And Manny Makes Three

by Trina Solet

Mark, a struggling college student, has been working as a nanny for a nice family, but they don't need him any more. Zack has been raising his son, Al, by himself and needs help. Al is a funny kid, and Zack is a funny dad, but more serious issues lurk under the surface. Will Mark be able to deal with these two? And how will Zack and Mark deal with their mutual attraction?

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, LGBT, Gay, Family, Childrens

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2013

Reviews

[Cindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review can be found at On Top Down Under Book Reviews.


This book has a few things that I really love. I love books with kids in them and in this one we have Al, who is five. I am huge on books when the main characters have a substantial age difference and Zack and Mark have ten years separating them. I am all about books about family and this is a very family oriented book. However, I believe that this book would have benefited by being edited more. It's much too long at almost 350 pages. I believe that it could have been cut in half and it would have been amazing. Also, misspelled words, lack of punctuation, etc. became distracting and unfortunately took a lot away from the story for me.

[Vintage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throwing myself on my sword here. Reading this because This is Us breaks my heart every week, and I am NOT a cryer or a sucker. Hell to the no! Sterling Brown is my true love, but there is puh-lenty of male yumminess to go around on that stupid, effectively manipulative tearjerker show, Justin Hartley aka the Manny as one example. Don't care if he is young enough to be my....nephew.

This was not the madcap rom-com I was hoping for, and re-reading the blurb I should have known.

What it was was a sweet romance between two very beta heroes. If Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Pollyanna were male and gay this would be their romance.

Some saucy scenes and a tad of angst thrown in by a disapproving wannabe of the dad, and that's it

[☆ Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

For 341 pages, not much seemed to happen.

Way too many pages of Mark thinking "Why can't we be a couple?" and Zack's monologue of "It might hurt my son." Yawn.

Then after the first half of the book being sex-free, the last half used sex as a page-filling crutch.

I didn't hate it, but I kept waiting for something exciting to happen -- which only turned out to be the cat getting out of the house. (I'm not even remotely joking about that.)

My best comparison would be taking a nice drive along a familiar country road. Pretty trees, nice weather, but the car didn't crash and you didn't get to see any cows being eaten by a grizzly. ;- )

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars.

I enjoyed the first half of the book, when they both are pinning for each other. Once they start to sleep together, it becomes too much sex.

[F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read but not one to stand out. Felt very disjointed and jumpy. Read to me nearly as a diary would - a journal of what happened. Lots of telling not showing. Actually got a bit boring.
3.5 stars but only 3 for GR

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was okay but dragged on for too long and Zack's flip flopping on his feelings for Mark drove me nuts.

[Damian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat boring.

I was excited to read this book after reading the first three chapters before I bought it. There were many typographical errors, and at times, the names were mixed up as to who was saying what. I guess Tina's readers just love all the sex chapter after chapter. To me, it was so boring that I just skimmed through the chapters. This book wasn't worth my time to read thirty-some chapters that could've been done in twelve.

[Christy Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did try to enjoy this book I did because dang when they did finally have some sex scenes it was hot as fire. However, I didn't like Zack or his parenting food wise was just horrible. Okay I was starting to come around to him and then he would not let his child have a hot dog except for once a year. Then he wouldn't even let Mark have a regular hamburger he had to have a turkey burger because they weren't allowed. He used broccoli as a weapon to get Al to eat stuff. That is so wrong on so many levels. If it had been mentioned once or twice it would have been fine, but the whole book had this in it.

There was the funny parts with Al saying things he learned at Little Rainbow where he went that I did get a kick out of. Him using words long like saying his dad was a dildo lol.

It was mentioned over and over that he didn't want nobody to know about Al because his step sister's family might find out. So I thought there was going to be drama there, but never was. It was a hundred pages over written to me. The first book of hers that had dragged so badly that I do not need to read another one so soon Trina Solet is a great author don't get me wrong there, but this book wasn't for me. I couldn't even enjoy much of the sex scenes because I didn't like Zack and then he could not figure out if he wanted mark for like I don't know how much is a book even after they started pretty much being a couple. That irritated me to know end and I wanted to shake him and make him realize what he had was the best he would.

This is my opinion on the book, my sister loved it. So go by your own read, but I couldn't get into it. Mark, Al, and PJ the cat were the three I loved, but Zack I just didn't like.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was slow, and long, and bloody marvelous!

I loved Zack, he's fab. His constant playful sarcasm and wit; his interaction with his son all felt more normal and real to me, I spent the majority of this story with a grin on my face because of him.
Al was adorable, not a baby-fied 5 yr old, he reminded me a lot of my own 5 yr old daughter with some of the things he came out with. I'm still curious to know where he heard dildos.
Mark was sweet and so patient. The poor guy knows loss without having anyone die on him and I think that's worse. At least death is unavoidable, being abandoned is awfully sad.

