| Title | : | The Manny (Guilty Pleasures, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780578674186 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 338 |
| Publication | : | Published August 4, 2020 |
Gabe never thought he'd share his bed with another man. Not since his husband Wyatt died two years ago while piloting a charter plane on a stormy night and crashing in the Atlantic. It was just weeks after their daughter Isabela was born, leaving Gabe a shattered single dad in the upstate Georgian mansion he and Wyatt had bought to start a family. They'd converted its barnhouse into a studio where Gabe would rebuild his career as a mixed media artist. Now, any possibility of normalcy, let alone happiness, feels far beyond Gabe's grasp.
Until Matthew.
Under pressure from a close friend, Gabe decides to hire a live-in for Isabela so he can try being an artist again. Enter Matthew Gianforte, a recent graduate from a university with a very good reputation. When the young man shows up for his interview, he fairly sparkles in Gabe's vision. He's bright, eager, and attentive, and when Gabe introduces him to Isabela, it's love at first sight. There's so much appealing about Matthew, and that's the only thing that worries Gabe. With his prep school good looks, Matthew is Gabe's physical ideal.
What happens next is unfathomably erotic and unfathomably disturbing. A story cut from the same cloth as The Babysitter and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, filled with masterful deception and page-turning thrills.
About Guilty Pleasures Editions: Romeo Preminger's Guilty Pleasures Editions, titles are a branded line of hardcore romantic suspense standalones with murder, mayhem, and steamy mm romance.
The Manny (Guilty Pleasures, #2) Reviews
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Holy smokes, that was simply spectacular. I truly had no idea what to expect, and since I didn’t read the blurb I thought I was getting a sweet, romantic love story… I mean, check out that adorable cover, what would you think? Folks, this book is delectably, deliciously dark!
I’ve enjoyed this author’s books in the past (Romeo Preminger is his nom de plume) so I knew this guy could write, and that’s exactly what he does. Preminger expertly crafts an amazing tale filled with angst and desire, romance and lust, deceit and vengeance and dastardly deeds - and I loved every freaking minute of it.
With complex and very appealing characters, and a story that builds steam so steadily it wrapped me up completely, Romeo Preminger’s The Manny is one thrilling ride!
an ARC of The Manny was graciously supplied by the author in exchange for my honest, unbiased review -
About 2-2.5 Stars.
That cover is what drew me to this book. It's gorgeous. The author took the writing somewhere different to what was implied by the cover, that was good. I also liked the ending. *Sighs* this could have been so much more.
The book itself doesn't flow well, one minute Gabe's grieving the loss of his husband two years ago, the next he's mooning over his sexy new manny. After a few weeks he tells Matthew he can't do anything with him as he could be up for sexual harassment charges (etc) as his new(ish) employer, two pages later he's grabbing Matthew by his cock. I also believe that after all the effort he would have gone to to get the job of manny with rich and grieving Gabe, Matthew would have been a better liar than he proved to be.
Some of the words - pork-hole - jesus, what a term, and 'boners. Nooooo. Gabe is thirty-seven and an artist who is quite stiff and formal in his speech, boner (definitely pork-hole) did not fit. That Gabe jumped so quickly into the relationship with a guy who clearly had issues around anger was illogical. I get people can be suckers for a pretty face and a hard body, but I like to be challenged more as a reader. The book needed to decide what it was. Harry F Rey, for one, does it well, mixing erotica into more serious genre fiction writing.
Tense issues popped up as well throughout. But most of all, the big miss for me, the characters weren't fully realised. It's such a big problem for my character-obsessed self.
Too many problems overshadowed what was a terrific concept, one that lacked a knockout delivery. -
The Manny, or the male nanny is a gay erotic thriller about this newly hired babysitter called Matthew. Gabe is a thirty-seven-year-old widow with a toddler daughter, Isabella. His husband Wyatt died two years ago in a plane crash. Now Gabe is ready to get back to his work as an artist so he decides to hire a nanny. Gabe finds Matthew, a young gorgeous, and attractive college graduate to be fit for the job. The widow needs a live-in caretaker for his daughter and Matthew seems to be the ideal choice. This manny ends up taking care not just of Gabe's daughter but of Gabe's needs too! Soon a fire of lust and love starts between the two men that brings so much happiness for both, but that turns out to be a temporary thing because along with the lust, Matthew also brings problems and death!
