A Weekend of Misbehaving by Carmen Falcone – a Review
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Description:
When fantasy becomes reality…
The last thing nanny Alice Sommers needs is to be caught skinny-dipping by her sexy, cranky-pants boss—in his pool. Her sister owes a crap-load of money to a slimy loan shark and Alice really needs this job if she has any hope of saving her family. Fortunately, her boss is richer than sin and needs her just as much.
Art dealer Lorenzo Baldi will lose his prestigious career if his anarchist father’s paintings are revealed to the art world. He’s determined to persuade the paintings’ eccentric owner to sell them to him, even if to pull it off, he’ll have to blackmail his daughter’s nanny—a woman with the sexy curves of a Botticelli masterpiece—into being his fake fiancé.
The gorgeous island of Capri inspires some major misbehaving. But even as the loan shark breathes down Alice’s neck and the paintings move closer to the art scene, Lorenzo drops one more bomb that will change everything.
Review:
A Weekend of Misbehaving by Carmen Falcone is the second book in the Time to Misbehave series.
Nanny Alice Sommers is dealing with a lot more than someone her age should. A promise to her father that passed away has led her to taking care of her bi-polar sister, her adorable niece and her ailing mother. All this, while being a nanny for single, hot and brooding Lorenzo Baldi’s young daughter Cara.
And while Lorenzo has always just been her boss, she has secretly hidden her true feelings for him. Alice’s promise to her now deceased father is one thing she won’t compromise on. So when a loan shark comes forward saying that her sister owes him $20,000, money that she just doesn’t have. She makes it as her responsibility to handle the situation. As she always does.
With her Cara away at camp, and Lorenzo out of town, Alice stops by to take care of their family pet. While she is there she decides after the week she has had, what harm could come from a quick skinny dip in the pool. And just as she was enjoying the pool – she realizes that Lorenzo is home and he has a woman guest. But this isn’t just any guest. This is Viola Campello and she has something
Lorenzo desperately wants. Lorenzo would like to buy Violets art collection. But Violet is a bitter, staunch woman, fresh from a divorce and she will not take lightly Lorenzo allowing an employee to skinny dip in his pool. In the blink of an eye, Lorenzo tells Violet that Alice is his fiancée. And this lie will set the stage for their future. Alice must now pretend to be engaged to Lorenzo – even though she has hidden her feelings for him away for years. Her job was much more important than a crush on her boss. And now Violet would like them to come visit her at her home in Capri.
Can Alice pull this off, and what if anything will she gain from this arrangement? Lorenzo offers to pay her to continue the charade – all she must do is name her price. Alice immediately responds with $20,000. Done. But Lorenzo wants to know what she needs the money for. And against her better judgment she eventually relinquishes the reason to him.
But with the charade in full force, can Lorenzo keep his feelings and his hands to himself. Will Alice jeopardize her job for a fling with her boss? Can their arrangement benefit each of them without one of them getting hurt? These questions are wonderfully answered and more.
I found Alice Sommers, real and relatable. She is the girl next door, the one that is loyal to her family to a fault. She’s quick witted and comical and she knows where and what she wants. It was an immediate connection of likeability with her. Lorenzo, not so much.
At first meeting I found Lorenzo uppity, staunch and unwavering. But as his story unfolds you find out just why he acts the way he does. And will the one person that has been there for his daughter be able to fulfill what is missing in his life? The build up of romance and frustration can be carved with a knife. You want nothing more for them to admit how they feel towards each other and move forward. But sometimes things aren’t that simple.
Alice lays her whole truth out before Lorenzo but it seems he is hiding something from her. Like why is this art collection so important to him? And once Alice finds out will she still have the same feelings for him as she has now?
This story tests the lines of promises kept, and family loyalty. Will Alice give up her hopes and dreams of the future to fulfill her promise to her father. And just how far can family loyalty stretch? I found this story wonderfully written. I laughed and giggled like a school girl with a crush. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fun, romantic read.
Reviewed by Erin
Copy provided by Publisher
