Ruthie Midona has worked the front desk at the Providence Luxury Retirement Villa for six years, dedicating her entire adult life to caring for the Villa’s residents, maintaining the property (with an assist from DIY YouTube tutorials), and guarding the endangered tortoises that live in the Villa’s gardens. Somewhere along the way, she’s forgotten that she’s young and beautiful, and that there’s a world outside of work—until she meets the son of the property developer who just acquired the retirement center.

Teddy Prescott has spent the last few years partying, sleeping in late, tattooing himself when bored, and generally not taking life too seriously—something his father, who dreams of grooming Teddy into his successor, can’t understand. When Teddy needs a place to crash, his father seizes the chance to get him to grow up. He’ll let Teddy stay in one of the on-site cottages at the retirement home, but only if he works to earn his keep. Teddy agrees—he can change a few lightbulbs and clip some hedges, no sweat. But Ruthie has plans for Teddy too.

Her two wealthiest and most eccentric residents have just placed an ad (yet another!) seeking a new personal assistant to torment. The women are ninety-year-old, four-foot-tall menaces, and not one of their assistants has lasted a full week. Offering up Teddy seems like a surefire way to get rid of the tall, handsome, unnerving man who won’t stop getting under her skin.

Ruthie doesn’t count on the fact that in Teddy Prescott, the Biddies may have finally met their match. He’ll pick up Chanel gowns from the dry cleaner and cut Big Macs into bite-sized bits. He’ll do repairs around the property, make the residents laugh, and charm the entire villa. He might even remind Ruthie what it’s like to be young and fun again. But when she finds out Teddy’s father’s only fixing up the retirement home to sell it, putting everything she cares about in jeopardy, she’s left wondering if Teddy’s magic was all just a façade.

What a fun read!

I had no idea what to expect from Sally Thorne, but this book didn’t disappoint. The characters were fun, the setting was unique, and the plot points were believable and relatable. There were a few times when Teddy seemed a bit too perfect and things worked out a surprisingly well, but I didn’t mind–I generally prefer if things don’t all work out (because life isn’t like that), but I don’t mind when it does either because sometimes I just want to escape into a novel, and I could do that with this book.

I also REALLY appreciate her control when writing sex scenes. I’m been struggling recently to find general market romance novels that don’t turn into porn as soon as the characters enter the bedroom, but this one did NOT do that. There was definitely some description to the scenes, but it was exactly what I’d expect from this genre.

I will definitely be checking out more books by Sally Thorne.

R-rated for language and sex. Get your copy here! 

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