
Basically this is just too much surface and not enough believable character development. I don’t necessarily have a problem with insta-love stories – it’s a thing in romance. But it was just too compressed and then with the horrid ex-wife, it was too much. One or the other – not both. Couldn’t they have fallen in love without the nastiness and the homophobia? I get it that it does happen, but I found the penultimate scene with the ex truly OTT and that kind of soured me. I did like the epilogue – it was adorable. This is a short story, so if you have some time and aren’t put off by the things I listed, you might give it a try. As usual, YMMV.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: