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Central Park

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To make it in New York, you need a lucky break or two.

And I really, really, need a little luck. So when I land a new job as a nanny, I take it as a sign that my leap of faith move to New York is finally paying off.

Until I show up for my first day only to discover there’s no baby.

That’s right.

Due to a mix-up, I’ve been hired as a nanny and placed with… a childless bachelor. A childless bachelor who seems to think this entire situation is amusing.

Trust me, I’m not amused. I’m broke.

And I’m keeping this job, baby or not.


*Central Park is a novella, approximately 100 pages
*Central Park was previously published in an anthology

82 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2022

112 people are currently reading
320 people want to read

About the author

Jana Aston

30 books9,603 followers
Jana Aston likes cats, big coffee cups and books about billionaires who deflower virgins. She wrote her debut novel while fielding customer service calls about electrical bills, and she's ever grateful for the fictional gynecologist in Wrong that readers embraced so much she was able to make working in her pajamas a reality. Jana is the author of 4 books, and all of them have appeared on either the NYT or USA Today bestsellers list, some multiple times. She likes multiples.

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5 stars
244 (26%)
4 stars
296 (32%)
3 stars
300 (32%)
2 stars
61 (6%)
1 star
14 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
Profile Image for Isabella. R.
1,007 reviews2,188 followers
October 30, 2022
4 Viva Le Grey Sweatpants Stars ⭐

Dreams are dashed when Liberty realises that New York isn't all Sex and the City and chic clothing and heels. It's about high expenditure and unaffordable rent. Which is how Liberty finds herself as a nanny for a man without a child?!

“Are you seriously suggesting that I’m not good enough for the baby you don’t even have? You wanted Mary Poppins?”

He shrugs. “Money buys me a lot of things I don’t deserve.”


There is no other author that writes ridiculous stories that I want to believe. I can't help simultaneously rolling my eyes and snorting out loud. Her characters are snarky, the heroes damn delectable and the banter on point.

I don't care that Central Park ended far too quickly. A struggling student, a gorgeous businessman and a fake contract. The text messages over a non existent child were priceless and the right side of preposterous!
Profile Image for Christy.
4,551 reviews35.9k followers
November 8, 2022
4 stars

This novella was a lot of fun, which I come to expect with Jana Aston's books. She always writes laugh out loud rom-coms that hit the spot. This was a little on the shorter side, but I enjoyed Liberty and Mason's story. Liberty is in grad school and NYC. She's just got a job as a nanny and surprisingly, the guy she's nannying for doesn't have a kid? Yeah it starts off a little odd but it went in a hilarious but also sweet story. Erin Mallon is the goat of narrating so I highly recommend the audio of this!
Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 4 stars
Narrators: Erin Mallon
Narration Rating: 5 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 1h 54m
Profile Image for Noi (in & out) .
925 reviews544 followers
November 2, 2024
I forgot how fun Jana Aston's writing is.
It was not perfect but it was light and funny, and the tension was good.
I would have loved like 100 more pages of it.

“I love reading more than I love breathing…”

“Liberty,” he repeats back... “I’m going to tell you a secret.”
“Okay,” I agree because I’m not really in a position to object. Also, who doesn’t love a secret? …
“If I wanted a woman to enact some nanny fantasy with me,” he continues, his voice seductively low and unhurried—he pauses, eyes locked on mine before continuing—“I wouldn’t need to pay her.”

“… he hoped my next job wasn’t with customers since customer service clearly “wasn’t a good fit.” Which, excuse me? I am great with customers. In fact, one of the reasons I’m so excited about being a librarian is because I’ll get to work with people. You know, in which I quietly recommend a book and they quietly slip off to read it..."

“I’m angry-swiping… only to find… a full-length photo of Mason standing in front of the water. He’s completely shirtless, his swim trunks dipping far too low to be decent, allowing me to see the lines of his abs disappearing beneath the fabric. He’s laughing at someone off camera…
Oh, no. I can’t unsee this. I can’t. I knew that he was probably hiding a perfect body under his suit, but this?...”

“Wow.”
“What?”
“You’re one of those girls.”
“What girls?”
“A sexy nerd. Fuck. That’s the vibe I was getting... Look at you. It’s like you’re about to tell me to quiet down...” he adds, with a long look at my lips.
“Of course you’re stereotyping me,” I snap. “I’ll have you know that librarian science is an extremely complex field of study.”
“Damn.” He whistles."

"Tell me what you want, Liberty...”

