Title: Private Property
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year: Amber Shah 3/9/21
Length: 282 pages
Series: Rochester Trilogy #1
Overview
When I signed up for the nanny agency, I didn’t expect a remote mansion on a windswept isle. Or a brooding billionaire who resents his new role. His brother’s death means he’s now in charge of a moody seven year old girl. She’s lashing out at the world, but I can handle her. I have to. I need the money to finish my college degree. As long as I can avoid the boss who alternately mocks me and coaxes me to reveal my darkest secrets.
My Thoughts
What we get in this summary doesn’t even scratch the surface of the story that we have embarked on. It’s one that is as moody and broody as the Maine island that they live on, and because of that emotion, we get something that’s intense.
True to form, we have Jane Mendoza, our leading lady in this story – a nineteen year old from Texas who has lived a tough tough life in the foster system, and now wants something better for her future. She’s bounced from house to house, and she’s trying to make her way to college, and to do so she needs money. So she gets a job as a live in nanny and boy is she clueless to what her life will be.
Enter Beau Rochester – a man who made his fortune forming a shipping company that earned him billions. While Jane doesn’t know who he is, he clues us into his past – how he was a playboy and a very bad guy. someone who played too hard after working hard and that is something that we watch him deal with even in this story.
As the summary stated, we’re in Maine after Beau’s brother and SIL pass away in an accident and he’s left to watch over Paige – their daughter. She’s young and dealing with the trauma in a way that he doesn’t know how to cope and so he’s hired Jane to help.
The journey that we go on here is one that’s quite complex but really intense and enjoyable. We watch how the trauma of the past turns into something that sustains life now, with hope for the future (at least for some). We watch how trust is something that has to be earned, but when that’s done, there’s such great success and prize from it. We watch how Jane grows into the woman that she should have been if she didn’t deal with all the loss from her past, and how Beau is someone who could potentially give her security even though he’s not the person to be in her future. There’s discovery of sexuality and what makes you feel wanted and safe, all while realizing that what is good for someone in the now is a response to things that happened in the past.
There’s are some entertaining side scenes that happen in this one. We watch how Beau’s world is introduced to Jane and the impact of that. He’s got friends who are actors, models, all wealthy and from another world. We see how the wide eyes of a nineteen year hold from Texas deals with that, and how jealousy and temptation all play into those scenes. We learn about the ghosts from the past and how they haunt several people’s dreams, and wonder if those ghosts aren’t quite dead yet.
Just when we feel things start to settle, and a rhythm comes into their routine, there’s a fire and all is lost. not just possessions but likely lives too. we have to wonder what this means for our characters and for the progress of our story. I fear for the life and future of our mains, and i’m sure that’s the Intention so that the reader has to quickly jump into the next one. I’ve just picked up book 2 and off I go! Enjoy!