A Steamy Romance With Potential | The Nanny by Lana Ferguson

This single dad romance has a lot of spice and a central premise that is different from what I have read before in other romances. 

Cassie Evans needs a new job after being let go from her last one. She once had an Only Fans account but shut it down after a subscriber whom she became very close with disappeared. When she comes across an ad looking for a live-in nanny, she immediately applies. Aiden Reid meanwhile is a busy chef who needs help taking care of his nine-year-old daughter, Sophie, after her mother passed away so suddenly. As soon as Aiden and Cassie meet there is an instant attraction. Although Cassie tries to put aside her feelings for Aiden, she soon realizes that she recognizes him as the man she communicated with on OF.

The Nanny is a well-written romance by Lana Ferguson, with dual POVs and a lot of spice that lives up to the fiery chemistry between its two main characters. The other characters as well, such as Sophie and Cassie’s older friend, Wanda, are standouts that get moments where they shine (I petition Wanda gets her own book/prequel). Although this was a fun buddy read with Mel @bruhasbookshelf, I didn’t really love the book and we agreed that it’s mostly because there was something missing between Cassie and Aiden’s relationship.

From their first meeting, Cassie and Aiden are mutually attracted to each other, but apart from that and as it progressed, I couldn’t understand why they were together. I kept wondering - to quote Prince Derek from The Swan Princess - “what else is there?” There is a lot of steam and good banter, but not enough to show us why they were so drawn to each other on a personal level. When me and Mel were talking about it, she made a good point about how maybe if we got more from their OF chats showing why they connected, then maybe it would have helped. It should also be worth noting by the way that the OF plot line is actually more in the background that is referenced to, but not focused on as it happened before the events of the main story.

Although The Nanny wasn’t for me, I still would like to read more books by Lana Ferguson as I liked her writing. Thanks again to Mel for reading this with me 🫶💕

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The Love You Deserve | Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

“I promise that someday you’ll find the love you deserve, but it might not be when or how you’re expecting it.” 

It has been such a good reading year so far and there have been a couple of books that have surprised me, including this one. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld was one of my most anticipated reads, and I ended up enjoying it so much more than I expected. 

Sally Milz is a writer on a popular live comedy show called The Night Owls, that airs every Saturday night (sound familiar?). She has given up on falling in love, preferring to focus on her career instead. Then, when news breaks that her friend and TNO cast member, Danny Horst, is dating a beautiful actress who just hosted an episode, Sally is frustrated but not at all surprised. It’s become a recurring event at TNO especially, for gorgeous successful women to date average men like Danny, but as Sally has come to believe would never happen if the roles were reversed. That is until singer, Noah Brewster, arrives to host TNO. A genuine connection begins to form between them as they prepare for Saturday’s live show, but Sally is unsure whether to believe if it’s actually real. After all, this would never happen to someone like her… right?

Romantic Comedy is witty, smart, and feels like something Nora Ephron would have loved and adapted. The behind the scenes leading up to TNO’s live show was interesting to read and now makes me see Saturday Night Live in a whole new light. At the same time, I also really like Sally and Noah and how Sittenfeld develops their relationship that feels real and authentic, even in the chapters set during the pandemic. There is a kind of push and pull between them alongside the banter and emails exchanged where I get the sense that they are into each other, but are just unsure if the other would reciprocate. This isn’t a typical romance book, but a realistic take on comedy, romance and what we expect for ourselves and breaking them. 

I’m so happy that I got to buddy read this with Jenn, who also recommended Colin Jost’s book since I enjoyed this one.

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An American Girl | Throwback by Maurene Goo

This is my new favorite book of all-time. At most, in the top 3 and I don’t think I will be over it any time soon. If you love mother/daughter stories, the 1990’s, or are a huge fan of Back to the Future, then you will most definitely love Maurene Goo’s Throwback. 

