The Simple Life by Tara Sivec
Plot:
30 years old “it girl” Brooklyn Manning is living her New York dream.
She’s paid tons of money to experience the best NYC can offer and write about it on Glitz, the largest fashion magazine in the world.
She’s also dating a gorgeous man that’s successful, undemanding and understanding about her very active social life…what more does a girl need??
This particular girl just needed her life not to crumble down around her.
Turns out her boyfriend has a very famous wife of ten years that chooses to make an appearance at a social event just to punch Brooklyn in the face and ruin her reputation and picture perfect life.
Figures.
She gets fired and with her savings dwindling because no one wants to hire her, she feels pretty much screwed.
That’s how Brooklyn Manning ends up leaving the big apple to go back in White Timber, Montana, population less than 1,000 souls.
32 years old nerd/hot cowboy Clint Hastings has built a good life for himself and his two daughters all on his own.
The last thing he expect to see in his kitchen coming back from working on his farm, is his old arch nemesis and lifetime crush…
Apparently she’s the new nanny!
Having her around drives him crazy.
knowing she’s probably planning to go back to her beloved New York City makes him even crazier.
Maybe he was wrong about her.
Maybe there’s a chance for happiness both hadn’t seen coming their way.
Maybe…
Personal Thoughts
Brooklyn hasn’t lived in her hometown in 12 years and she’s determined to stay only until the “hussy homewrecker scandal” dies down and her father recovers from his triple bypass surgery, not a second more!
We all know though that life often leads us places we never planned on going and becoming a nanny definitely isn’t something Brooklyn would EVER want do…
“Are they housetrained?” I ask Mrs. Sherwood.
She just shakes her head and laughs at me.
Seriously, answer the question! Why is that funny?
“We’re not puppies. God, you’re an idiot,” Grace mutters.
… because Brooklyn does not like kids!
I’m not like those women whose ovaries clench with longing whenever they hear a baby cry. My ovaries shrivel up and die if a baby so much as glances in my general direction.
NYC Brooklyn thinks she has her life figured out but I actually wasn’t much interested in knowing more about the self centered “it girl” she is at the beginning of the story. Things soon improve when she finds herself back home and in Clint‘s life.
“You!” I shout, my eyes bugging out of my head.
“What the hell is she doing here?” he growls, setting Mia down on the ground.
My only source of happiness right now is that Mia presses her face to his jean clad leg and wipes her nose back and forth against the material, leaving a trail of snot behind.
Clint Hastings. Ember’s older brother and my arch nemesis growing up.
Whatever. I know I’m not a superhero in a comic book, but this guy has been the bane of my existence since the day I met him when I was in kindergarten, he was in second grade, and he threw a rock at my head. I kicked him in his tiny nuggets first, since he told me I couldn’t play baseball with him and his friends because I was a girl, but that’s not the point. If this were a comic book and we were meeting in a dark alley, I’d be holding my fists above my head next to a talk bubble that says “ So, we meet again. Tonight I will get my revenge and you will die by my iron fists! WHAM! BAM! KAPOW!”
Along the way I fell in love with both MC and secondary characters!!
Brooklyn’s father is kind of awesome…
“I don’t know. It’s awful dangerous sitting in this recliner. What if it malfunctions when I pull the lever to put my legs up and it shoots me out the window, the glass nicks an artery, and I bleed out on the front lawn? What if I’m thirsty and don’t know how to get up and get my own damn glass of water, and die from thirst in the whole thirty minutes you’ll be gone? Maybe you should stay here and just stare at me to make sure I don’t die.”
He’s my father and I love him. He’s my father and I love him.
I’ve repeated this mantra in my head so much over the last two weeks that I can happily say I no longer roll my eyes when I think it.
LOL!!!
“A job interview is what someone goes to when they have no money,” he continues. “You put on some fancy clothes, lie to them about what your strengths and weaknesses are, kiss their ass, and then boom! You get hired and start making money.”
I’m honestly surprised my grandparents didn’t name him Allen Sarcastic Shit Manning. It has a nice ring to it. Much more fitting than Allen Michael Manning.
“I know what a job interview is, Dad. But I’m not planning on staying here forever. You know that, right?” I ask gently.
“Of course I know that. I just figured you should stick around long enough to at least learn how to block a punch and avoid getting another black eye. Never know when another fist might come flying at your face again,” he replies with the first smile I’ve seen since I got here.
