It’s no surprise I have another psychological suspense novel to share. I tend to gobble these up like candy. A tip of the hat to Kim of By Hook or By Book for steering me toward this perfect beach read with her own review. Break out the popcorn for this one!
BOOK BLURB:
A young woman takes a job as a nanny for an impossibly wealthy family, thinking she’s found her entrée into a better life—only to discover instead she’s walked into a world of deception and dark secrets.
Nanny needed. Discretion is of the utmost importance. Special conditions apply.
When Sarah Larsen finds the notice, posted on creamy card stock in her building’s lobby, one glance at the exclusive address tells her she’s found her ticket out of a dead-end job—and life.
At the interview, the job seems like a dream come true: a glamorous penthouse apartment on the Upper West Side of NYC; a salary that adds several zeroes to her current income; the beautiful, worldly mother of her charge, who feels more like a friend than a potential boss. She’s overjoyed when they offer her the position and signs the NDA without a second thought.
In retrospect, the notice in her lobby was less an engraved invitation than a waving red flag. For there is something very strange about the Bird family. Why does the beautiful Mrs. Bird never leave the apartment alone? And what happened to the nanny before her? It soon becomes clear that the Birds’ odd behaviors are more than the eccentricities of the wealthy.
But by then it’s too late for Sarah to seek help. After all, discretion is of the utmost importance.
MY REVIEW:
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine / Bantam for my ARC of Nanny Needed.
What a twisty, clever domestic thriller! Sarah and her fiancé, Jonathan, are struggling to make ends meet when she happens upon a flyer advertising for a nanny. Although she has no experience, the position is too good to ignore—a fat, unbelievable salary and a swank luxury penthouse address as the place she’d be working, watching over Patty, a four-year-old girl. Once she applies, she hits it off with Patty’s mother Colette Bird, and soon finds herself hired.
What happens after that is a topsy-turvy roller coaster of events until the end. Many books promise “unbelievable twists” or “jaw-dropping conclusions” but this one delivers. The ending blew me away and left me rereading passages to soak in the enormity of it all. Some suspension of belief is required, but with this kind of book, you sit back, break out the popcorn, and enjoy.
The story plays out like a glossy soap-opera or a Lifetime movie. I liked that the chapters were short, constantly propelling the reader to flip pages. The writing is wonderfully descriptive yet not bogged down in excess prose. I loved the gilded extravagance that surrounds the Bird family and how Colette is portrayed. I want to say so much more about her, but it’s difficult without giving away spoilers.
If you enjoy domestic thrillers, psychological suspense, and flawed characters, Nanny Needed checks all the right boxes and then some. This is a story I could see myself reading over again for sheer enjoyment. It makes a great beach read or poolside escape!
RELEASE DATE IS 10/05/21 | PRE-ORDER FROM AMAZON
From the Pen of Mae Clair 