Tino Robbins’s sister, Nica, and her husband, Jacob, are expecting their fifth child. Fortunately, Nica’s best friend, Taylor Cochran, is back in town, released from PT and in need of a job.
After years in the service and recovering from grave injury, Taylor has grown a lot from the callow troublemaker he’d been in high school. Now he’s hoping for a fresh start with Nica and her family.
Jacob’s cousin Brandon lives above the garage and thinks “Taylor the manny” is a bad idea. Taylor might be great at protecting civilians from a zombie apocalypse, but is he any good with kids?
Turns out, Taylor’s a natural. As he tries to fit in, using common sense and dry wit, Brandon realizes that Taylor doesn’t just love their family—he’s desperate to be part of it. And just like that, Brandon wants Taylor to be part of his future.
Amy Lane and the Dreamspun Desires formula is amazing pairing that I am hooked on.
While this book is listed as the second in a series and yes it does add to the story IF you have read The Virgin Manny, in my opinion Lane gives enough background information on everyone involved you don’t need to read it first. BUT it’s nice to see Tino, Channing and Sammy again and yeah, to know how it all went down with Taylor and Nica and just knowing the players in the story as they show up. SO while you could read this as a stand alone, it is best to read the books in order to get the full experience.
But enough about that. It’s time for a review.
So…Let me set this all up quickly.
Brandon is living over the garage of his cousin Jacob's house as he attends college at night working towards his Engineering degree and working construction during the day. His cousin Jacob is married to Nica and they have four kids with one on the way. That’s a lot of kids but I am the youngest of eleven children so it’s not THAT many. *shrugs* Nica is the sister of Tino from book one and the best friend of Taylor Cochran who broke her heart back in high school when she thought she was in love with him but Taylor was busy living in the closet.
When Jacob and Nica decide they are going to need help with the new baby on the way, Tino suggests they hire Taylor to help out since he is Nica’s BFF and Taylor happened to go to their mom asking for a job.
At first, Brandon is against hiring Taylor and letting him be around his little cousins at all. He’s heard stories about Taylor’s past but has never met the man and let’s others judgments become his own. When the whole gang heads to Tino’s and Channings for a BBQ, Brandon has one thought on his physical reaction to Taylor but still has another thought on not wanting him to be the Manny. Of course, knee jerk reactions and Brandon lacking a filter makes for an awkward situation but it’s nothing a couple beers and some butterscotch can’t put into perspective.
Taylor is pretty much a mess when we meet him. Having been in the Army for 6 years and then basically being blown up, losing his right eye and all that comes with recovery from such an injury, his life is at a standstill. He knows he wants to go back to school to become a teacher but waiting for grants to come in requires down time and he goes to Nica and Tino’s mom asking for a job. He’s reluctant to take the manny position because Taylor carries a lot of guilt around for what he put his friends though when they were younger and he hates that he led Nica on for so long. But after meeting the kids, he knows it’s the right place for him to be it’s just he now has to deal with Brandon and his unjustified disdain.
I love that Brandon took one look at Taylor and felt lust but also a distrust because of what he’d heard over the years. I thought the teasing about Taylor being a sexy pirate with his eyes patch was adorable and gave Brandon an early glimpse into how his family sees Taylor. When Jacob and Taylor sort their drama out and Jacob lets Brandon know he’s fine with Taylor taking the job, Brandon starts to look at the new manny differently.
Yeah, this moves a bit fast with how fast Brandon downshifts from Hell No to Fuck Yeah when it comes to Taylor but Brandon is a good guy with a natural caretaker gene in him so it makes sense he would gravitate to Taylor. Plus, I mean… Taylor is hot and grumpy so what’s not to love?
Getting both POV’s in this was helpful so you could see how each man quickly fell for the other. I love Taylor getting Jacob to chaperone to protect Brandon’s virtue and then defending Brandon’s honor when Brandon and his lack of filter combined with a morbid sense of humor gets him into trouble. I LOVED how Brandon could read Taylor so quickly and how his first love of Kinesiology allows him to help Taylor with his recovery. Taylor with his cat Marilyn was super sweet and his driving dangerously down windy roads with cliffs just because he knew Brandon would call but didn’t… was sigh worthy. Watching these two fall head over feet for one another and just get lost so fast was fun while being ridiculously romantic and Lane adds in her signature punch you in the gut feels a few times that had me tearing up at the beautiful intimacy of the moments.
I had a blast hanging out with everyone in the book. It was great to see Tino, Channing and Sammy again and see how much they have really grown into a family. Tino sounding just like Channing was hilarious but the unconditional love and acceptance that comes from all of them – Nica, Jacob and all the kids included – was beautiful because as it’s been said so many time, your true family isn’t always the one you’re born into. That’s what this story is about at the heart, family. Both Brandon and Taylor are born into ones that don’t accept them to find their new family that wants them exactly how they are and won’t take no for an answer.
Manny Get Your Guy is a great addition to the Dreamspun line as well as the The Mannies series from the author. I heard a rumor that Sammy will be the next book and just the thought of that puts my heart in a blender. I am curious if Sammy becomes a manny or if he falls for one, just like his dad did?
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