The CEO’s Christmas Manny

I finished reading The CEO’s Christmas Manny by Angela McCallister. I was interested in the blurb I read and the cover. But as I read the book, I realized that I had misinterpreted the cover art completely. I was under the misguided impression that at some point, the CEO and his manny were going to go on an Alaskan cruise. 🤔

This probably explains why I got to the halfway point and asked myself, are they going on this cruise or not? What gives? I took a second look at the cover art and realized that what I thought was a cruise ship was actually a ferry, since this takes place with the CEO living on an island off the coast of Seattle. Ha!

Of course, I had to make some mental course corrections, which is why it took me so long to finish reading the book—no fault of the author. The mistake was all mine.

I was under the misguided impression that at some point the CEO and his manny were going to go on an Alaskan cruise.

The book itself was well written. At the start, Nic, the CEO, and Sasha, the manny, had obvious chemistry. I could see how it would be a conflict of interest to get involved with the live-in caretaker for your kids, but the kids were teenagers and Nic’s niece and nephews, so not his children exactly.

Sasha had been working as a substitute teacher, so when he took the manny job, it was a boon for him because he was broke and needed something steady since his last relationship left him sort of destitute.

I was with the characters all the way until the part where Sasha explained to Nic that he was paying the mortgage for his parents, and lo, they were rich (with trust funds) who were off gallivanting somewhere, leaving him to deal with things. So he’s burdened with paying their bills with his paycheck? What?

I lost interest in Sasha’s plight because, really, I wasn’t invested in someone who would be such a doormat that he would pay the bills for his rich parents just because they were irresponsible, but he wouldn’t take/use their money. SO which is it? Are you poor, Sasha? Or are you just a suffering fool?

It was roughly at this point that I realized there was no Alaskan cruise vacation on the horizon, and I struggled to connect with Nic, the CEO, who couldn’t seem to get his work/life balance together. He forces himself to be an outsider in normal activities because he wants to appease his parents.

Nic and Sasha managed to hook up, but every time I thought their relationship was going to get stronger, some obstacle would come along, and they’d go sliding about two steps back for every step of progress.

The ending seemed a little too neat, and their Christmas holiday was a little too cute. But maybe that’s just because I was bitter since I wanted them to be on the cruise to Alaska, fighting their attraction in the close confines of a luxury cabin.

This is the first book I have read from this author, so I will say that overall the book was good and I would read another of her works, but I will pay more attention to the cover before I start reading!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced electronic copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.