REVIEW and GIVEAWAY: WHAT A WOMAN WANTS (MANLEY MAIDS #1) by JUDI FENNELL

Series: Manley Maids #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 3/4/14
Format: ARC
Pages: 336
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3 stars

What happens when three irresistibly sexy brothers lose a poker bet to their enterprising sister? They get hired out for her housecleaning venture. Now, the Manley Maids are at your service. Satisfaction guaranteed. It’s what a woman wants... Resort entrepreneur Sean Manley was all set to buy an historic mansion at a great price, making a name for himself while making millions, when the seller and a poker bet change the game. Now he’s in the place as a hunky male maid and there’s one more complication: Livvy Carolla.

The house is Livvy’s inheritance. Her plan? Unload it to the highest bidder and use the cash to start her own bakery business. One look at "the help” and she’s hot to take him with her. Until she finds out he’s got a secret agenda.

But when Sean falls for the free-spirited, strong-willed Livvy, he has new ideas for the estate—and Livvy’s part in it. If all goes well, they’ll both be getting what they want. And then some.

What a Woman Wants is a story I was anxious to read. The cover is kind of adorable, and the story sounded cute. I mean, a male maid, that's pretty much every woman's dream come true.

What a Woman Wants begins with Livvy Carolla inheriting her estranged grandmother's estate. There is one stipulation: Livvy has to complete a scavenger hunt, with the clues being bits of family history. A history she is not familiar with, and she only has two weeks to complete. Sounds fun, right? I adored that angle.

What's standing in Livvy's way, besides the hunt, is Sean Manly. Sean lost a bet with his sister, and is now working for her maid service at Livvy's grandmother's estate. The joke's on sister, though, because Sean is interested in purchasing the property and converting it into a luxury resort. If Livvy gains her inheritance, his dreams and a lot of money go up in smoke. Sean feels he has no choice but to sabotage Livvy. Sean's deceit made me unhappy, but I got that it was probably necessary to make the story happen.

So basically, what I found was a fun, enjoyable story. So why the sad face and the three star rating? Short answer: ANIMALS. So many animals and it drove me crazy. Some readers hate books with kids and babies, I hate it when books have too much going on with animals. Now, I know some of you likely think I'm being picky, but hear me out. Livvy lives on a co-op, and she brings her farm animals with her. But not only does she bring them with her, she decides that they can't handle being outside and they must stay in the house. We're talking goats, pigs, peacocks, dogs, a parrot, alpacas, and I'm sure some others, but I began to black out at that point. These animals tear the ever-living shit out of the house, destroying Sean's work, and she just shrugs and laughs. That annoyed me to no end. Also, these animals literally forced me to look at my husband and say "I've never seen such epic animal cockblocking in all my life." Every time Sean and Livvy tried to get something going, one of the animals would butt in between them, the parrot would start chattering, or maybe the goats took a crap. But the biggie: a love scene between alpacas. No. I'm not joking.


"With a back-shivering grunt, the alpaca removed himself from his lady, then took to preening around the room as if he'd just performed the greatest service to the world."

 No. No. No. No. No. I do not want to think about that alpaca climaxing, but now I can't stop thinking about it. I still need to gag, y'all. I get that it was funny, but I would've rather focused on the couple.


Now. I know that was quite a tangent I went on. All of the animal business may not bother the majority of readers. This reader prefers to focus on the humans. Overall, I did like What a Woman Wants. The writing was quite charming and I did like the story. If you don't mind the animals, you may love this.

The Manley Maids Series

 

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About the author

I have been writing for as long as I can remember, winning my first writing award in a second grade Caldecott Medal contest. Readers' Digest gave me my very first publishing credit in April, 1994, and I was hooked. I seemed to have followed writing contests around, being a finalist in such online contests as American Title III, sponsored by Romantic Times BOOK review Magazine and Dorchester Publishing, and two First Chapters contests, sponsored by Gather.com and Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books.
My imaginary friend was Casper the Friendly Ghost. The little ghoul even had a special place set for him at our dinner table and got blamed for many of my childhood mishaps. I grew up watching Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and The Addams Family--my mom looked like Elizabeth Montgomery and I had a special Barbie outfit that looked like Morticia Addams' dress. My favorite books are Bewitching by Jill Barnett and A Knight In Shining Armor, by Jude Devereaux, so it should come as no surprise that I like to write tongue-in-cheek lighthearted paranormals.
I love pop culture and manipulating language, so you'll find lots of puns, double entrendre, plays-on-words, alliteration, clichés, and twisting of phrases, as well as several one-liners in my stories that give me a few chuckles. I studied Spanish at Penn State (Go Lions!), lived in Spain and traveled throughout that beautiful country.
I've always written and still have my journal from fourth grade where, even then, my stories were full of fantastical creatures, whimsy and magic. I wrote my first romance in 9th grade and still have that story in my memory chest. Even back then I dreamed of being a writer.
Now with kids, a husband, a house, a social life (Go Survivor Girls!), and two cocker spaniels named Vixen and Raven, I get to live my dream of being a writer!

I've also published, under the name J.A. Fenn, a horror anthology. Yes, a bit different from light-hearted romance, but just as much fun to write. Hope you check out Off The Beaten Path, A Terrifying Tales Anthology.

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