I saw this on a promotion via a newsletter, and I was in the mood for a trope-filled romance in between some deeper reads, so I took a chance on an author new to me.

The Premise

Olympic athlete Jace has everything planned from his meets to his meals to his practices — when a toddler lands on his doorstep, the product of a one-night stand. Jace quickly has to adjust to become a parent, and enlists the help of a nanny Millie. With her over-the-top crazy outfits, Millie is a bit zany, and her lifelong dream is to work on a popular children’s television show. Jace’s son Tanner, a special needs child who communicates mostly by sign language, soon bonds to Millie, and the relationship also escalates between Millie and Jace. With Jace and Tanner, Millie quickly becomes part of a little family — something she has always longed for, as she never fit in with her own. But will her big dreams — and Jace’s determination to succeed at the Olympics — throw their romance off-course?

The Pros

This was a heartwarming sports romance story, and I liked the inclusion of neurodiverse characters with both Millie and Tanner. Tanner steals the show with his cuteness and the way he tries to communicate, and accepts what is front of him without question. I loved the way the romance builds slowly between Jace and Millie, allowing friendship and coparenting to develop first. There were also some sexy scenes, which were nicely done without being over-the-top. The scene with Millie’s family dinner was one of the best in the book, and I really enjoyed seeing Jace hold his own among those vultures! I also liked the unusual career for Millie, and it was easy to imagine her ridiculous over-the-top persona, and why that jarred so starkly with her prim and proper family. Jace’s support network of his mom and his fellow teammates was also really great, and there was enough meat in the other guys’ stories to get me interested in reading more in the series.

The Cons

I liked this story, but it just didn’t hit the mark all the way for me. Admittedly I am always most critical of trope-y romances (my reviewing history will attest to this!) but that’s because they are so common that you really have to work extra hard to make it unique and awesome, and for me this just wasn’t either. Firstly, I am a sucker for dialogue to bring out the couple’s chemistry and the individual personalities, and here it wasn’t as sharp as I would have preferred. The conflict was also pretty low — literally, one argument.

But beyond that, my bigger issue was the over-splaining of the attraction between the couple, rather than letting us just see it happen. There’s also so much trope-iness that it gets a bit weary… between single-dad, sleeping-with-the-boss, the daddy-nanny connection, nanny-baby bond, athlete/non-athlete pairing, family-drama, sports-family-intros (as it’s part of a series), and neurodiversity tossed on top of it — it felt like it was trying too hard; it should’ve focused on maybe just two or three of those, and made those amazing. And even with all of that, there also seemed to be an element missing — I know the kid’s young, but I wished someone had mentioned his mom at some point, or helped him process that loss somehow.

Conclusion

Despite my nitpicking, this was still a pretty good read, and I can see it hitting all the spots for the right audience and completely blowing them away. The characters are lovable, particularly Tanner, and there is a great message here about success and chasing your dreams even when everyone else thinks they are silly. I also like the featuring of an athlete who lives, eats, breathes the sport — it gave me an appreciation for what Olympians have to go through year-round to stay in the game. I would recommend to other readers, particularly adult female readers, and I am interested in reading more in the series.

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