Nanny and the Professor
Donna Fasano
Contemporary Romance
Originally published in 1995 [Requested Review]
H/h - Prof. Joshua Kingston/Cassie Simmons
Setting: Present time.
Read in Aug, 2012.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
Nanny And The Professor is a sweet story between (yes) a Professor and the nanny for his 8 yrs. old son. This is my first Donna Fasano book and it won’t be my last. I liked the DF’s writing style a lot. This is the sort of book you read when you don’t want anything heavy and complex but something light on the plot-wise and comparably shorter.
Cassie has lived a troubled and difficult life. After her father was killed suddenly when she was 16, Cassie had to give up studies and other dreams of her life to take care of her depressed mother and an infant brother. Even though Cassie had self-studied, self-taught herself other things, taken courses with Red Cross and trained as a diving instructor, she never quite got over the fact that she never finished high school. This injured her self-esteem badly. Cassie tried to hide this fact and most of the times she could because she’s a smart and hard working girl. But most of the times, when her employers got the wind of her lack of a certificate, she’s fired from the job. Cassie has been forced to move from jobs to jobs, her only concern now is to take care of her 8 yrs. old brother, Eric. Since her mother passed away, Cassie and Eric have been staying (paying guest of sort) with this elderly woman, who is a family friend and stepped in to help, knowing that the siblings are alone in the world. We never get a glimpse of any extended family, so I guessed there probably wasn’t anyone to help them. So far, it has been good, until one day, Cassie is fired again. I honestly felt for her. Sometimes life can be a b*tch to someone who is totally undeserving of that b*tching. The old lady, who likes Cassie immensely, refers her to her widower nephew, Prof. Kingston, who is badly in need of a nanny at this very moment.
Cassie meets her charge, Andy, in quite a scene on the day of her interview, which includes a stranded kitty on a big tree. As she rescues the boy, understanding immediately who it was, Andy suddenly leaves her when the Professor comes out of the house. Poor Cassie is stranded on the tree now, since the professor was looking for the ladder she borrowed from the garage and was heading this way. I found it kinda funny, how the professor or Joshua was taken aback by the pretty looking legs sticking out of the tree. The first impression wasn’t what Cassie was hoping for and she was already kissing this job goodbye when the handsome professor steals her breath anyway. Then, Joshua totally surprises Cassie by taking her in immediately as he was in a hurry to leave for a guest lecture.
Regrettably, we don’t get to see as many of Joshua’s POVs as I would’ve liked throughout the book. He was already smitten with the new nanny for sure. Something about her struck him hard too. Cassie, on the other hand, hadn’t had the time to tell the professor that Eric would also have to move in with her. She takes Andy to meet Eric. Andy and Eric start off real fine and become best buds in a matter of seconds. Andy was alone so far, and having Eric around was a heaven sent for him.
In the course of the story we find all four of them bonding in a way or the other, going out together, playing games and so on. When there are some misunderstandings, Andy would request his father not to fire Cassie, proving that he loves his new nanny more than the ones any he’s had so far. The father-son scenes between Andy and Joshua were very charming to say the least. As Joshua begins loosening up a little, Cassie helps him with how to manage Andy. Andy was born premature and so, has a host of physical problems, including asthma. Joshua is an overprotective father, always scared of something might happening to his son. Nothing wrong with that but sometimes his overprotective attitude smothered Andy and this, Cassie understood well. Soon, Cassie begins dreaming of a family of her own around Joshua, Andy and Eric. She can’t help it but she’s still scared that a scholarly man like Joshua would never give her a second look if he comes to learn of her background. They both keep on blowing hot and cold towards each-other. More misunderstandings follow because of this.
I enjoyed the first half quite a lot but the second half of the story frustrated me to no end. I understood Cassie’s dilemma and vulnerability but her low self-esteem was really hard to get through in every freakin’ page. She was forever troubled with the issue of what to do and how to act where Joshua was concerned. Mostly, how to break her ‘big secret’ to Joshua. Trust me, I sympathized. She was a very nice girl and her concerns for Eric were heartwarming. But, she tried my patience. For Joshua’s part, he was very much into her. It’s Cassie who was the reluctant party and pushed him away more than once. I didn’t like it much. It kinda dragged on until Joshua had an outburst about Cassie’s low self-esteem and mucked up their already shaky relationship a bit more. *sigh*
Overall, it was a likable book, but I wish I had more glimpses of their relationship without so much confusion riddling it. I needed something more solid. And, there was no love scene. This fact bummed me, as the story kind of felt unfinished. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m mostly used to reading novels with love scenes... 3.75 stars, which, in my scale is a generally good read and recommended.
This copy of Nanny and the Professor was provided to me by the author herself in exchange of an honest review. I’d like to thank her for it.
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