“The man is gorgeous, accomplished, and has the annoying habit of showing a sensitive side when I least expect it. He’s not just librarian catnip with his secret library. He’s head-over-heels catnip…”

“I have to fix this. I don’t know how I’ll do that exactly, but I have a rough idea. And that’s okay, because the thing about life is we’re all just making it up as we go along. Doing our best, taking chances, making mistakes. Hopefully learning along the way.”
Profile Image for Cheesecake.
2,800 reviews510 followers
August 2, 2023
I'm gonna star this one even though I didn't quite finish it... prob 90% or so.
Anyhoo,
This one follows Times Square and the h (i forget her name already), is friends with and comes from the same home town as Lauren did in that book.
But I didn't like the h in this book. She's an idiot.
I would have liked the H but he's so 2 dimensional there was really nothing to grab onto and like.
The h has a dumb as F decision where I decided to quit reading. I wasn't invested anyways, so ...oh well.
Onto the next one.

Ultimately I felt like the author phoned this one in.
safety seemed fine... more than fine really. If only the h wasn't so bipolar... irrational... both? Whatever.
Profile Image for Inna.
1,678 reviews372 followers
March 25, 2023
3 stars. This would have been a great start to a longer story. It’s too short as is. The hero and heroine barely spend time together on page - most of the story has the heroine alone and exchanging texts with the hero. Also, I can barely call this a HFN ending since they didn’t exchange ILYs or anything. It just feels unfinished.

Safe:
no virgins
no om/ow drama or scenes
no cheating
heroine assumes hero is a playboy but her assumptions turned out to be wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Rose.
698 reviews46 followers
October 29, 2022
Cute and hot. I loved their chemistry. This would have been a solid read for me had I liked the h better.
Profile Image for RLbooks (in and out).
999 reviews481 followers
November 1, 2022
This was a hilarious and cute short story that was just a little too short for me. Liberty (h) is in NYC making her NY dreams come true but she’s struggling a bit. It seems like that’s turning around when she gets a nanny job for Mason (H), except he doesn’t have a child. However, he keeps paying her to be his nanny. Written in first person, single POV of h. No om/ow drama (though h thinks H is a player), neither appears to be a virgin but no history given, and bc used.

Their messages and talking about his “child”, Velvet, were so funny! They had a spark between them, I just felt like it needed to be fleshed out. There is a steamy scene, but no connection beyond their chemistry, no deep conversations or a date. Mason seemed to be a sweetheart and Liberty was interesting but ultimately was insecure and made assumptions, though she makes a nice gesture to make up for those assumptions. The ending is HFN but was also abrupt. I still enjoyed the story though because it was different and funny and I like the way this author’s sense of humor and writing flow. Times Square by Jana Aston is the story of this h’s BFF (who does appear in this story) and I’d definitely recommend that one as a more complete short story by this author.
Profile Image for Wobilba.
861 reviews131 followers
November 16, 2022
I really enjoyed this. A really hilarious novella but it ended so abruptly, i was confused for a minute lol. I really wished it had been longer 😔
Profile Image for Danielle Overly Backlogged.
503 reviews104 followers
January 8, 2024
If Jana Aston wrote quadratic equations backward and in pig Latin, I would read it. Her character’s inner dialogues are magic. Their outer dialogues are magic. They are all the weird, funny, introspective, oddities I’ve come to love from her. So it was nice to see her able to so adeptly compact that into novella form and still hit a home run.
The banter between Mason and Liberty was wildly entertaining and I loved the evolution of their relationship. Yea, I wish it had been longer but I walked into this knowing it was a novella so I don’t have any right to complain.
I would have loved an epilogue so I had to take off some points for that. Otherwise, it was a slam dunk.
Profile Image for Raine.
2,463 reviews53 followers
March 12, 2023
Liberty & Mason

I really would have liked for this story to be longer. Maybe a little more of Mason's cranky older assistant - did she work for his dad or his grandfather? Did his assistant try to play matchmaker? And the end was very abrupt.
Profile Image for Diane (Books and Tequila Blog).
1,519 reviews71 followers
November 12, 2022
Central Park is a quick read or listen. It’s sweet, quirky, funny and OH SO H.O.T!!!
Liberty Parker arrives her first day at a new job as nanny only to discover that her new boss, Mason Cooper doesn’t have a child…

“Did you hire a nanny for a baby you don’t have?”
“It does seem odd that no one from your agency verified that, doesn’t it?” He leans back in his chair while continuing to look me over as if I’m some kind of fascinating oddity, like a baby giraffe who’s escaped from the zoo. Or a nanny who’s been placed with a childless bachelor. Either-or.”

I listened to this book on audio and loved the narration! Such a fun story.
-4 Stars-
Profile Image for Elisa ♡.
703 reviews1 follower
October 30, 2022
this is a nanny romance, but there's no kid, it was actually a misunderstanding but the hero decided to keep the heroine, and this was so cute and short.
Profile Image for Monica Murphy.
275 reviews23 followers
November 4, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I love the fact that Liberty is working on becoming a librarian. She definitely speaks her mind! To make ends meet, she gets a job as a nanny, but Mason doesn’t even have a kid!!! There are lots of hilarious situations, and great chemistry between Liberty and Mason. This is a fun listen and won’t take up much time. And I always enjoy stories narrated by Erin. If you are new to Jana’s work, this is a great place to start.
Profile Image for Monique.
1,280 reviews57 followers
November 2, 2022
Exactly What I Needed!

