The Wingman,  Natasha Anders

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  romance,

I’ve enjoyed a few of Natasha’s books now so looked forward to this one. I liked it – a lot, but I didn’t love it. It sounded perfect for me but there were a few things that niggled.
I hadn’t realised the setting was south Africa BTW, just for info. It fits the story really well, and made a pleasant change from the mainly US settings in romance. It did mean though that I was puzzled by some of the references at first, the free clinic and the dangers it posed etc.

Daisy, oh how I know how she feels. I can remember as a teen going out with friends ( i haven’t any sisters) and always feeling like the unattractive one, too short, too tubby ( though I wasn’t), too clumsy, the one that would stand back always, let my friends do what they wanted, be the one that was the back-up girl, the one boys would approach in order to get to know the girl they would really want to talk to....
Even so after a while Daisy's constant putting herself down began to grate. There’s only so many times you can say things, deflect a compliment without sounding just plain rude.
I did feel for her when she learns of Mason’s reasons for chatting to her, that was pretty awful. she really made the most of Mason’s guilt though :-) It played into all her fears about herself.

I loved the two nasties, the b itch girls, I so love those in a story and they were perfect.
I liked the setting, once I’d clicked in was S Africa, loved Daisy’s intelligence, her work as a vet, seeing a few of her patients and their owners.
I liked her sisters, but could see why Daisy felt so different. Oddly I wanted to be a vet too when I was a kid....I related to the young Daisy too.

The overall story was fun, some lovely humour, great snark and putdown for the two b itches, they were perfect lines.
Loved Masons interaction with the groom at golf too, he deserved that and more.
I was niggled a bit at Daisy, but in general it was a fun read, a light, romantic, fluffy story but not enough drama, sad bits for a re-reader for me.

Stars: hmnn, I'm hovering between a three and a four. Three and a half then.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

A sweet, touching, funny novel, so light and frothy that 303 pages felt like a novella. I enjoyed every gorgeous, funny page and would happily have read on and on.

Spencer Carlisle is desperate to talk to the eldest McGregor girl, Daffodil, at her sister Dahlia's hen night at Ralphie's Pub and enlists his younger brother Mason to distract the youngest (short, chubby, glasses wearing) Daisy. After spending an enjoyable evening chatting with Daisy, the ruse is uncovered when Daisy overhears Spencer thanking Mason for keeping her occupied. Almost as a joke, Daisy tells Mason that if he wants to make it up to her he must be her plus one at Dahlia's wedding, and Mason (to his own surprise) agrees.

It's a meeting of opposites. Mason is a former bad boy, former soldier, former male model, millionaire. All tall, smouldering good looks, fast cars and menace. Daisy is the 'other' sister, the good girl, the clever one. The ones her aunties remind her who will look after her parents in their old age whereas Dahia and Daffodil are tall and beautiful. Mason has travelled the world while Daisy has stayed at home and works with her father. No-one will believe it if they just turn up together at the wedding so Mason suggests they go on a few dates to get to know one another.

If this synopsis reads like the book blurb it is because for once the blurb matches the reality. I've lost count of the number of times I have bought a book (or TBH requested it from NetGalley) based on the blurb and found the reality was a pale imitation of what the blurb suggested/implied. Not here. This was exactly what I was hoping for when I read the blurb.

I can't recall reading a romance set in South Africa before. Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada but not South Africa. I don't know whether that contributed to the enticing whiff of difference about this novel or not. All I know is that, in my opinion, Natasha Anders didn't strike a single bum note. Mason was both endearing and a bit of a sexist pig. At first he thinks that Daisy is fat and badly dressed and looks terrible, He sees her as the sort of good girl who needs a 'relationship' and wants to 'make love', he's not looking for that and he thinks about asking his brother where to go to pick up the other sort of woman, the ones who aren't looking for anything more than sex for the night. Even his sexual attraction to Daisy comes as a surprise and an inconvenience. But at the same time he is Daisy's most fervent supporter. He alone builds her self-confidence - and for that I love him.

Anyway, read the blurb, if that sounds EXACTLY what you want to read then you won't be disappointed. Oh, and there's dogs.

Recommended for anyone who enjoys books about the underdog, fake relationships and feeling the odd one out in your family.

I most definitely will be looking for the next book, hopefully it's about Spencer although Chris would be good too.

a sweet read. good couple.

I loved this book. I loved the chemistry between Daisy and Mason. They are perfect together❤️. Mason was so sweet to Daisey and he broke through all of her walls and made her see that she was beautiful. Great story.

