#BookReview: The Nanny’s Secret by Monica McLean

After two weeks and with the constant crowd of sympathizers coming to give their condolences to Brooks Hart on his loss, he wants an out from all this pity and sympathy which feels like salt rubbed on his wounds now. So one day on returning from work when he finds his front door ajar which they double check to keep closed, he is sure that it’s another one of his neighbors come to mourn with him. But instead he finds a mysterious woman asleep on his couch!


“He pushed open the kitchen door and nearly tripped over something in his path. Dumbfounded, he stared down at a pair of red, high-heeled shoes. …The large country kitchen was empty, but someone ‘extra” was obviously in the house.”
“…Curled up on the couch, was a young brunette fast asleep.”


Brooks and his siblings, Dean, Mitch and Jo have still not come to grips with the fact that their eldest brother Luke is dead. Luke had left home and didn’t keep any contact with his family for eighteen years but some weeks ago he suddenly turned up at with a baby boy, Timmy and his story of his notorious wife nicknamed “The Blond Widow” who according to his stories had left Luke in heavy debts and with a small child to raise while she left with his money leaving behind the child at daycare. As if this shock was not enough, Luke committed suicide two weeks ago leaving three men with a baby to raise and with no idea how to do it!


So on seeing a mysterious woman in his house who it seems has hurt her head and is unable to recollect who she is or why she is here in his house, Brooks assumes that she is the nanny they hired for Timmy and calls her Amelia Rigsby.

Amelia is confused, scared and unable to understand what’s happening but more than that she looks haunted and gets the hunted look every time Brooks is near her. But all this aside, she has an easy connection with Timmy from the first time they meet and soon Amelia becomes a part of the Hart family. She is suffering from Amnesia and Jo suspects that she has been a victim of abuse and thus, the getting scared by men. As Amelia makes her presence felt more and more by her gentle nature, easy rapport with Timmy and her understanding, it’s not only Timmy who is affected by her but Brooks also feels that she has turned his life upside down. A confirmed bachelor and a first hand witness to domestic abuse by his father to his mother, Brooks had pledged never to marry in fear that the bad genes are in him too but with Amelia he feels emotions he doesn’t want to feel and is attracted like he vowed never to be to anyone. In the backdrop of the fear of “The Blond Widow” returning and amidst the cute and childish fun from Timmy is this touching story of two people who find love and completion with each other.

But is this feeling of love here to stay?
What will happen when Amelia remembers everything?
What if “The Blond Widow” returns claiming Timmy?

The Nanny’s Secret is my favorite book and I have lost count of the number of times I have read and enjoyed it! Monica McLean is an author whose fan following says it all. Having written only three books, I think she is definitely in the list of my “Most-loved” authors. 🙂

If I had loved Cinderella Bride and given it a 5 on 5 then I love this book even more. 🙂

The story is expertly developed and so beautifully portrayed. The suffering and shame of an abused person and the constant fear they live in is so sensitively told that it brings tears in our eyes as well as brings an anger on its heels directed towards the abuser!

The Hart family is loving, understanding and supportive. They have lived through the fear filled days of their father’s beatings and their mother’s tears to her eventual desertion. I loved their easy connection with each other and their playful bickering and leg pulling. The shy and sensitive poet Dean to the jovial Mitch to the big brother cum father to his siblings and the gentle Brooks and finally, their only sister and a strong woman, loving mother and a sincere doctor Jo. Clara and Pete, who raised the Hart children after their mother left them and their abusive father died, are kind, old and loving folk who are the parents “of the heart” for Brooks and his siblings.Timmy is truly a bundle of joy with the Hart good looks and a winning smile. He won my heart and made me enjoy each of his gestures, his childish prattle and his cute interactions with everyone.

The love filled care and gentleness of Brooks while dealing with Amelia and his vulnerability made me love him all the more. I was totally bowled over by the chemistry and connection between Brooks and Amelia. They are truly and completely made for each other. There love stood the test of time and separation and this is one book that makes me feel good every time I read it.

“I just want you to be happy. Whatever makes you happy, that’s what I want.”

A 10 out of 5 to The Nanny’s Secret! 🙂 🙂

I very very very strongly recommend that you read this amazing story from an incredibly talented author and I just wish that Monica McLean writes more books and that I get to read them! 🙂
Monica if you are reading this then please start writing again..Its been too long…I miss your varied yet beautifully crafted stories… 🙁

Read my Review of Cinderella Bride by Monica McLean: Click Here