Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Fresh out of the hospital, wounded soldier Bradley Martin is suddenly a father of three when the mother of his young daughter, and her own set of twins, passes away. He’s overwhelmed and grateful that Mannies Incorporated have found a male nanny for him to help, not only with the kids, but with some of his needs as well. Recovering and learning to walk again is hard enough without the three children that have landed full time in his life.

David “Duffy” Dufferin has been a manny since graduating from college, and he loves his job. He gets to be a part of so many families, and he loves helping raise all the children he works with. He’s thrilled to be starting a new assignment with a brand-new family.

Both Duffy and Brad are shocked and delighted to discover that they not only know each other, they were friends with benefits before their lives took them in different directions. Life is never going to be the same for either man, but together, they just might find that their new normal includes a happy ending for all.

 

Book Review

Mannies Incorporated has come to the rescue of many a desperate father, new or more experienced, and has unwittingly turned into a matchmaker of considerable significance. Granted, we only get to read the stories where the match is successful, but this being book number nine in the series, they do look like they know what they’re doing. ‘The New Normal’ is a slight variation on the theme in that Brad and Duffy met before and were friends with benefits at the time. Since their parting was amicable, nothing stands in the way of a deepening of their feelings – on the contrary, I think it makes things just a little more interesting.

 

Brad is a soldier who has had a tough time of it and is still in recovery, when the woman he fathered a daughter with is killed in action. Six-year-old Tori has at least met him a few times, but the three-month-old twins, another man’s children, are a bit of a surprise. Brad is a decent man with a big heart and so he takes all of them in. Now all he has to do is to figure out his “new normal” – and find someone to help him take care of three very young children. No matter how overwhelmed he gets, he is determined to give them a good home and the best possible start in life. The fact that he knows Duffy? After the initial surprise wears off, Brad figures it will make things easier since basic trust is already there.

 

Duffy is a “career manny” and has recently taken care of triplets, so three kids under six don’t faze him. He is looking forward to a new challenge, and when he realizes that the man who hired him is the same Brad he knew in college, it makes him hopeful that things might be easier on the trust front than working with a total stranger. All the more so because Brad is in a wheelchair and will need help as well, not something a proud guy like him will easily ask a stranger to provide.

 

Brad and Duffy settle into a routine easily, and watching them renew their friendship was as much fun as seeing them drift into deeper feelings before they know what’s going on. They are comfortable with each other from the start, and that is exactly what Tori needs as she figures out that her mother is dead and she will never get to see her again. Between dealing with frequent bottle-feedings, Tori’s curiosity, the need to teach her a new diet, and Brad’s slow but determined steps back to health, emotions run high and a few surprises keep things interesting.

 

If you like romances of the sweet and heartwarming kind, if you’re looking for another wonderful Mannies Incorporated story, and if two men falling in love while dealing with daily messes and getting reacquainted are your thing, then you will probably like this novel as much as I do. I certainly hope there will be another story in this fantastic series!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 222 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	15-December-2020
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/New-Normal-Mannies-Incorporated-ebook/dp/B08PW2CJ5D