Yay, we've got a winner! What a sweet and fun little romance (and is it just me or does the cover guy look like Patrick Wilson?).

To be honest, I'm usually not a fan of the „ugly duckling“ trope. They typically go like this:
Shy and visually unappealing wallflower heroine experiences something humiliating and decides she has to get her shit together and make something out of herself. Hero, who has never acknowledged heroine as an actual girl before, finally sees her now that she's pretty, and falls head over heels in love with her. Because, you know, she's so much more lovable when she's hot and popular.
And as entertaining as those reads may be, they tend to leave that ugly taste in my mouth that something's just terribly wrong with that...

So I'm immensily relieved and happy that is not the path Natasha Anders took with The Wingman.
Sure, Daisy is what you would expect from an „ungly duckling“ heroine – she's shy, insecure and touchy, a typical people-pleaser. For as long as she can remember, she's been the „other McGregor sister“, the odd one out while all the guys lusted after her sisters. She's never had a relationship, always keeping a low profile, not wanting to attract any attention for the fear of being hurt.
BUT: Even though she's kind of resigned herself to that fate, she has developed a thick skin and a snarky, dry kind of humor that I loved. And even though she sometimes lets herself be dragged into self-pity parties, she never wallows in them for too long, coming out quickly with her head held high.
So when she finds out that Mason's sudden attention was nothing more than a scheme to distract her so his brother, Spencer, can hit on her older sister, instead of going all woe-is-me, she grabs the opportunity and uses Mason guilt to coerce him into posing as her date at her sister's wedding.

Mason, being the genuinely good guy that he is, is actually happy to help and sees a chance to redeem himself. He even goes so far as to suggest they pretend to be dating in order to shut up her well-meaning but misguided family and all the other naggers once and for all.
Cue drama, lots of hot-and-cold behavior, misunderstandings and bitchy bridesmaids.

Mason was absolutely yummy - easy-going, charismatic, a little damanged and very alpha. A little too bossy for my liking from time to time, but he was being so charming about it I couldn't stay mad with him for long for being such a freaking caveman. I loved how he had Daisy's back from the second the met, how he helped her overcome her insecurities and wouldn't take crap from her when she got all self-conscious and defensive on him.
Most of all, though, I loved how he saw how beautiful she was, inside and out, from the start, and didn't require a huge makeover on her side to fall for her.


A light and cute read that tackled the rather serious underlying subject of bullying with a charming sort of nonchalance, and that made do without any sap and grand gestures of love, and thus seemed all the more relatable and realistic. There were even two adorable dogs. Nobody can resist the charm of adorable dogs.
Well done!

Just one thing that bugged the hell out of me, though: Daffodil, Dahlia and Daisy? Seriously? Who does that?!

Unfortunately, I found this book rather boring and was unable to finish it.

It pains me to be the one with the unpopular review for an ARC.
It must be a case of a "its not you, its me" type situation.......

Honestly it pains me a lot because The Unwanted Wife is one of my favorite books written. Its a constant re-read of mine when I want to feel deeply reading a book.

I could sing the praises of The Unwanted Wife for days.. for days... and then this..................

The writing felt very amateurish. There was no connection btwn the 2 MCs and I wondered why someone was primed as fat when really she's not? And it took 2 supermodels to see her worth? It was all very eye roll inducing for me.
I truly didn't even know where the setting of the book was until about 40% through.

Mare~Slitsread

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the interaction between the characters and enjoyed watching them fall in love with each other.

I am a BIG fan of Natasha Anders. I have loved all her books and she is pretty much an auto buy for me. Knowing all that, this book was beyond good. I think its the funnest and best book she has ever written. If anything about this book I did not like it was its title. I totally think it should have been called The Other One or The Ugly Duckling because that is a much better description of this book.

This book stars 3 sisters, Daisy (our heroine), Dahlia (who is getting married), and Daphne. It also stars two brothers, Mason (our hero), and Spencer (who has had a thing for Daphne for years.).

The story begins at a bar where Dahlia is having her Hen Party (girls night out/bachelorette/wedding shower). She leaves early and so Spencer sees Daphne and wants to hit on her but her Other Sister is with her. That is what everyone calls Daisy. She is a veternarian and is brainy but is not as pretty or as skinny as her sisters. So Spencer asks Mason to be his Wingman and keep her company.

What happens when Mason meets Daisy? Magic happens. Daisy is quirky and funny and she entrances Mason even though she is not his type. And she knows she is not his type. You see Mason is also a former military man and male model and bodyguard to the stars.

