Meticulous and by-the-book, corporate lawyer Jack Lever was used to order—not the disorder of two small children. When his babysitter abruptly quit, the single dad didn’t know where to turn. He couldn’t believe his good luck when Zooey Finnegan agreed to become his nanny.
Uninhibited and fun, Zooey was happy to take care of Jack’s children instead of sitting behind a desk in her family’s business. And to her surprise, Zooey soon loved the Levers like they were her own flesh and blood. It didn’t take long for Jack’s kids to fall hopelessly in love with her, either.
Their father could be a different story….
Last week I had the amazing opportunity to meet with some of our local So. Cal Bloggers. There were 11 of us who met and had lunch together.(click here for more information and pictures. If you live in So. Cal and are interested in joining us next time we meet, shoot me an email) We try to do this every few months and as part of our ritual we exchange books. This is one I picked up from them (I believe it was Lori who brought this, though I could be wrong).
I’ve only read a couple Marie Ferrarella‘s in the past, and mostly I enjoyed them. Unfortunately not so for this one.
I really liked Zooey. She was level headed and sweet, despite being flighty and not knowing what she wanted to do with her life. Once she made a commitment she stuck with it, and she loved taking care of Jack’s kids. Plus, she was really good at it. She really did act more like a mother/wife than a nanny, taking care of the entire family and household.
Although she cared for Jack and the kids, she wasn’t a moon calf over them, which was refreshing (or maybe I’ve just been reading too many Presents novels?). She acknowledged that she was falling in love with Jack and wanted his attention – and even that she was jealous sometimes – but she didn’t fall all over herself to get him. I thought that was great.
In the beginning this was really shaping up to be a good story, but in the end Jack ruined it.
He was a widower who was struggling to take care of his kids, going through nanny’s like you wouldn’t believe. As an attorney, he spent quite a few hours in the office and not nearly enough at home. After he hires Zooey he spent even less time at home. Mostly to avoid her because he’s very attracted to her. All of this is fine and well, but the two people who most needed him – his kids – were completely neglected by him. In the beginning he thinks to himself that he needs to spend more time with them but really has no idea what to do with them.
So you’d think he’d come around while Zooey was there. But he doesn’t. The book covers about 8 months, and in that time he’s never home. He doesn’t understand his children or connect with them. When Zooey explains to him that his daughter is worried he’s going to die, too, instead of comforting her or trying to figure it out, he spends even less time at home. So much so that the kids ask if he’s gone on a business trip.
**SPOILER ALERT**
In the end, Zooey quits working for him because she thinks she’s the reason he’s not spending enough time at home. Then she finds out that – because the kids unexpectedly show up at her office, by themselves – he’s spending even less time there than he did before – and leaving the kids with a woman who pops “yellow pills” and “sleeps all the time” – and confronts him. She tells him she can’t be with someone who’s never there and he says, “Ok, I’ll be there.” and she says, “Ok, great.” and he says, “let’s get married” and she says, “Ok, great.” and..the end. They all lived happily ever after.”
**END SPOILERS**
But he hadn’t been there for 8 months, and I didn’t see it was likely that was going to change anytime soon. Especially because he was..well, a bad father.
What started out as a cute story quickly went downhill for me. I can’t couldn’t get past how awful Jack was to his children. Not to mention the immature way he acted toward Zooey. (sorry Lori!)
2 out of 5
This book is available from Silhouette Special Edition. You can buy it here.
The cover burns my eyes.
Actually Lori I was apologizing because when you saw it in my hand you said, “Oh, I loved that book!”.
Forgot about that, did you? LOL
And I’m wondering how he and Zooey fell in love if he never spent time with her?
Ferrarella is local. I *think* she’s based out of the O.C. At least she belongs to OCRWA……
You’re apologizing, why?
She wrote this one great series about a family of cops, prosecutors, etc. The rest I’ve all managed to find fairly forgettable for reasons much like you’ve listed above. You notice, I brought it to give away cause it wasn’t on my keeper shelf, and I couldn’t remember a damn thing about it, right?