🤔 my feelings were the exact opposite of what I expected they’d be?

This is definitely a booksta fav. An interracial couple, male nanny, she’s his boss forced proximity goodness.

Going into this, I thought the whole buff male nanny thing would = Manic Pixie Dream Book Boyfriend territory, which is never my thing. And I thought we’d ignore how exploitative nannying can be. But I thought the co-parenting falling in love would be swoony enough to save it.

Then I had the exact opposite reading experience. The characters were excellent. Rafe had flaws. Nannying had hindered his life trajectory in almost every way. And Sloan, too—she was complex and compelling.

But what I didn’t like about the story was the romance plot. Because it felt… kinda sad?

They had too little curiosity about each other. It was like, they liked each other for What the other person was (hot, the nanny, a family he could see himself in), not Who the other person was. Every time they watched tv instead of talking, my heart sank.

At the 75% mark they finally had a “So, tell me about yourself,” conversation (literal quote) and not in a joking way—like, for real they’d made no effort to get to know each other. But this wasn’t a slow burn. Very much the opposite.

I buy that Rafe was a clam and that Sloan was busy. But zero interest in the other person’s thoughts? dreams? favourite colour? nothing? It was weird, right?

Especially when Rafe had no chill when it came to expressing his interest in her physically and he was like Superman around the house. Those parts of the story zipped along. But for the emotional intimacy to drag because they couldn’t be bothered to get to know each other?