He’s my father and I have to love him. He’s my father and I have to love him.
Double LOL!
“All right, I’ll go. As long as you’re okay with it.”
“I don’t know. This recliner is looking at me funny. Could shoot me out that window aaany minute now,” he mutters under his breath, never taking his eyes off the TV.
“Jesus. Okay, okay, I get the picture,” I tell him with a shake of my head, as I turn and walk toward the hallway that will take me to my old bedroom so I can shower and change, yelling over my shoulder as I go. “You’re a big boy and you can take care of yourself. Just remember that next time you’re screaming in pain for me to take you to the emergency room because it burns when you pee!”
“Nobody likes a smartass, Brooklyn Marie Manning!”
Said the king of the smartasses.
He’s gruff but protective and sweet in his own way…
“You want some fatherly advice?” he asks, as I walk across the room and pause in front of him.
“Not really.”
“Good. Because I don’t know how to do that,” he mutters.
For the first time all weekend, I have to fight back a smile.
“Listen. Clint has—”
“Blah, blah, blah, Clint has had a hard time,” I cut him off, with a roll of my eyes. “I don’t give a shit. So have I.”
“Can I finish what I was gonna say?” he asks in annoyance.
I glare at him, keeping my mouth shut for him to continue, getting ready to cover my ears like a toddler.
“As I was saying, Clint has behaved like a goddamn asshole. He’s a good man for the most part, and I like him, but if he makes you cry again, I’m gonna load up my shotgun and pump his ass full of lead,” he informs me, my mouth dropping open in shock. “If you don’t wanna work out at the farm anymore, I wouldn’t blame you. Don’t worry about money. I got plenty of money for whatever you need. But just saying, I didn’t raise you to back down from a challenge, or to let someone walk all over you.”
I enjoyed Brooklyn’s rekindled relationship with her old bff Ember but I didn’t much like the fact she never truly reconnected with her for 12 years even if they clearly grew up together more as sisters then just friends.
Clint’s daughters were awesome especially little Mia!
“Awww, have you been keeping tabs on me all these years, fancy pants? I knew you always had a thing for me.” Clint smirks.
“In your dreams. You smell like horse shit.”
“You look like horse shit,” he fires back, that stupid grin never leaving his face.
“Horse shit!” Mia shouts with a smile, throwing her tiny, sticky fists in the air.
The way they let her eat all that sugar though…not good.
I loved the humor, I loved their bickering and the sparks flying!
“You two haven’t seen each other in twelve years. Isn’t it about time you bury the hatchet and end this ridiculous hatred for each other?” she questions.
“She told the entire high school I lost my virginity to my computer and set it on fire,” Clint complains.
“Oh, come on! It was a joke. Like anyone believed that. Besides, your penis was entirely too tiny to start any fires by thrusting it in the USB port.” I snicker, remembering the day I started that rumor and the beauty of Clint’s face when he heard it after lunch.
They act like middle school kids around each other but there’s lust and off the charts chemistry simmering between them.
Today, he’s wearing a green Henley with the long sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and sweet Jesus, can we all say arm porn? Where in the hell did those forearms come from? And with the way that cotton shirt molds to his body, he’s got some nice chest porn going on too. He’s wearing the white cowboy hat again, and he’s shaved the scruff from his face, which gives him chiseled jaw porn. As Mia throws herself at Ember and she scoops her up into her arms, I watch all my porn fantasies saunter toward me and hope to God I don’t have drool dripping down my chin.
I couldn’t help “shipping” this couple from their very first meeting, they are perfect together.
Their relationships develops beautifully and Brooklyn learns what her happiness truly looks like:
Green eyes, two sets of dimples and sticky hugs.
A simple life.
⭐ 5 Stars ⭐
~ My Ratings ~
Writing: 4 /5 LOVED the humor.
Plot: 4.5 /5
Hero: 5 /5
Heroine: 4.5 /5
Secondary Characters: 4.5/5
MC’s chemistry: 4.5 /5
Steam: 4 /5
Triggers: No OW/OM drama, hero has two daughters but he never truly loved their mother and she is not in the picture (she’s married to someone else and wants nothing to do with them).
H/h past relationships are mentioned but there are no sex scenes with other people.
Recommended to: Contemporary Romance Readers with a nerd/hot cowboy craving!
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