Booked All Night: Sweet Thing by Kate Meader

A surprise single dad, nanny, age gap, hockey romance!

Lars

I just found out I’m a dad.

My one-night stand dropped a baby bombshell in my local bar where I was celebrating my team’s win. Then she fled, leaving me holding my new daughter.

Thank God for Adeline. The daughter of my teammate and closest friend on the Chicago Rebels, she practically raised her little sister and knows exactly how to deal with this situation. I need a nanny; she needs a job. Problem sorted, right?

Not so fast …

Adeline

I think you’re the sexiest guy alive.

That’s what Lars Nyquist overheard me say while recounting my embarrassing crush on him. Yeah, that Lars Nyquist. Defenseman for the Chicago Rebels. Owner of the thickest thighs in the league. More than a decade my senior. Oh, and my dad’s teammate.

My only option? Leave the country, of course. Luckily, I’d already planned a round-the-world trip with my bestie and by the time I returned to Chicago a year later, I expected my blunder would be long forgotten. Shows what I know. Now I’m lying awake in the bedroom next to his while playing nanny to his surprise little girl. But I can ignore this stupid infatuation. I have to. Even though the sight of Lars learning to be a dad leaves me breathless and takes that crush to a whole other level.

One that has the potential to break my sorry little heart …

I know going in to a book by this author that I am going to enjoy it. Her writing is always strong and I know I am going to believe the characters could be real people, even if I am not sure I would like them in real life, which gives the story a lot of depth.

Lars and Adeline are the perfect age gap story. He is older, in her life because of her father, and in a situation he has no idea how to handle...handed a baby he didn't know existed and all of the things that come with the new baby. He needs help, and Adeline, ignoring the crush she has on him (that she claims is in the past) is in a position to do just that.

I am a sucker for age gap, no idea why, I just love them. And this one works well as the age between them is addressed, but it's also dealt with in a way that makes me believe it's not going to be an issue in the future.

The romance is believable and the connection between the main characters works. There is a lot of time spent dealing with the baby, but as that is a core part of the story, it works and it's not an issue with a so-called secondary character removing focus from the story.

I enjoyed and recommend this title.