This is the second book I read for Romeo Preminger but the first one in the Guilty Pleasures series. I have not read the first one yet but that's not a problem because they are standalone erotic thrillers. I loved the whole concept of the story, somehow it reminded me of Rebecca De Mornay's film The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. The general idea is similar except the nanny in the movie was on a mission to destroy that family she worked for while Matthew did love Gabe but he did not want his past crimes to be revealed. And of course, the gay angle is the main difference between the two. This is an erotic thriller so we have two aspects to evaluate. The erotic side of the story was absolutely delicious. When I picked up this book I had no doubt that Romeo Preminger will master the erotic scenes because the other book I read for him, Wolf and The Three Little Pigs was absolutely fantastic and HOT in capital letters! So that side I was sure he would nail. What I did not know how he will do was the thriller part of the story. Fortunately, he did not disappoint there. The story was gripping right from the beginning until the end. The built of tension kept going up and up which makes this book an easy page-turner. At first, there is a slow build but things will gradually pick up and the pace moves fast and gets crazy. The Manny or Matthew's character is a multilayered psychopath, he has this warmth to him at one side offering his 100% love and affection, and on the other side, you have this crazy boy who will not hesitate to do anything to protect himself or reach his goal! Romeo Preminger has written him in a way that anybody could fall for him. He felt very real to me. I would not blame Gabe at the end of the book when he still felt some love for the boy despite all the horrible things that he has done to him and his friends. Gabe, on the other hand, despite being a sane character falls under Matthew's charm and becomes totally blinded by his love and lust for him. He unintentionally allows Matthew to isolate him from his friends and people who care for him. By the time he finds out the truth about his lover's past, he had already lost a lot. Another thing I have to mention here is the gorgeous cover. I had the cover model in mind as Matthew! No wonder Gabe has fallen for him!
The Manny might sound like a guilty pleasure book (Well, it is if going by the name of the series) but I don't feel any guilt for picking it up and reading it! 😁 It delivered what it promised on both sides, the erotic and the thriller. Romeo Preminger has a winner here. Read it.
Many thanks to Hidden Gems Books and the author for providing me a free copy of this book (ARC) in exchange for this honest and unbiased review.
The Full Uncensored Review is Here -
A
Joyfully Jay review.
4 stars
Let me begin by stating this is NOT a romance; it’s listed as romantic suspense, but runs closer to thriller. From the blurb, I honestly didn’t anticipate how dark this story was going to get. Gabe’s friends are somewhat happy that he’s moving on from his grief, but they are concerned about how isolated Gabe is becoming. Gabe’s vision is clouded by Matthew’s sensuality, his earnestness, and his sympathetic situation: he maintains that he was cut off from his family for owning his sexuality and he put himself through college. As Gabe’s friends chip away at these stories, Gabe digs in deeper to protect the soulful confidante who he believes needs his help as much as Gabe needs Matthew. Matthew, however, is willing to defend his new life with Gabe and Isabela at all cost—and the costs are mighty steep.
Read Veronica’s review in its entirety
here. -
Amazon
Gabe is finally ready to move on from losing his husband 2 years ago. Hiring a nanny for his young daughter is first up. Thank God the guy he picks seems so bright and in love with Isabella already. But what will Gabe do with the attraction and the feelings Matthew stirs up? He wants to keep things professional, as he is hyper aware of their differences in positions, not wanting to lead his employee on.
Matthew is determined in his pursuit of the older, adorable Gabe, though, and soon they're giving into the tension, and Matthew becomes more than the manny. But when a series of tragedies starts happening around them, will Gabe learn to trust his gut, or lead with his heart?
Whew, I gotta admit that this is so not what I was expecting, but in a good, if crazy way. Matthew is a nut, no two ways about it, and poor Gabe is just so not thinking with his head. I liked this well-written, intense thriller, even if it was not what I was expecting.
ARC via Hidden Gems Books for an honest review.
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Wow. I am just blown away by what I have just read. This book is so not what I was expecting. When reading the description of this book, I figured that it was a romance with some twists but that is definitely not what this is. The twists part, yeah, it definitely has some of those and then some. I still cannot believe what I just read.
Gabe is a single dad of a beautiful little girl. He lost his husband two years ago right after their daughter was born in an accident. Since then, Gabe has been trying to get over his grief and for the first time in a long time, he is starting to feel more like his old self again. Recently he has decided he wants to start working on his art again, but in order to do that he needs a live-in sitter to help with his daughter and around the house.
