I got an ARC of this book.

I was pretty terrified of this book when I saw some of my friends starting to read it. The fact that this book featured a very young trans character spooked me. I am always afraid of what drama the author will put that character through and how awful the representation will be. Qualls nailed it. Everything about the trans character screamed "real person that just so happens to be starting her transition". There was so much more to Alexa than her being trans, though other people wanted to only see that aspect. All of her plot lines seemed well done and I am so very thankful for that. 

The main plot was the romance between Jericho and Sterling. This was a slow burn that started as purely physical that magically morphed into love (I really hate how this is seen as the normal for M/M relationships and even dating advice articles talk about how to turn that hook-up into more since it was so fun). Thankfully the plot went far beyond the physical, otherwise I would have had a lot more issues. 

My main issue with the nanny to lover plot is it read just like another book I have read in the last year which was fake husband to lover. Everything had to be hidden and quiet, sneaking around the queer kid that was queerer than the grown men. If I hadn't read that other book, then I might have enjoyed this one a bit more since this one had more substance to it. 

The sex scenes ranged from the more innocent to some very general vanilla sex. The first few times that the two guy got together wasn't penetration, but condom use was still super off. There were multiple blowjobs, there was a scene about swallowing, and rimming all without condoms despite the activities being risky (technically). Neither men discussed their last STD/STD test results or if they were ever tested. One of the characters only had sex once in his life eleven years prior. The other hadn't been with anyone in three years. They discussed all of that, but not what their status was or condom use. There weren't even condoms in the house until they had planned on having a whole evening together. There was a scene where buying the condoms was embarrassing because the self-check was out of order. There was more about buying the condoms then the risks they were taking without them. Though the actual penetration scene did have a lot of talk of lube and stretching. There was a lot about being tense and being careful. It was a wonderful change from just ramming home and done. 

Overall, I was so into this story. It hit so many of my buttons. Smart, nerdy, insecure men that need some healing and support: check. Dedicated fathers who are really trying their best: check. Overall really good men who actively try and help others: HUGE CHECK. 

If you need a sweet story with a bit of a waves that aren't overly dramatic, this is a great choice. The drama is very well controlled and very believable. It was the type or romance novel that I would be happy to star in.

This is a very inclusive, and positive LGBTQ story. It has three main characters. An out and proud, gay POC man. A buried in the closet, white gay cis man. And a 10 year old transgender girl at the start of her transition.

The story is more about life than it is about romance. However, it's a new and budding romance that gives life the impetus it needs to make changes.

Sterling is a widower with a young, transgender child on the spectrum. His in-laws refuse to accept their grandchild's transition so leaving her with them over summer break would be disastrous. On short notice, Sterling looks for a summer nanny.

Jericho Johnston has a degree in childhood special education and years of experience working with children from all walks of life. Recently back from a 3 year stint in Haiti, he just needs a summer gig to tide him over until the new school year starts.

Ten year old Alexa used to be Oscar. She basically stole the show in this endearing tale of family and community and personal honesty. I dare you not to fall in love with Alexa while reading this book.

At times I considered whether she was being portrayed as too mature for her age. But you know that it's life experience that matures us, not necessarily years of life. This little girl dealt with more than most adults do.

Hats off to her supportive father. I empathized with his responsibility and adult decisions. I felt his struggle to always do the right thing.. He also came across as too old for his age. But again, life experience.

Jericho, the live in nanny - wow, can we all please have a Jericho in our lives? He was a wonderfully supportive man who came from a wonderfully supportive family.

I enjoyed the story. It was very much outside of my personal experience. If I'm completely honest I'll admit that I may have felt just a little uncomfortable at times with the age of the transgender girl. But I recognize that is me being old and sheltered and not a reflection on the story itself. Kudos to the author for writing a story that needs telling. A story exposing homophobia, transphobia, racism, and classism.

I really enjoyed this one a lot. I was worried that I was going to be lost as I didn’t know when I requested the book that it was part of a series. We I wasn’t lost and it can be read as a stand-alone. We have the story of Sterling who is a widower trying to raise has trans daughter on his own. He inlaws are nasty pieces who refuse to acknowledge her as Alexa. They are supposed to watch her for the summer but Sterling changes his mind when they won’t accept Alexa for who she actually is and the mother-in-law cuts a chunk out of Alexa’s hair to make her look more like the boy she was born as. Needless to say Sterling loses his shit and tells them they will not be watching her for the summer. Sterling meets Jericho during and interview to find a live-in nanny and there is an immediate attraction. Things are not all rainbows and unicorns. The nasty in-laws accuse Jericho of some horrible things when they first meet him and decide that they are going to file for custody. There were a couple of small issues I had with the story. The first was, Jericho didn’t have a conversation with Sterling and just takes off. The second is I didn’t like that Alexa still called Jericho Mr. J in the epilogue, they are living as a family and I would think at the very least she would have called him by his first name. And the last is the book cover. Now I may be wrong, because it isn’t real clear but, Jericho is a bald black man and the person on the cover doesn’t really look like a bald black man. But as I said these were small issues and didn’t take away from the story. I will need to go and read the other books in the series.

