Single dad, Cameron, has tried to juggle his business with childcare for his two-year-old daughter, since losing his husband in an accident.
Nannies last a day. Some don’t even make it through the front door, particularly when they meet Deefur, the Great Dane who guards Cam’s home with his huge paws and a bark deeper than thunder. Deefur is looking after his tiny pack, and he takes his job very responsibly, but he’s big and strong, and he’s too much for Cam to handle on top of everything else.
Something has to give.
Enter Jason, a teacher in training who picks up extra cash as a manny. He’s the only person who can make it past the barrier of Deefur’s protective streak, a veritable dog whisperer.
In short order, Jason cares for little Emma, somehow puts Cam’s house in order, and on top of that, saves Deefur from being re-homed.
Next on Jason’s list is healing the heart of a lonely widower in the hopes that he can show Cam how to love again.
Bonus Content - Deefur and the Great Mistletoe Incident
The story of how Deefur, after the great mistletoe incident, ends up with the best bed in the house.
Christmas Eve is here and with it comes ice and snow and the anniversary of the tragic accident that killed Cameron Jackson’s husband.
But this year he has Jason in his life and he refuses to let grief consume him like it normally did. He has a beautiful daughter, a new boyfriend and a dog that completes his home. This anniversary he wants things to be different. With a ring in his pocket and love in his heart he has to make new memories that will replace the icy parts of his heart.
He loves Jason, wants forever with Jason, but it takes Deefur and some mistletoe to have Cameron finally telling Jason the right things at the right time.
RJ Scott writes heartwarming, passionate MM/gay romance stories where every man finds his happily ever after. When not writing, she enjoys reading books, watching movies, spending time with her family, following Formula 1 (Forza Ferrari!), and cheering on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Email her here: rj@rjscott.co.uk
I'm a sucker for a good romance with a dog and I enjoyed this one. The widowed gay man/gay nanny trope was nice and I liked the fact that the relationship built very slowly. Recommended!
There’s hardly anything that can go wrong with having a nanny fall in love with the widowed employer. Right?
Widowed single dad Cameron is in desperate need of a nanny to juggle life with his two year old daughter, his construction business and his late husband’s HUGE dog Deefur. Deefur is the reason why all previous nannies fled the house pretty quickly, the last one not even waiting to be led into the house when she heard Deefur bark inside the door like a hound of hell.
Luckily, Cameron finds Jason, a nanny willing to handle Emma AND Deefur – and he’s a 25 year old teacher in training who is a hot muscled hunk too.
No need to elaborate on the plot any further…
Still, what made this story so amazing is
a.) The slow-burn romance. b.) The fact that Cameron had a certain view of his relationship that he *thought* wouldn’t be suitable for Jason. This was a conflict that I found extremely interesting.
It’s a pretty short novella that could have been expanded considerably, but even as it is, it is extremely well done and enjoyable, not to mention beautifully romantic with the focus on a rainbow family.
I loved the story it was very emotional, I was crying and then laughing and then laughing while i cried. It was a very touching and real story. I would highly recommend it to everyone that wants a story where the characters feel real and the story is easy to get into.
The only thing i didn't like was the ending, it ended too soon. Other than that i just loved it and really want more
A widower with a toddler and Great Dane desperately seeks a nanny. Jason, a teacher in training, comes into their lives and basically just fits right into the Jackson family. This is a pretty angst free story with Cameron, the widower, and Jason enjoying a gentle growing attraction. A cute, sweet story. Fluff.
RJ Scott has done it again with a feel good love story. Cameron Jackson is mourning his dead husband while trying to raise his two year old daughter, help run a business and get a grip on a mammoth dog with a mind of its own. Every nanny Cameron has hired was run off by Deefur the dog. Cameron finally makes up his mind to get rid of Deefur and runs into a hot Jason Everson who volunteers at the animal shelter. Jason is about to be evicted and needs a job badly to finish up his teaching degree. Jason also happens to be the perfect live in nanny. True to her romantic style of writing, RJ winds a tale of lost love and love found again. Don't look for a lot of hot sex in this book because you won't find it. Pick this book up if you're looking for a feel good romance story and you won't be disappointed in the least.
