Title: The House Mate
Author: Kendall Ryan
Year of publication: 2017
The heroine: Nanny Addison Lane
The hero: Ex-Ranger/Construction company CEO Max Alexander
The blurb: What’s sexier than a bad boy? A bad ass man who’s got his shit together.
Max Alexander is nearing thirty-five. He’s built a successful company, and he’s conquered the professional world, but he’s never been lucky in love. Focusing so much time on his business and raising his daughter, adulting has come at the expense of his personal life.
His social skills are shit, his patience is shot, and at times, his temper runs hot.
The last thing he has time for is the recently single, too gorgeous for her own good young woman he hires to take care of his little girl. She’s a distraction he doesn’t need, and besides, there’s no way she’d be interested. But you know what they say about assumptions?
Standalone or series: This is book three in the Roommates series, but they’re all separate stories with no interconnecting characters, so this can be read as a standalone.
The review: I really enjoyed this one. I don’t go out of my way to read books where there’s a substantial age difference between the two protagonists – at thirty-four, Max is nine years older than Addison – but it didn’t at all detract from the story.
Max is a successful businessman, running his own construction company. One day, he comes home to find an ex with whom he had a three month relationship sitting in his driveway. She hands him the year old baby he never knew existed, tells him she can’t cope with motherhood anymore, and takes off. Suddenly, Max’s world is turned upside down, but he’s determined to look after his daughter.
He needs a live-in nanny, fast, so he hires Addison Lane. She bonds with baby Dylan (named after Max’s favourite singer) straight away… and finds herself attracted to Dylan’s father more than she’d care to. She’s sworn off men, but the job is just what she needs after her ex dumps her when he realises he’s gay.
The attraction is mutual, but getting tangled up with the nanny is not a good idea… is it? Max is torn, but the longer Addison stays, the hotter their chemistry gets. So Max offers a proposition – between nine and five on weekdays, they are employer and employee. Outside of those hours, they are just a man and woman attracted to each other. It doesn’t take long for the heat between them to ignite, and when Dylan’s mother reappears, Max needs to work out what he wants for good. Of course, what he wants is Addison, and since she loves him and Dylan, you can guess the ending! 🙂
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