The charm of this story comes from you Alexa, a trans female, as her dad, Sterling, fights for her proper recognition. Hot Sterling and cute Jericho, the summer nanny, are also charming as they work their way through a budding relationship.

Ironically, I read the first book in this series but not the second and didn't even realize that this one was the third because it really was in no way connected to the first story that I could tell (although I did read it quite some time ago). Based on its own merits, I liked this book but didn't LOVE it. Sterling is a widowed dentist who married his best friend because of an unplanned pregnancy but really was not attracted to her at all and they just loved as friends until she suddenly died leaving him with their 10 yo transgender daughter Alexa (aka Oscar). His in-laws, who are also his child care, do not accept Alexa's choice to be a girl and he realizes he needs a nanny for her. In come Jericho, the absolutely perfect candidate, a spec ed and teaching background, gay, has worked with many different types of kids, from a big family AND super hot too. The plot is predictable from that point on. Jericho is awesome with Alexa and he slowly works his way into Sterling's heart too. Bad situation happens and Jericho leaves but then comes back at the end and everyone is happy and they live happily ever after. Not the worst plot, but nothing new or exciting. I think it was better than the first book...I guess I'll have to read the second and pick which one I liked best. Thanks to NG for the ARC!

I had a hard time finishing the last two books in the series, and unfortunately had a hard time finishing again. The multi-character viewpoint had a lot to with it.

This is not your typical romance story and that's what made me like this book so much. Sterling is raising his 10 year old daughter, Alexa, alone after his wife's passing. He hires Jericho as Alexa's live-in babysitter for the summer. The reader gets a unique insight into Alexa and her transition to the girl she knows she is. I appreciated Alexa's perspective as a young person beginning the transition process and all the challenges that come with it. The reader also gets Sterling's perceptive as a closeted gay, single dad struggling to cope with the loss of his wife, the out-right nastiness of his in-laws, all the while he has his hands full of a rambunctious child. Jericho's perspective is that of a gay POC living in a closed-minded environment.

The author does a great job of developing each characters' own voice. I sympathized with each of their varying struggles. There's no sugar-coating or skimming of serious issues that come with being transgender and autistic, black and gay, and gay and closeted. A book simply cannot have such varying, unique characters without addressing homophobia, transphobia, racism, classism.

Sterling is a great parent to Alexa, and Jericho is the perfect addition as her advocate. Jericho helps dad and daughter navigate the ups and downs of her transition, and I just wanted to hug him for being so awesome.

The romance between Sterling and Jericho is definitely a slow burn, but once Sterling gets his head out of his butt, theses guys can't keep their hands off each other. They are so sweet with each other and i loved reading their growing connection.

If you're looking for something different from the norm, the book is worth the read.

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I downloaded this book with a bit of hesitance as I had previously read the first book in this series and wasn't a fan. However this one was so much better and I finished it in one sitting as I couldn't put it down.

The story focuses on Sterling Harper, a recently widowed single father and his struggle to raise his trans daughter Alexa in the bible belt town of Willow heights. After an argument with his wife's grandparents over their acceptance of Alexa, Sterling is forced to hire a nanny to babysit her over summer break. Enter Jericho the openly gay and very attractive special ed teacher who manages to turn both Sterling and Alexa's life around in just a few short weeks.

I felt like this book story had its positives and negatives. I loved Alexa so much as she was such a sweetheart but I thought at times some of the things she said/words she used were just a bit too advanced to be believed. I loved the fact that she was a young trans girl as this is something which isn't seen very often and any other books I've read with trans characters they have all been much older. Also I thought Sterling was such a great father to her even at times when he didn't fully understand but I could see he was doing his best to make her happy.

Jericho was just as likeable as Sterling and Alexa. He was just awesome from the word go for me and is everything an educator should be. You could feel his genuine love for Alexa and his job. I do wish however that the camp element would have been explored more as I would have liked to see more of him as well as his clearly awesome family.

One of my main criticisms was how the last quarter of the book was constructed. I felt like it was all wrapped up too nicely and quickly between the case involving Alexa to the immediate "I forgive you" between Sterling and Jericho in regard to their relationship. Also felt that some scenes were over explained and I found myself at times skipping a page here or there as it didn't really add anything important to the plot.