A case of an author trying to shove a novel-length story into a novella.
I loved the idea for the story, but after the initial set up between the characters (single dad & manny) everything was rushed. The rushing snuffed the slow burn that should have developed between the MCs.
Also, there was a weird 3rd POV that came in out of nowhere from a secondary character. Why???
Lastly, beware of that abrupt ending that other reviewers mention.
My rec? A cute, short read...but I wish the author would rewrite this into a novel.
This is a rather disappointingly bland story. It spends several chapters explaining that widower Cameron needs a babysitter & dog sitter badly & conversely Jason needs to work as a babysitter & needs a job badly. I'm not sure why it took over half of this short novella to drive home this single point. Then Jason arrives & the dog miraculously starts behaving, the child is happy, everyone is happy. Then nothing much happens until 80 to 90 percent in, & suddenly Cam & Jason decide maybe, they might have something more than an employer/employee relationship going on here. And at this point, where a novel would normally begin, the story ends. I think 2 star equals OK & that covers nicely how I feel about this story. It was just OK.
This was a very good story. It's the sweet kind of story that will make you laugh and make you tear up a little bit.
The characters are quite lovable to the point I couldn't help but feel for them. Cam's situation and what he's gone through was extremely sad IMO and what he almost had to do with Deefur made me ache so badly it was crazy. Probably because I've been through a situation similar to Cam's so it brought back bad memories.
Anyway! This is a slow build story. It's slow in the sense that Cam doesn't want to take advantage of Jason because Jason is his employee. So, these two dance around each other until the very end. I happen to like that a lot especially since it allowed Cam to form a relationship with Jason in his own time when he was ready and ultimately, that was the most important part of the story to me.
As with a lot of short stories, though, this one ended too soon. I would have liked it to be a bit longer so that we could have seen Jason and Cam together as a couple.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I'd love to read more about Cam and Jason and see how their lives develop from here on out. Definitely recommended.
There is nearly every basic ingredient for a nice Manny story: successful but overstrained widower with a cute kid and a spritely dog, young and gorgeous guy at the end of his luck but with a big heart, supporting family and spiteful neighbor. Ok, we don't see much of the family and the neighbor is more or less a footnote while R.J. Scott was a bit too enthusiastically making Jason the perfect match and more for Cameron. It also was a bit short to create a better balance between grieving for the lost husband and lusting for the new guy but Scott is an experienced romance writer so the story is a nice one and doesn't feel obviously generic.
3.5 stars It's VERY difficult for me not to compare this story with Lisa Worrall's A Nanny for Nate. Simply because 1) it has similar plot (widower, a child, live-in nanny) and 2) I happen to read the two books back to back.
Unfortunately, this story fell short of satisfaction compared to the other book. I think, my problem comes from the fact that the dog seems to get more attention that the child. I know, I know, the title IS about the dog, but if there are children and pets in one story, for me children always take precedence over pets. So I don't feel enough interaction between the two guys with Emma, the two-year old daughter. Also, while the story progresses nicely, the two guys don't really acting on their attraction until about 90% through the book, and then the ending feels a bit rushed. However, I find both characters likeable and the story sweet ... plus to those dog-lovers out there, Deefur is definitely going to rock your world (and please laugh over his misadventure with a poodle, seriously, that is worth retelling!)
This was a really sweet story that managed to avoid being fluff by addressing the grief and stress of being a widower and single parent realistically.
I'm a huge sucker for animal stories, and while Deefur was the catalyst for Cameron and Jason meeting he was also the connection between Cam and his deceased partner. It was all pretty convenient how they met and how their situations worked out just "so" perfectly, but there was the required stress with a smidge of angst that tempered the perfection making it more believable.
This is the second book I've read recently that portrayed the "kid" in the book as completely age appropriate. I love that, it makes the story so much better.
