Bea Evans Books

Tag: Romance

  • The Bachelor’s Valet by Arden Powell

    This was a lovely little read. I always enjoy when I am smiling as I finish a book.

    Time-period was a little tricky to pin down. They drove cars but people’s parents were still forcing them to get engaged. So it feels a bit like a regency romance, but obviously not.

    Also, there’s magic, but it seems either useless or so widespread that it’s just part of life.

    The point of view character is supposedly empty-headed. Usually characters like this annoy me, I think because so often it’s an excuse to renounce responsibility for themselves or their actions. This one hurt my heart a little bit because he was obviously aware of his lack and how people responded to him. He does give over the running of his life to his valet, though, but at least he seems to have found the right person to place his trust in. So he’s not a complete idiot, just very naive and, luckily for him, rich.

    He’s been ticking along until his mother forces him to get engaged to a girl. This throws his life in a tizzy, but maybe for the best as it can finally settle into the kind of life where he can be consciously happy rather than heedlessly so. 

  • The Last Nanny in Manhattan by K Sterling

    Fun, modern day story about a man who needs help with his terrible triplets and the nanny best suited (or cardiganed) to take on the job.

    That’s not to mean that I didn’t actually yell while reading this one. The dad is afraid of his own kids and wants to make sure they don’t turn out awful but does absolutely nothing to make sure they don’t turn out awful. My actual (shouted) words were, “So DO SOMETHING!” Good job, author, I guess, if you were trying to get across how frustrating the situation was for the nanny walking in – risking actual life and limb – to care for a few brats.

    Okay, yes, there’s more to it than that. The guy had horrible examples growing up and, after the loss of his husband, wasn’t capable of finding his feet. Grief does weird things to us. But he’s willing to learn and the new nanny has some interesting reinforcement strategies to encourage him.

    The first in a series. Definitely some not-safe-for-triplets content, but readable and enjoyable (even with the shouting).