All in all I really enjoyed this story as I feel like it was a little different from the typical m/m romance novel. I would have loved to see a follow up to this story exploring the case and their relationship more but I hope there will be a fourth book in the series.

One of the main characters, Jericho, was mentioned in the second book in the series and showed up briefly near the end. The MM romance is told from all three main characters, Jericho nanny and special education teacher, Sterling dentist and father his Alexa is trans daughter. I like getting to the points of view of all the main characters because they had an interesting journey to go no lonely together, but also individually.

The main plot of this story was the romance between Jericho and Sterling after Sterling needs a nanny to come stay in his home for the summary after his late wife's parents do not accept his trans daughter and does not want her to spend the summer with them when he is at work. The tension between the in-laws and Sterling affect the relationships and lives of all three characters.

This is such a unique story, with the character of Alexa and all that comes with becoming her true self. I did wish that more of the past characters could get more page time to see where they currently are and what is going on, but otherwise a fantastic read and such a great find of a story.

Sterling Harper is in a bit of bind when he decides his transphobic in-laws could no longer watch his daughter Alexa for the summer while he works. Jericho Johnston needs a job and a place to stay before going back to substitute teach for the new school year. Jericho supports Alexa one hundred percent and does whatever he can in order to make sure she’s happy and comfortable in his care.

Sterling finds himself more and more attracted to Jericho as the days go on. It’s not that he’s only physically attractive but the way he thinks and what he offers pulls Sterling in even deeper.

Sterling is inexperienced when it comes to any sexual act between two men. He never got the chance to explore that part of himself. Now, most people would be thinking, how is this possible? He’s got a ten year old daughter, his wife had passed years ago and he’s been living a celibate life for a long time. But I understood that and why he never initiated a relationship with another man once his wife had passed. Sterling made sense to me in a way that he won’t to others. But that’s why I enjoyed this book as much I as I did.

Throughout the entire story, Sterling is finding himself. He’s finding his confidence in being Alexa’s father, in his sexuality, and in becoming someone’s partner. It’s not easy and he messes up but you see his evolution. I liked being on the journey with him.

The chemistry between the two, *fans self*, boy howdy it was something spectacular. There was a little awkwardness in the first scenes, but if there wasn’t any of the awkwardness it would have been off putting. That’s who Sterling was. He wasn’t a monk, so he did some self-care but what he hadn’t any experience in Jericho helped guide him through things.

There were a few things that led me to the four star rating but it wasn’t a deal breaker as you can see. There were times I was shaking my reader saying, “Just kiss him!” and then there were times I just wanted to yell, “Stop being an idiot and just talk!” but that’s were personal grievances.

Their partnership was probably what I enjoyed most about this story. They worked together for Alexa and for each other. I’m a sucker for stories like this. I definitely have a new author to follow and read.

3* Didn't quite live up to its blurb or potential, but it was not a bad read.

This appears to be the 4th book in the Worth series, but it can be read as a standalone. Previous characters are named, but I didn't get confused by this and didn't in fact realise that the books form part of a series until I read excerpts at the end.

The blurb is far better than the book, unfortunately and the most interesting character was the MfF trans child, Alexa. But, to burden her with Autism Spectrum Disorder on top of her being trans was a little too much and distracted from what could have been a bold and important character in a novel. I did like her, but tbh, her maturity, even though we're told she's a reader, was far beyond a child of her age. I did believe that she was trans, but, the terminology used by Josiah and by Alexa was far too adult, IMHO.

There was no passion between the guys and tbh, the advances from Josiah felt wooden and not entirely reciprocated by Sterling, whose dialogue was as wooden as his body seemingly was during their sex scenes, which I completely skipped. And, the employer-employee dynamics that Josiah wanted to flaunt and that Sterling seemingly didn't, made me a bit uncomfortable - it felt like Sterling was being railroaded into sleeping with Josiah.

The transphobic grandparents made an appearance at the start of the tale and one at the end, and the court case was a non-starter, so if you're basing your choice to read on this alone, I'd say you'd be disappointed.

Overall, it's not an awful read, but the blurb promises far more than the tale delivers.

ARC courtesy of Kensington Books and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

Characters are wooden and plot "twists" can be seen a mile away. It's just a pile of tropes: gay man in marriage of convenience with a woman, grieving widower, live-in nanny, quirky kid charms everyone, out-and-proud partner with in-the-closet inexperienced lover. The "evil" ex-inlaws are especially unconvincing as villains.