The Nanny and the Nerd by Krista Sandor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Part of the fun is falling in love. Penny and Rowen are adorably, clueless, unpredictably tempting and unbelievably irresistible. Sandor puts her heart in The Nanny and the Nerd and serves up a delicious heartache that is addictably heartwarming.





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This thriller reveals some of its secrets early on, but keeps others hidden enough to make it interesting. I liked how the story switches between points of view and lets us see things from the angles of different characters. The author cleverly subverts our expectations and notions about them, possibly even causing us to change who we sympathize with along the way. The art subplot is not very necessary, though, and goes on for a bit too long in my opinion. There is also at least one story thread that is dropped halfway and remains unresolved.

The narrator for Virginia's chapters isn't very good at making different voices without them sounding exaggerated, and her attempts at a 10-year-old girl with an American accent sound especially comical. Other than that, I enjoyed the narration. The standout in particular are the parts where we get to know the thoughts of the absolutely psychotic villain. These are exquisitely narrated and are quite chilling.

He's lost his spark. She's caught his fire. When a little white lie ignites an explosive attraction, it's inevitable that someone is going to get burned. Phoenix and Griffin are quite a pair. The single dad who has lost his way and the dreamer hoping to make her dreams come true. When opportunity knocks neither is ready for the fireworks, but they're bound to enjoy the ride. Rayne struck a chord with the poet in me with Confessions of a Naughty Nanny. From sinfully, naughty to hilariously, funny and heartachingly, delicious, Phoenix and Griffin hit all the right notes with my heart.

Translated from the French novella, and also previously released as "Lullaby," this sinister and suspenseful tale of a nanny and her two charges is a page turner. It's no mystery how it's going to end, because it starts with the ending, but the story of the seemingly-perfect (aren't they always?) Louise unfolds in flashbacks and backstory from other people's perspective.

Tight writing keeps the tense mood. Similar books that I have read recently are Gone Girl and Something in the Water.  Children being involved and knowing the ending adds to the horror of the story, and makes you want to understand what drove Louise to do what she did, and if you could spot the clues to make you see that she was not the perfect nanny.

This one was off to a slow start but it was worth sticking through it. As the story progressed it got more interesting and intriguing. With a really good ending it was well worth the read.

The story alternates between several different points of view. At first, it may seem haphazard and all over the place. At certain times it’s a little confusing and as mentioned earlier, it’s slow to start. The time jumps back and forth also add a bit to the confusion but once you get the characters straightened it makes a whole lot of sense (and adds a lot of the mystery that is scattered throughout the novel)

None of the characters are likable although Virginia starts to grow on you as you learn more about her and what she went through. It’s surprising at first because she comes across as high brow, snobby and doesn’t really treat Jo like she should. As the story goes on however, you figure out why and what was behind her behavior. All the pieces start falling into place and it makes for a real good plot.

As mentioned before, the plot jumps back and forth and may be hard to follow. Eventually everything starts making sense and turns out to be a well written thriller. The ball gets rolling as the story progresses. I have to admit, however , the role of the police in this book wasn’t much of an impact and it looked like they were just there to tie loose ends and to be a filler. Oh well, I suppose the police can’t do everything right?

Well worth the read if you stick with the slow start. Absolutely loved the fitting ending!