Delighted Reader

What a Woman Wants by Judi Fennell 
Series: Manley Maids, book #1 
Genres: Contemporary Romance 
Published by Berkley 
Published on March 4, 2014 
Pages: 336 
Format: eARC 
Amazon | B&N | Goodreads 

Manley Maids just got the “Man” in Manley. When the Manley brothers get together for a friendly, but high stakes game of poker, their sister joins in and wins the pot. Mac’s wager was to clean their houses for a month or they have to work for Manley Maids for a month…good thing Mac wins! First up to work for Manley Maids is Sean. Thus starts What a Woman Wants by Judi Fennell.

Pinning all his hopes on obtaining a mansion below market value has Sean Manley in a Manley Maids uniform, cleaning and fixing up the place upon the death of the matriarch. He just needs to close the deal and open the bed and breakfast resort that will make him rich. Just one problem. A long lost granddaughter shows up making him re-evaluate what needs to be done.

Livvy Carolla has lived all of her life being unwanted. So when her biological kicks the bucket and leaves the estate to her, she moves in with all of her “family”. Make that her farm animals and dogs. Each one had a name and personality that left me confused and scratching from having animals in the mansion. Imagine Sean’s surprise when Livvy arrives with a load of animals…and a thunderstorm on the way. They take up residence in the house and basically start about destroying it.

But Livvy’s grandmother didn’t go out with a hitch. She set up a scavenger hunt for Livvy to find out about her roots. If she completes the hunt within the set time period, she inherits it all. If not, then it is open to Sean to buy. The key part is Livvy doesn’t know who Sean is, nor about his disability through the majority of the story. So this leaves Sean with a conundrum in letting Livvy know who he is, helping her or even trying thwart her to get what he wants.

Sean really does redeem himself through the story. He falls in love and battles his need to prove he can make it big. He has to make tough choices. Livvy shows him there is more than money in life, but I just never really got into her character. It felt pushy at times. I understood her life wasn’t the easiest. She had no one who loved her or looked after her, so she kept Sean at a distance at times. She made her own business, but those animals just got on my nerves unlike how Sean grew to love them.

These two click and click often ::wink:: if you get my drift. It is more sweet than sexy. Sugary than hot. But they do it a lot.

In the end I loved Sean, but never really grew to like Livvy much. Now I look forward to the other Manley Maids finding their loves and cleaning houses!