Overall I really liked it, I would have liked a little more of an ending. While they do get their HEA, it wrapped up pretty quickly and I kind of wanted to wallow in a schmaltzy HEA epilogue a little before letting these boys go.
Father loves the nanny. Nanny loves the girl and the father. And his dog too.
I've been reading several MM books where the MC has a child today, apparently are out in time for the Father's Day this weekend. Deefur Dog's story is not new. It's about Cameron, a single father who needs a nanny for both his 2-yr old daughter and his 4-yr old Great Dane. None of the nannies he employed stayed because of Deefur. The last one even left before Cameron saw her. Only her car. Enter Jason. Unemployed, ignored by the company that provides nannies because he's gay. He almost finishes his degree in child psychology and teaching certificate, and he loves dog.
The story mostly is about how they develop their love, especially about Cameron who still mourns after losing his husband Mark almost 2 years ago.
Such a sweet story, almost without conflict. There is a little confrontation with their homophobic neighbor, but that's about it.
Wow. This book combined some pretty wonderful ingredients: a precious two-year-old little girl, an unruly Great Dane, a loving but grieving father/widower, and a competent gay nanny-slash-dog-whisperer. Deefur Dog had charm out the wazoo! I LOVED all the characters, especially Jason, Emma, and Deefur; Cameron was likeable and I felt his grief for his deceased husband. However, I wish we got to spend more time with this unconventional family. I would have liked to see Cameron's love for Jason develop into something independent of Emma and the grief/guilt Cam felt over Mark. Which brings me to my one and only gripe with this book: it was too short! Grrrrr. I wanted more time with the Jacksons (including Jason) and would have liked to see more character development, especially between Cameron and Jason.
Bottom line: Deefur Dog is a sweet but too-short story about an absolutely adorable family and the riotous Great Dane that brings them together. Recommend!
Very rarely do I rate a book less than 3 stars. If the story is that bad, I usually DNF it, so why in this case? Well actually the story really isn't that bad. It is an absolute typical Manny trope, you know what you get, no drama, no surprise, sweet and fluffy. So 3 stars for the story are probably adequate. However, paying more than 3 Euros for a book that is easily read in less than an hour felt like a major ripoff. This is the kind of books you usually find at KU, or you maybe pay 99 cents for, so in my opinion you don't get what you pay for, even if there is a cute dog, a sweet baby girl and 2 loveable main characters involved. If you find it somewhere for free, go for it, if you like that kind of stories, but I definitely cannot recommend to pay more than 3 Euros for it.
This was a beautiful sweet story of a young widower who desperately needs help caring for his toddler and his huge Great Dane. The dog was the star of the story, though both men were caring and sweet and absolutely perfect for one another.
I love RJ Scott's work and I really don't know why this sat on my TBR shelf for so long before I read it. It hit the spot to cheer me up today.
Sweet (too) short story about Cameron (a widowed contractor), his 2-year old daughter (Emma) and their dog (Deefur Dog). Deefur is a Great Dane mix and spoiled. He manages to run off every nanny that Cameron hires to watch Emma. After a "right place, right time" moment, Cameron and Deefur meet Jason, a student and nanny who has been unable to find a job (he believes it's because he's gay) and he is about to lose his home. Cameron has been mourning the loss of his husband for the past 18 months so he's slow to act on what he starts to feel for Jason. After awhile (a long while) the inevitable happens.
This is a great story. There is no rush into the relationship. Cameron is obviously still mourning his husband and I love how the author allowed that to play out. Emma is adorable. Deefur Dog is hilarious. Jason is... well..... wow. Totally loved him.
My only complaint is that it is too short, which explains the 4 stars instead of 5. Everything else was perfect. A very sweet love story. I believe this is my first by this author. I look forward to reading more.
