This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Kay Brooks
Nina Elliot feels suffocated by her controlling boyfriend and her job in a stuffy office. On a whim, she dumps her boyfriend and she quits her job, telling her cruel, inconsiderate boss exactly what she thinks of her bullying ways.
For a while, Nina’s life is empty until nearly getting hit by a car inadvertently brings her back into contact with the Milton family. After babysitting two of the three Milton boys as a teenager, Nina was once thought to be part of the family, a feeling denied to her by her own parents. Nina is delighted to be offered a position as secretary to their father, aspiring writer Dudley Milton, and enthusiastically accepts, hoping to regain the feeling of being part of a family and acceptance. It doesn’t take long for Nina to realise that it could never be the same. The Milton boys are all grown up and pleased to have Nina back in their lives. Nina is in for an eventful summer of romance and conflict as she struggles to find a place for herself in the Milton family.
The premise for this novel combined with the glorious cover encouraged high expectations for a scorching read and there is a lot to enjoy. Each of the Miltons is individual and intriguing in their own way. The youngest, Dominic, lives in hope that his on-going childhood crush on Nina will finally be requited but his shy, self-conscious nature leaves him firmly in the shadow of his egotistical, wannabe playboy brother, Alex. Dudley is as moody as his wife, Olivia, is scatty. Finally there’s the dog, Ziggy, who is desperately in need of training. It seems that each of the Miltons need Nina to sweep in like a kind of Mary Poppins figure and change their lives in some way, creating some order in their chaotic lives.
Unfortunately, Nina is not as interesting as the Miltons. Fuelled by her own lack of confidence, despite the fact that every single male character she comes into contact with fancies her, she is constantly questioning herself. Even the mystery dog-walker, Justin, seems to instantly fall for her. When she first meets the brothers, I found her musings over their intentions really repetitive and contradictory. As an example, she knows that spending time with Alex will give him the wrong idea but what harm could it do to go the beach with him? I failed to see what was so special about her and much preferred the gardening ex-girlfriend of Dominic’s, Faye.The novel is enjoyable; I just couldn’t shake the feeling that there needed to be more to Nina’s character for me to connect or empathise with her. Instead, I actually felt angry that she seemed to be messing with the feelings of the brothers, especially when she had been hired by their parents. Her frequent self-criticism combined with her own justifications of her actions irritated me.
6/10