The Nanny Rules by Melynda Price

Category: Contemporary romance
Publication date: 08/12/2019
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

Nope, nope, nope and nope. So much nope here.

via GIPHY

Plot overview: Too-perfect-to-be-real Amelia is NFL player Brody’s new nanny. They have sex a lot. That’s about it. 

This books starts right out with Brody finding Amelia half naked in his kitchen. He had no idea that his sister hired Amelia to look after his daughter, Lilly. And what new live-in employee doesn’t wander around her employer’s house in her underwear? (The answer is no one. No one does this. It’s just a plot contrivance to set up sexual attraction between Amelia and Brody)

At 5% of the story I’m already getting sick of reading about the “pebbled nipples” and hard-ons and clenching vaginas. Enough already! I get it. They’re attracted to each other. Never mind that they haven’t had so much as one grown-up conversation with each other, they’re ready to jump each other at first sight. Understood. Can we move on to the plot now? 

The problem is that there isn’t any plot. Brody’s doing the whole “I can never love again” dance because his wife cheated on him before she died. Amelia doesn’t let anyone in emotionally because REASONS that involve a bad childhood that is only hinted at and never fully explored. But these romance novel cliches don’t equal an actual plot, so other than a bunch of sex and “this can’t be more” discussions, there isn’t much else going on here. 

Then there was this randomness that irked me: 

1. There’s a little drama with the guy Brody’s wife was cheating with, then there’s a little drama with a guy Amelia meets at the park, then there’s a little drama with Brody’s physical therapist...and none of it happens for any apparent reason. None of these things move the plot along in any way or do anything to further the romance between Amelia and Brody. I HATE drama for the sake of drama, and this book was FULL OF IT. 
2. At one point, Brody is being an ass to Amelia. She rationalizes that the more he pushes her away and treats her like crap, the more he cares. Um...no, honey. That’s not how it works. He’s not being a dick because he cares. He’s being a dick because he’s a dick. 
3. Amelia fell for Brody REALLY fast. I don’t know how much talking they were doing while watching Survivor together, but other than that, they’re barely together long enough to know anything of substance about the other person, let alone fall for them. It was pretty instalove-y. 
4. Amelia certainly didn’t have a problem with sleeping with her boss. It didn’t even rate as a moral issue for her. That seemed odd to me. She’s having sex with a guy who pays her, and it never even really occurs to her that sleeping with him might not be the best idea she’s ever had. I questioned her intelligence at this point. 

Long-story-short, I thought Brody was a dick, Amelia was an idiot and a doormat, and there wasn’t much of anything going on plot wise throughout the entire book. It’s basically just a bunch of random events linked together by sex scenes. I won’t be continuing on with the series. 

Full disclosure: We received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley free of charge.      

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
Total stigma-fest.

Reading suggestions that are actually good...

Sports romances to get you in the mood for some football​

The hottest bosses in romance today​

The sexiest single dads in romance​