At first Gabe is really unsure about even considering a guy as a manny because he always figured he would hire a woman to help with Isabela. But when he interviews Matthew and sees how well Isabela takes to him, Gabe is pretty sure he has found his live-in.
After much consideration he ends up hiring him. Things are going great at first – other than the slight attraction that Gabe feels towards Matthew – but he thinks he can ignore it for his daughter’s sake and the fact he is doing such an amazing job.
Matthew knows the moment he meets Gabe that he will be his. He knows he has to bide his time and wait for his dreams to come true. In the end, it only takes three weeks before he gets his wish. Matthew easily manipulates Gabe into giving in to him and before Gabe even realizes what is happening, he is in a relationship with Matthew.
This would have been all well and good, but incidents starting happening and before Gabe knows what is happening, his life turns into his worst nightmare. Things he never imagined start to occur and though looking back on it, Gabe should have seen the signs, but when it happens, all he can see is the man he thought he loved.
What will happen when all the secrets, the deceit, the manipulations come to light? Will it be too late? Will Gabe be able to get out of the relationship from hell without him and his daughter being hurt?
This book truly took me by surprise. I was not expecting half of what happened. If you are looking for a sweet romance, this book is definitely not that. There are some trigger warnings: emotional abuse, danger, physical abuse, and mental illness. So be aware of those before reading this book. If you like a read with twists and unexpected dangers, then this book is for you. I think it was a good read!
NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on
Rainbow Book Reviews. -
'There's not much you can do with a bachelor's degree in English literature'
I feel personally seen and called out by the above quote! But anyway...
Do not let the cover of this book sway you! I didn't read the blurb so wasn't sure what to expect but I had definitely formed an opinion on seeing both the title and the cover.
Boy was I wrong!
This book was a really good read and I don't want to give anything away as that sucks! Bur go in blind really and just enjoy this book and the surprises it throws your way! #
The only reason this was not a five star read for me was due to some of the writing. At times I felt like the feelings of Gabe were underdeveloped or not explained fully. But other than that, this book was a solid read and my first by this author.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. -
This was possibly the most disturbing story I have read in quite a while. I'll admit that normally go for romance (though I like it on the dark side), or sci-fi/fantasy, so I don't often have characters that fit into a psycho thriller.
Adam was absolutely frightening with how manipulative and utterly soulless he showed himself to be. And yet, he seemed to honestly love taking care of family. I can't say that I understood how Gabe can't feel both pissed off at the huge betrayal and horribly guilty for not seeing the level of emotional manipulation that was going on.
I enjoyed reading this book, and my heart rate is still high after that ending. But, I have to be honest and say that I have no plans to read this ever again.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. -
Loved every page
Another great read from Romeo Preminger. His stories are edgy and never really end how you expect. There is a touch of evil in this story and it hooks you right in. I couldn't put the book down. I like when authors take a chance with their characters. This story is mostly told from Gabes POV but there are a few chapters from Matthew's view. Gabe is already vulnerable from losing his husband and Matthew preys on this. It doesn't take long for Gabe's a world to fall apart and friends turning up dead. The drama, the emotions, the lies, the sex - it's a rollercoaster story. Absolutely brilliant! I didn't want the book to end. I would 100% recommend this whole series. -
This romantic thriller was an interesting read. Gabe and Matthew had an instant attraction resulting in a fast paced romance. However, things are not always what they seem and there are twists and turns that take the couple for a crazy ride. There are parts of the story that are a bit unbelievable, but nothing that ruins the book. This is the second book I have read by this author, and there are huge improvements in both the writing and the story telling. Overall, a good read.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. -
I don't know what I was expecting from this story but this wasn't it. I was expecting a fluffy take on a main character falling for the Nanny. Well I got that...but I got way more. Suspense and intrigue and just a little messed up but I have no regrets. I enjoyed the story alot. A bit of Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Single White Female with a M/M love story twist. Totally worth the read.
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Don't be fooled by the cover. This manny is more than he seems, and this isn't a romance novel. The twist at the end will take you out. Poor Gabe just wanted a nanny. And Adam just so perfect for the job.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
** 3.5 Stars **
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Well, this was something alright! I'm glad I didn't read the blurb, it totally surprised me. Very entertaining 😉 *****