However as expected Daphne, shoots Spencer down and he lets it slip to Daisy that Mason was his wingman. Which pisses her off, but Mason really likes her so he chases after her. In the end she gets him to be her wingman at her sisters wedding. Mason though decides they need to pre-date before the wedding. And it was so fun. I love Mason and their pre-dates.

This is really one of the best books I have read this year. Daisy totally sees herself as unattractive. And Mason sees who she is deeply. He never changes her but she totally chnages him and it was really a beautiful thing to see.

Our hero Mason is meeting his brother at a bar for a drink and he's not sure why yet. Well come to find out his brother needs a favor, he needs a wingman. His brother has always had a thing for one of the three McGregor sisters and he needs his brother to distract/flirt with the younger one Daisy. Mason feels bad for his brother as he's just gone through a tough and hurtful break up and feels he needs to do this for him, even though he doesn't really like it or feel comfortable doing it.

Daisy is at a bar with her sisters (the pretty ones) to celebrate one of her sisters coming marriage. She always been the forgotten, quirky, quiet, curvy McGregor sister and she's fine with it. Daisy is not only with her sisters but some of her friends that are not what you'd call likable either.

While at the bar for the her sisters party Daisy is approached by Mason and the next thing she know he's flirting with her. Daisy is shocked and unsure about what going on but Mason and her connect.
Unfortunately Daisy learns accidentally (overhears) what Mason and his brother had cooked up/planned. She's hurt and mad, but she comes up with her own plan that involves Mason and he agrees and goes along with it. Daisy needs a date for her sisters wedding, she doesn't want to go alone and so she talks Mason into being her "wingman"/date.

The story unfolds as Mason and her start dating to give the appearance that they are a couple and make it more credible to others. These two have some great chemistry and repertoire. I enjoyed the development of their relationship and how it had depth, dialogue as well as spark. It was nice to have a heroine that was curvy and considered "plain" as well as a hot military hero who was a underwear model for a while. The pace was steady and didn't lag anywhere and great secondary characters too. A enjoyable read.

4 1/2 stars. I think I'm in a book funk, I've said that before but this is different, the last book I read(before this book) was amazing, and the book before that was too but in between books I just feel like mmm. I've decided that it might be that I need to branch out on books I feel like I read too many books last year with not enough story and even though I liked them then I think I need more this year(maybe) what I can tell you was the story in this book was one of the very best things in this book. And of course a book needs a good story but I think now that the market is saturated with romance we have lost some of the storytelling that makes romance great(in some books, I know not all have this).

Don't get me wrong I loved Mason and Daisy. Mason is all man and strong and an amazing person, Daisy has some scrapes from life but she's strong and I loved seeing her growth. They were an amazing couple but I loved that we really see their relationship in this book, I feel like there have been too many books lately that we are just supposed to believe they love each other and I"m left think yeah but why do they love each other. In this book we see their love grow, we see their friendship build and we see the transformation it has on both of their lives both individually and together.

I loved this one the flow was great I wasn't bored and I just really enjoyed myself and I actually want to read something right now and that doesn't always happen for me(lately) and I know being busy is part of that but I think I just needed more and this book gave me that. The romance wasn't rushed it was built and the story wasn't a side not for sex. Yes there is sex but this book is so much more. We get to see what I am guessing is book two's main characters and I can't wait for that one either. This book just made me excited and for that I am so appreciative.

Mason is called by his brother to meet him at a bar agreeing because of his brothers resent breakup Mason finds himself agreeing to be his brothers wingman. Mason's brother has always had a thing for the oldest of the McGregor sisters and since the middle sister is taken that only leaves the youngest. So Mason agrees to talk to her so his brother can make his move. Daisy knows she is the odd one in the family the forgotten sister and one who gets looked over so when Mason comes and talks to her she is shocked and even more so that she finds herself opening up to him.

But when Daisy hears the truth, she is surprised she has let this hurt her and then a crazy ideas pops into her head and she goes with it. With her sisters wedding coming up and knowing Mason feels bad Daisy asks him to be her wing man for the wedding to stop all the stares and questions she will get for once again being alone. What neither of them planned was the friendship that grows and then the feelings neither planned, and soon they are questioning it all including the fact that this is supposed to be temporary.

I can't recommend this book enough. Nathan Anders does a great job pulling the reader into this story and giving us that an amazing story and romance.

*Thank you NetGallery, Natasha Anders, and Montlake Romance for this ARC for my review.