Daddy, Daddy, And Me by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self Published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When Jeff agreed to be the sperm donor to his best friend Beth, he never expected a tragedy to leave his newborn and three-year-old motherless. Beth’s loss has totally thrown his life into chaos: his lover has left him, his house isn’t anywhere near childproof, and his boss feels the restaurant has been patient enough with Jeff’s time off.

Donny has always known he wanted to work with kids, and he just finished his degree in early childhood education. He didn’t count on the prejudice he’d face as not only a male nanny, but a gay one at that. Job-hunting has been frustrating to say the least, so when he knocks on Jeff’s door and is greeted by the sounds of things breaking and a pair of screaming children, he thinks maybe he can begin this particular interview with a trial by fire.

Becoming the nanny to Jeff’s children might be a dream come true for Danny and exactly what Jeff needs, but are either of them ready to really be a family?

Jeff agreed to be the sperm donor to his best friend, but never expected for tragedy to strike and for him to be left with full time custody of a newborn and his three year old. Jeff’s lover has left and his boss has had enough of being patient with the time off Jeff frequently needs. When Donny knocks on Jeff’s front door he decides to throw himself into the interview process by simply showing exactly how much he can help Jeff. Can these two men find a balance to family life that works for all four of them?

I really enjoyed this full length story. In many ways I found it a lovely comfort read with all the usual tropes – a very sudden full time dad, two adorable but rambunctious children, the newbie nanny/manny who hadn’t been given a fair shot but fell right in easily with the newly formed family. Readers looking for a story that is really envelope pushing, different or edgy probably won’t find this suits their tastes. Instead I really loved this comforting, easy to read and enjoy story. I found both Jeff and Donny’s characters realistic and gentle, and the two children were adorable. Just a gentle, almost sweet pace to the story really allowed Jeff and Donny’s characters to shine through and for them to build a solid foundation of friendship, trust and family before they explored a more intimate relationship together.

The slow pace to the romance was lovely and I felt it well handled. While there is plenty of steam and sizzle in the bedroom when the men make it there I was pleased they didn’t jump immediately into bed. Much of the plot was easy to guess and see coming from a mile away – but with the strong characters and all the emotions and new family situation needing to be grown into and sorted out I feel there really didn’t need to be complicated plot twists or convoluted story building. The real shine and hero of this story was Jeff and Donny’s characters, and the life and family they were meshing together and growing.

Readers looking for a delightfully written, character centric and gently woven story should find this an exceptional read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will certainly be reading it again in the future.

Daddy Needs A Date by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

With four girls, single dad Ryan Withers has his hands too full to look for romance. He’s not complaining—he loves his daughter and the three nieces he adopted when their parents died, and he would do anything for them. He’s caught off guard when his mother and daughter decide to play matchmaker.

Alex Bernot works in disaster relief, his job taking him all over the world helping others. He’s staying with his aunt while he’s home, and she sets him up on a blind date. Finding a special someone isn’t really on his mind, but he goes to make his aunt happy.

Ryan and Alex enjoy each other’s company more than either of them expected, and they soon make a second date. Their lives are complicated, though, in very different ways, and soon family needs and their jobs conspire to pull them apart. They’ll need to figure out how to work through the things keeping them apart, but first they’ll have to decide if they even want to….

Ryan had never expected to be daddy for four young girls – but he hadn’t hesitated to adopt his three nieces when their parents died and the girls got along so well with his own young daughter he couldn’t imagine not being able to find a way to make this work. When Ryan and Alex are set up on a blind date neither of them expect to enjoy each other’s company as much as they do. But their lives are so very different and everything gets complicated so quickly – can they manage to make this work?

I really enjoyed this full length story. While Ryan and Alex are both interesting characters, I was mostly pleased that this story seems to keep away from many of the tropes so common in the “single dad to young kids finding love” type of stories that are out there. Both Ryan and Alex are up front from their first meeting that their lives are in very different places and they each are open to beginning a relationship but they also have quite different priorities. I found this made for some very interesting – and very honest – types of conflict where the two men needed to decide what they really wanted from their respective lives and relationships.

The author did an excellent job in my opinion in keeping the four girls different enough that the reader wouldn’t get too muddled by them, but equally not letting the kids’ characters take over the entire storyline either. I really feel this story has a plot and set-up different enough it should feel fresh and interesting to many readers. I greatly enjoyed that this doesn’t fall into any of the well-used cliches that make me struggle with so many other “men with an instant family of kids” type of stories.

With interesting characters and a different enough plot I was hooked all the way through the book, this is a great and steamy read.