I'm so glad I give this a chance. After reading Unexpected Dad, the writing style was a little too matter of fact for me and I wasn't going to bother with this, but so happy I did.

[Hc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm.. this book is strongest in Romance. The sexual parts take a while to get to (not always a bad thing) and feel realistic but not quite... super hot? While I didn't get the whole deciding to take a chance out of the blue on vacation from Mark, once they cross that bridge it's basically no holding back. Zack takes a while to get over some hangups about Mark not wanting to stay when he gets older.. not sure that made a lot of sense to me.

But Zack and such a quirky personality and an interesting relationhip with Al... adding Mark into the mix was entertaining.

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a slow burn book for me. It took a long time for Zack and Mark to finally take that step into a relationship, but the wait was so worth it. Al was a freaking funny kid, and so very smart and loving. I love that Zack stepped up to the plate for his step-sister and granted her last wishes, he is a wonderful and loving father if not a tad overprotective, which I totally loved. And who wouldn't love Mark, he was such an exceptional character. Loved this story.

[Midia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars
I really like Zack and Al relationship (Al is so sassy!), however about the romance part, the book was WAY too long. I mean, most of the time for this kind of story I complain that it's too short and the relationship happens too fast but here I was like "kiss already! Put me out of my misery!". The first half of the book, you have no sex except the part with Roy and Mark before Marc met Zack but whatever and the last half of the book it's a lot of sex -like they should stop having sex and communicate more. I was so getting annoyed with Zack thinking that it was going to hurt his son to be with Marc if it fails and Marc is too young to for a long time commitment, I mean of course I get that his son is his priority (dah!) but seriously, even if Zack and Marc never got together, Marc was Al's nanny which means Al would grow attached to Marc and be hurt if Marc left, whatever his father was sleeping with his nanny or not! Maybe I would have appreciated the book more with there would have been more angst on Marc's part but well that didn't happen... It was still nice I guess and Al and Zack were very entertaining but it's not a book I will read again.

[Ashley D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark needs to find a new job or another family to nanny for, while Zack is struggling to find someone to take care of his son over the summer. When a co-worker, tells him about her family moving to Spain and offering up her nanny, Zack isn't sure what to think, he agrees to meet Mark. The attraction between the two is instant and intense, but both try to ignore it.

Mark and Zack have both had difficult situations they have to deal with, but with them being in close proximity they can't avoid the mutual attraction forever. This way a great story and Zack's son was adorable but a little to adult at times.

[XI · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly it was ok! But it was just long and drawn out n not in a good way atall!! Like 38 chapters for a book that needed 25 at most! Trina Solet I read her for length not necessarily cos she's amazing but I will say she injects feelings into her book

[Vicki Tubridy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

Loved this so much. I laughed so much reading this. Al was just a funny kid and sure gave them a runaround keeping them on their toes. It was great seeing the journey these guys took. A must read.

[GlamLawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly it's a book that promises more than it delivers. It's too long in parts and too fast in significant for me plot points. But that's my taste. Cute though.

[Jack Dunbar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having finished a book club book with nothing on hand I found this on my Nook and decided to pick it up for a quick read. Overall a pretty disappointing book. The beginning first half was relatively decent but once Zack and Mark developed a sexual relationship the story went downhill. It almost seemed like the author just wanted to write a porno. Suddenly every other scene was about Zack's growing budge and Mark's insatiable appetite for his meat. Even with only 3 pages remaining the writer found space to shove in another scene. I was EXTREMELY turned off by how they admitted to Al that since they loved each other they'd be sleeping in the same bed with the door sometimes locked to do "adult things". Completely unnecessary and tasteless. Again, just an attempted to bring up talk of sex just for the hell of it. I also wasn't a huge fan that Mark would only say I love you after he go off. Very poor character development and truly predicable. There were so many aspects of this book that could have been expanded on and incorporated to help thicken the plot, like Mark's ex returning. But instead it was brushed aside to make room for tasteless sex scenes. A solid 2 of 5.

[Phaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrative style is simple in a way reminiscent of a children’s book or maybe a fairy tale, which not only fits but really works as counterpoint to people talking like normal people do, cursing freely. It also works great as a foil to the more complex emotional issues tackled concerning the protagonists’ past.

If there’s an issue (aside from a few editing failures) it might be the author’s way of sometimes (often) upon switching POV retelling what we just read from the other guy’s perspective, reaching back quite far. It makes for some temporal frustration for me, although I admit I might be touchier about this than most.