Samantha Kang is a Gen Z teen in 2025, who hasn’t quite figured out where life is headed yet. She often argues with her first-generation Korean American mother, Priscilla, who had a very different high school experience when she was a teenager. After an argument with her mom that leaves her stranded, Sam books a ride via a mysterious rideshare app that ends up taking her all the way back to the year 1995, where she meets a 17-year-old Priscilla. Sam may be stuck in the past with outdated views and tech as she helps her mother win homecoming queen - a defining moment that changed Priscilla’s relationship with her own mother, Sam’s grandmother Halmoni - but, she also begins to realize that there is more to her mom than she thought, as well as what her own future may be.

I absolutely love this book! I cried seeing Sam and Priscilla’s relationship grow and the impact they had on each other that becomes, quite frankly, timeless. As a mother/daughter story, I like how Goo looks at it through a time traveling perspective. By being in the past and witnessing first hand who Priscilla was and the relationship she had with Halmoni, Sam begins to understand why certain high school aspirations like popularity and becoming homecoming queen mattered so much to her mom. There is an idealism to it tied with a youthful first-gen optimism of the American Dream. It’s a simple but indelible reminder how parents were teenagers once too with hopes and dreams.

Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies. So, to see it in a similar form set during a decade I grew up in and featuring Asian characters instantly stole my heart. It’s nostalgic in reminding me what that era was like (for better and for worse), and at the same time feels so relevant. 

Throwback is a must-read that everyone needs to pick up soon! It’s funny, sentimental, relatable, and will make you want to hug your mom a little bit tighter.

Additional Thoughts:

• The other characters apart from Sam, Priscilla, and Halmoni are just as great.
• There is a subplot involving a time-crossed romance that makes the ending even more perfect.
• Don’t overthink too much on the science of time travel here. Just know that much of it is similar to how it was handled in Back to the Future but without The Delorean and Sam having to worry about if she will be born.
• The pop culture references had me laughing, especially through Sam’s honest POV. I will now be using “Jordan Catalano bad news” when referring to questionable men.

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The Wonder of You | Aloha, Vietnam by Elizabeth Nguyen MD

“If you don’t remember your roots and connection to the past, how can you expect to live the right way and make decisions in your life for the future?”

Mother-daughter stories always get me emotional. I find them personal in how they are able to look at two individuals, their bond, and that bridge in between that brings two generations together. I felt this while reading Dr. Elizabeth Nguyen’s Aloha, Vietnam. This story about Xuan and her daughter, Anh, explores mental health as Xuan tries to understand Anh’s bipolar disorder diagnosis just as Anh learns how to cope with it as she comes of age. 

Mental health can be a sensitive topic, especially within the Asian community. There are some cultural taboos surrounding it that are different from how we’ve come to accept and acknowledge it today and this was an aspect that stood out to me in Aloha, Vietnam. I cannot recall reading a book that touches on mental health in realistic detail through an Asian perspective and Dr. Nguyen handles it with great care. By telling it through Xuan and Anh’s point of view, I was able to understand what Anh was going through and the concerns Xuan felt. It is also through this that the story adds another layer. 

As a mother, Xuan worries about Anh, while also blaming herself for Anh’s diagnosis believing it to be karma from her steadfast intention of immigrating from Vietnam to the US. Meanwhile, Anh, a first generation American, wants to be a regular teenager just like everyone else and her struggle to accept her diagnosis makes her feel more of an outsider than she already feels. It becomes not just about Xuan and Anh coming to terms with Anh’s bipolar disorder, but about a mother giving all of herself for her daughter, and a daughter growing to accept every part of her identity and her origins in order to move forward.

Aloha, Vietnam is a quick read and the relationship between Xuan and Anh leaves so much between them left unsaid near the end, but it tugged my heart and left me empathizing for the characters and those in real life who struggle with mental health.

Thank you so much to Book Publicity Services for sending me a gifted copy of the book. 

This post is not sponsored. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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