My only criticism of this lovely little book is that is was TOO SHORT. I wanted more--I wanted to watch as Jason and Cameron's relationship developed and blossomed--hell, I even wanted the dog to have a relationship--neutered or not! Truly, these characters drew me in--I felt at home with them, I grieved with Cam and patiently (sometimes impatiently) waited with Jason as he waited for Cam to come around. I cheered when they told each other of their love. It was a well written, tight little novella and I can only say that I will be returning to RJ Scott's bookshelf to read more of her work. I also want to give a shout out to my new friend Nikyta at goodreads for picking this one for me--excellent choice!
Stupid GR ate my review! Ok, second try. I really liked this story even though it was quite different from the normal romance books. It foremost dealt with Cameron's grief and trying to find a way to manage his every-day-life with a toddler and a huge dog. Enter Jason. He soon became part of the small family and while there was attraction on both sides, they took their time - what a nice change! Then this story ends on the verge of the beginning of their relationship. Although this was a fitting end I was sad to leave them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Very good m/m romance about a widower with a two-year old daughter and a giant, unmanageable dog who belonged to his late husband. Strangely, they're having trouble keeping a nanny for longer than a few hours. ;) Recommended if you're looking for a sweet, non-instalove m/m romance with more story than sex.
What an emotional roller-coaster! I love this author. She writes with compassion, emotion and love. The only downside....the novel is not long enough. If you enjoy love stories, relatively little sex, a great story, dogs, and male to male love, you cannot get better than this. Tears clouded my reading ability. Thank God for the "happy ending".
So during all this time, I thought the guy on the right was wearing a hat (like a skull cap). I just realized that instead, he actually just has a cowlick and the lighting makes his hair at the top of his head seem darker.
Really great shorter story (~70 pages) - nice sentiments, cute boys (OK - men), cute kid, cute dog, HEA = relaxing. Sort of like a mid-meal sorbet for the brain :)
It's sort of light and cute, yet it's also a really quick sudden problems solved magical hea that doesn't quite sit right. The relationship came from nowhere after a long intro of why one needs a nanny and the other needs a job and short talk of how they're not really suited, everything was suddenly ultra smooth sailing. Even problem child and big problem dog are sudden darlings. Cameron is a widow and even the last sentence in the book is a reference to his husband, which..
To me it read more as cute and convenient than any kind of real match. Bland.
Didn't wow me, but I don't think it was a waste of time to read it. I just think the end was a little too abrupt and their relationship could have been better developed. But It was a good and fast reading to a Sunday afternoon.
This is a sweet, short read. A cupcake of sweetness. Recently widowed Cameron is desperate for help with his toddler, Emma, and boisterous Great Dane, Deefur. His husband, Mark, had pushed for this little family but, alone, it’s more than Cameron can handle.
Cute-pie, Jason is finishing up his early childhood studies and teaching credential. He works part-time at an animal shelter and happens to love dogs. He also desperately needs a better-paying job and place to stay.
Problems solved, times two. Cute meets cute, but there is a little more going on, and the guys don’t immediately knock boots. Cameron is still recovering from his lost love and Jason doesn’t want to intrude (or lose his job). The addition of this little bit of tension dilutes the sweet a bit. I like how Cameron and Jason fall in love around the memory of Mark. I did enjoy this quick, easy, mostly sunny escape.
Okay not my favorite. I came away feeling that Cam wasn't really ready for a new relationship and the story of Jason and Cam's relationship took a back seat to Mark and Cam's relationship, it was so back seat it may have actually been in the trunk. Jason was waaaayyy too perfect, cook, clean, take care your daughter with developmentally appropriate activities, (and gee I love her as my if she were my own) understand completely while you cry over your lost husband, suffer no doubts, insecurities, jealousies oh and btw I trained and groomed the dog in my spare time. Seriously? Calgon Take Me Away.
4.5 stars. Wonderful story of an overwrought widowed dad, his delightful little girl, a massive but lovable dog and the man who solves all his problems...in the end. The family aspect in this book is very strong and well written and I really appreciated that the child was not forgotten once the romance began. And speaking of sweet but also hot romance, this book had both in a believable and slow-paced way which is something else I also appreciated - the slow build of feelings and wantings. Great book. 2 paws up!