Title: The Au Pair Affair
Author: Bonnie Dee
Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Buy Links: Amazon, Publisher
Genre: Contemporary M/M
Length: Category (182 pages)
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
A Guest Review by jeayci
Review Summary: A classic, Harlequinesque story of the billionaire and the nanny, that didn’t quite work for me.
Blurb: He left his seamy past…and found a steamy romance.
When Louis Guzman signs on with a Hollywood nanny agency and scores a job offer on his very first interview, he’s thrilled for the chance to start fresh—and hopeful that no one will delve too deeply into his checkered work and romantic past.
Helping an amicably divorced Beverly Hills power couple raise their two adorable children is the perfect situation. Too perfect to let a vibe of attraction to the handsome producer tempt Louis to flirt his way to a pink slip.
Since he came out, Dan Krefman has been too busy with his job to experiment with his newly embraced sexuality. But with undercurrents sizzling like live power cables between him and his kids’ hunky Latino nanny, he’s finding it hard to maintain his distance.
Louis promises Dan—and himself—that just one encounter will get the lust out of both their systems. But it’s only the beginning…and when Louis’s past crawls out of the shadows, dirty secrets threaten to destroy not only his own future, but the family he has come to love.
Product Warnings
Hot male loving and sweet family bonding—not bondage, bonding, perv!
Review: I’ve read other Bonnie Dee books and loved them, which was why I was eager to read this one. This book didn’t work for me, but I can see how others might love it – probably for exactly the reasons I didn’t. If you’re looking for a formulaic, Harlequinesque book with Insta-Love for no apparent reason, this is a fantastic book. It’s the classic tale of the billionaire and the nanny falling in love and living Happily Ever After, though of course in this case they’re both guys.
If I’d really engaged or connected with the characters, that would have made all the difference. Unfortunately, I never really liked Louis. He struck me as a drama queen who would manufacture or exaggerate drama if life didn’t give it to him. I liked Dan well enough, I guess, but there was nothing particularly interesting or engaging about him. The only two characters in this story I genuinely liked and cared about were Crissi and Cara, Dan’s ex-wife and daughter.
For those who are annoyed by the evil female characters in so many m/m books, this book will be a welcome relief. The only problem is that I found myself wishing Dan had stayed with Crissi or would get back together with her, but it would hardly be an m/m romance in that case.
It took me three months to read this book because I kept getting bored and setting it down after a chapter or two. In that regard, it made for perfect bedtime reading. I never had any difficulty figuring out what was going on when I picked it back up, sometimes weeks later. So I could see this book being a perfect summer vacation beach read. Recommended for those who are in the mood for what this book offers.