There is nothing better than grabbing a book on a cold, rainy day and just falling into the story. Jana Aston has the perfect balance of wit to vulnerability to a fun storyline. This novella is quick but it was just the right thing I needed to read today. It made me laugh and smirk right along with Liberty with her sass and quirks. The antics both her and Mason go to, which is the best flirting, had me giggling. I’m walking away wanting more from this couple, which is proof that good things come in small books too. If this cover doesn’t draw you in, which is stunning! then let me assure you that this is one you won’t want to miss.
Profile Image for Jessica -jessyisabookaholic.
130 reviews50 followers
April 28, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book was 🔥🔥🔥 and funny. I love Jana Aston’s little novellas but this one I wish was more. I need more because it was so hot and sexy.

Liberty is Lauren’s friend from Iowa and she moves to New York to finisher her masters at NYU. She meets Mason a publisher who finds his assistant hired Liberty to be a nanny for a non existent baby. Their banter was super funny.
Profile Image for Julia .
1,117 reviews8 followers
March 8, 2023
I hadn't realized there was another new york novella.

This is a friend of the first book in this series, who finds someone to fall in love with in a completely random happenstance. It was brilliant.
Profile Image for Ashley.
721 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2023
Felt like the book could’ve been a bit longer
Profile Image for Fos.
1,302 reviews2 followers
November 25, 2022
Audiobook
Narrator - Erin Mallon 🌟

Very short - 2hrs

Single POV 😔
Grumpy Sunshine, girl is the grump
Rom-Com

Liberty and Mason
Crazy 🤪 😆 funny!
Profile Image for Karen.
78 reviews15 followers
November 10, 2022
I laughed way too much for such a short book

Mason Cooper takes his role playing seriously. His assistant who doesn't really like him that much heard him saying something about “they'll need a nanny". Only she interprets it as he'll need a nanny and she goes out and hires one from an agency. It pays well pays well so Liberty shows up for the interview thinking he's a single dad.

Liberty is doing her Masters in library science and is a bit of a pretty nerd. She's really suspicious of Mason's motives when she learns he doesn't have a baby. The hilarity starts when she accuses him him of sex trafficking or trying to hire her as an escort. He pops her bubble real quick by saying escorts wouldn't be wearing leggings and sweatshirts.

So Liberty learns she's in a contract she can't break unless he terminates her. She needs the money and wants to get paid so she shows up next morning for the gig for a pretend baby. Mason takes the role playing gag pretty seriously, to the point of naming the baby. Later on in her employment he buys a stroller so she can take "Velvet" to the park. And give Liberty credit, she takes an empty stroller to the park. Because there's nothing weird in New York. I am laughing as I write this review this was such a great story. I think it's much better than Times Square.
Profile Image for ReadingTilTheBreakOfDawn.
1,954 reviews104 followers
December 2, 2022
I had previously read this novella in an anthology, but when I had the opportunity to listen to an audio of Central Park, I had to take it. Erin Mallon and Jana Aston are magic together. It's like they get each other's comedic timing and the audio was that much better to listen to.

Liberty is "living the life" in NYC. If living the life is living in small quarters, in bunk beds with roommates and quitting your job by telling your boss to go F himself. What will Liberty do to survive while trying to get her masters at NYU? When a nanny job comes up, it seems perfect. But what happens when the person she is supposed to be a nanny for doesn't even have a child?

Mason is rich, good looking and a successful CEO of a publishing company. But some mix up has Liberty in his office to be his nanny. Knowing Jana Aston and her laugh out loud rom coms, we definitely get that while having 2 adults figuring out what else is between them in between all the hijinks.
This audio novella performed by Erin Mallon was cute, entertaining and had a great setting. Plus, I love when writers include jobs in their industry. It makes it that much more fun.
For a little fun and fast read or listen, you can't go wrong with the Jana and Erin combo.
Profile Image for Judith.
192 reviews
November 4, 2022
Sparks fly in Central Park

Jana Aston has delivered an adorable meet cute novella where the sparks fly and the banter and laughs abound.

Liberty Parker has taken a chance on New York City and followed her best friend Lauren to the city with the hopes of continuing her education for her Master's degree in library science at NYU. She has grand ideas about NYC from watching an abundance of movies about New York and of course, Sex and the City. Almost immediately she finds out how different it is in real life. In an effort to get a better paying job to support herself she applies for a Nanny position and gets it. However, when she arrives on her first day to meet the single dad she soon finds out he's not a dad at all. There is no child and Mason Cooper is a very hot 30 something bachelor who's been set up by his personal assistant, Mrs. Hollis. Mrs. Hollis is hilarious and so is the banter that ensues as this story continues. Snatch this little beauty up and read for yourself. Also make sure you grab the audible as well. It is expertly narrated by Erin Mallon. It will definitely put a smile on your face.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews

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