by 
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. Your purchases help fund my content and come at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
I honestly don’t even know the kind of reader I am anymore because I recently read a single POV romance book and I simply didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Since then, I’ve been so careful to stick to dual POV romances lately, at least until I get out of this current phase I’m in.
Anyway, this book was one of my dream 2025 most anticipated romance releases. If you haven’t read my post on other amazing books to add to your TBR, I don’t even know what you’re doing – every month this year has been incredible, and with summer coming, authors are really dropping their best work. If you want a roundup of the best romance releases for all of 2025 so far, check out that post too.
Okay, back to this book: it’s a single dad–nanny–sports–neighbor romance that is super spicy and has everything from found family to inclusive representation. The cast of characters is phenomenal. The male lead, Maverick, is a single father with the sweetest, most adorable daughter, Rosie, you will fall in love with from the first page.
Grab Your Copy on Amazon
The female lead, Emmie, is his neighbor, and after a series of events, she ends up being his nanny for the summer while he’s busy with his football career.
Want to Read or Listen to Books for Free?
- Try Kindle Unlimited FREE for 30 Days! Read tons of bestselling books from your favorite authors without spending a thing. So many great stories just waiting for you!
- Listen to Audiobooks FREE on Audible for 30 Days! Enjoy the best audiobooks by top authors all for free for a whole month. No strings attached!
- Watch Movies FREE on Amazon Prime Video for 30 Days! Also love movies? You can stream some of the most popular and all-time favorite films totally free for 30 days.
It is wild. They fall in love, of course, and it was beautiful. I loved Emmie’s interactions with his daughter – in single-parent romance books, that’s always what sells me. Seeing the love interest bond with the child is precious, and this book delivers. The kid was absolutely lovely and so innocent, a true highlight.
This book does explore some very heavy topics. I always appreciate when authors include content warnings, and this one does, but instead of putting them in the book itself, they’re linked on the author’s website. I personally prefer to see the warnings on the page itself, but that’s just me.
Another thing that caught my eye was the cast list included in the front matter. I was very worried. Books with huge worlds and tons of characters can get overwhelming fast, but the author handled this beautifully. We meet characters gradually, with enough detail so I was never confused or had to flip back to the list. I really appreciated that.
The chemistry between these two leads was next-level. They were on fire for each other, even if I cringed at some of their dialogue, which felt written purely for dramatic effect. Everyone was holding onto secrets until the very last page, but I still loved how strong their attraction was. The steam in this book? Absolutely satisfying.
Now, about the plot: I noticed the author leaned into that third-act reveal trope, which is fine, but the characters kept huge secrets until way too late in the story. Emmie is clearly struggling with something throughout the book, but the author waits to reveal it until the very end, which made her behavior confusing.
When a book hints at a character’s trauma, but doesn’t unpack it as we go, it makes the eventual reveal feel rushed and the healing feel incomplete. I get that some readers love a dramatic third act, but I prefer to see the characters working through those issues on-page, not just wrapping them up with a hug and a kiss in the final chapter.
Even so, the characters were so interesting. The side characters were iconic, and I even wanted to know more about their parents’ backstories, which is rare for me.
Normally, I’m not a fan of generational romance (it feels a bit weird to read about the kids of a couple you already love), but here, I genuinely wanted more. I’ll probably check out the parents’ story later, after letting this one sit with me for a bit.
One slightly funny thing: the male lead is 26, but talks about the 21-year-old heroine as if she’s a literal child. It was giving unnecessary age-gap vibes, even though 5 years is not an age gap in my opinion – if it’s not 10+ years, don’t act like it is.
There’s an extended epilogue if you follow the author’s link (which I did, and loved). Overall, this was a beautiful romance with wonderful family dynamics, fantastic side characters, and the most precious kid ever. I cannot wait to revisit this world.
Grab Your Copy on Amazon
