by Judi Fennell
About this book
Beckett Fields, a successful financial whiz who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, lost in the monthly poker game with his buddies and is doomed to work for Manley Maids to clean houses for a month.
Dr. Jennifer Bingham is a divorced veterinarian whose life is made complicated by the fact that she is raising her niece Sami whom she has taken over legal guardianship, thanks to the mess her twin sister has made of her life.
When bad boy Beckett shows up to clean her house, using a different name now, she recognizes her high school crush and tries to forget how he snubbed her years ago. The spark of attraction rekindles between Jennifer and Beckett as their romance develops and they try to overcome their insecurities and learn to grab hold of the second chance opportunity given to them.
Reading Journal
This is Book 5 in the Manley Maids series – and what a great idea this is, having a bunch of hot, successful guys playing poker with the loser having to clean houses as a Manley Maid for a month (love the play on the word “manly” too by the way).
The discomfort Beckett had with his uniform and reporting to his first day on the job was hilarious. The side characters 7 year old Sami, the three-legged dog Flopsy and the cat terror Nero complete Jennifer’s family and instigate many funny encounters during the cleaning assignment. I loved reading about interactions among these characters, especially Sami who is wise beyond her years but shows her child-like innocence at unexpected moments.
What I struggled with though, was the fact that Jennifer and Beckett could pretend they did not know each other before in high school for most part of the story, because they thought the other person simply didn’t remember them. I mean, they spent years together in the school and they can’t possibly look too different now, so surely they should have expected to be recognized?
The other rather disappointing fact was that we never knew who Sami’s father was in the end. It felt like a big deal throughout the story and there seemed to be hints with Sami and Beckett sharing similar features (black curly hair and green eyes), but no, this mystery was not solved in the end.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book very much. Beckett’s sensitivity towards Sami and her friend Cassie was admirable. Despite being supposedly a bad boy during his younger days and very successful in his field now, he displays some softness and gives off a good dad vibe, all very befitting of a hero in a romance novel. Jennifer is also a great match with her kindness towards animals and patience and sensibilities towards parenting.
Rin Ranger 