Either way, this is a lovable book, a great story, based on all the usual elements of a nanny romance, yet creating its own world and flow. The relationship between Zack and Mark builds slowly, despite an immediate crazy physical connection, so that when their mutual attraction finally explodes, it feels well earned.

All characters, even the most of the small side characters (like Miss Olga), feel like real people. No one is perfect, but everyone appears to be well meaning in their own way, with their own way of expressing this. And just because two people might agree on the most important decencies in life does not make them best buddies either. That’s quite real without being depressing even remotely.

Al, as I have come to expect from the children in this author’s books, is certainly not a prop. He’s as fully real as anyone else, and he and Zack have their own, strange dynamics of interaction, just as Al has a different set with Mark. Al never is portrayed as cute for the sake of cuteness. When the adults go to mush over him, it’s often in his less appealing moments even. And that completely works.

I was utterly enchanted by this and already writing up a glowing review when, slowly and over the last third or quarter or so, the sex scenes became a bit too frequent without illustrating actual change. (Sex in general started up late here, generously past the halfway point of the story, and at first was linked to plenty of character development or information tucked in among the visceral elements. Even that very first scene between Roy and Mark becomes so much more poignant later on.)
Still not boring, those sex scenes, but the sheer overflow towards the end made Zack’s dragging his feet drag on even worse, made me impatient with him and did not do much for their interactions in general. It just felt like things petered out, avoiding some sort of story climax, making the end kind of meh.
That’s pretty much why the rating lost an entire star.

Even so, this is a truly lovely romance with quirks from off the beaten path. I need to read more books of this kind.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of the time, when people write that they found a book funny, I see what they mean, but don't quite agree. One liners aren't enough to make something truly funny. Neither is "stupid" humor, where it's supposed to be funny because people are being idiotic or cruel. And lots of puns gets boring because it is pure language not character. I prefer it when the humor is generated by the contrast between your expectation (about language and people) and what the author says, when you are surprised by the end of the line or a paragraph. And this was a truly funny book. If I quoted a single line, mostly likely something about broccoli, it's quite possible that you wouldn't think it was funny, but if you read the book, you would see that there is one line like that in almost every paragraph and they build and build. Partly, it's the author's syntax, which creates a rhythm to the sentences that is essential to the humor. Partly it is a willingness to not treat children as gods. Whatever it is, this is a book with a sense of humor unlike any others I've read and definitely the funniest romance book I've ever read.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't hate this book. I just got bored with it. Once Mark arrives in the house, there's no forward motion. The same chapter repeats over and over. Al & non-POV-character do something cute, POV-character thinks about how perfect non-POV-character is and chooses from a very short list of standard excuses for not talking to him despite admitting that he knows his feelings are returned. About all that changes are the POV and the details of the 'something cute'. None of these elements are bad things in a romance -- except when repeated ad nauseam. Once I got to 50% and was bored with the book, I realized that nothing had changed since about 10%. I don't mind slow books, but this one just wasn't moving at all. DNF.

[Sweetalpha135 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a much better second read for me.

I still love the characters, but I feel less pressure to find out what happens, even though I don't actually remember much other than broccoli. That's the first thought I had in my head after the first few pages on the second read. Oh, the broccoli book, smile, relax, this is going to be a good ride.

There are lots of good quotes from this book but they make spoilers.

Al is a safe bet.

"Look at the hairy beast!"

No one is "perfect" in this book and that makes it "just right". I like fantasy characters fine, but every once in a while it is nice to find a writer who writes the delicate stuff too.

updated 04/22/2014

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another manny-meets-daddy book by Solet. Another charming, feel-good read. My only criticism of Solet's books is that the editing is a bit rough. That said, I've kind of grown fond of the way her misplaced commas and missing question marks make her characters seem to deadpan their way through funny, affectionate conversations.

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. For some reason this age gap bothered me. I also didn't feel Al was really a 5 year old. I have an 8 year old and a 6 year old and I'm around Kindergartners all the time. Not sure I would ever hear one say "don't worry, we'll take care of him for you" when leaving. It just felt off.

I did like the slow build of the relationship, but I felt this book was WAY too long.

[Dreamer80 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story..
If you love to ready about a man nanny "manny" and about a man and his baby boy, you need to read this.
It was funny and sweet at the same time.
PLus, the sex between the manny and the daddy? Super HOT!!

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely hate when authors include kids in the story line and then have the kid act like they are so much more mature and have a better vocabulary than other kids their age one minute and then have them acting tears younger in the next - total turn off.

[Dena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Linda-Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually like books with kids and nannies but not this one maybe it's the mood I am in.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a snarky kid, 4 stars for Al, 3 for the book overall.

[Addicted2M/M · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad Janie recommended this to me. This was so fun-the banter was great, the kid was cute without being too cute. Lots of heat & some sweet. Really good read.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars