cover image Last on the List

Last on the List

Amy Daws. Canary Street, $18.99 trade paper (416p) ISBN 978-1-335-49842-7

In the sweet and spicy fifth romance in Daws’s Wait with Me series (after Take a Number), a precocious 11-year-old helps her father find love. Colorado millionaire Max Fletcher is nervous about spending the summer with his daughter, Everly, while his ex-wife heads on vacation, as it’s been 10 years since he’s had Everly in his house full-time. When he starts interviewing for a nanny, he’s not particularly convinced by the candidate who shows up in an orange tie-dyed sweatsuit—but Everly blurts out “you’re hired” before Max can send her away. Cassandra “Cozy” Barlow is on sabbatical from her high-powered career in Denver, and taking care of Everly, whom she quickly comes to love, is just the break she needs. Though Max and Cozy are attracted to each other from the start, Max worries that if he dates the nanny, he’ll have become a cliché. Daws surrounds her endearing leads with an all-star cast of supporting characters, many of whom fans will recognize from previous books, including Max’s burly cowboy brothers and romance writer Mercedes Lee Loveletter. This bighearted sense of community enhances the dreamy romance. Readers will be eager for more. (Sept.)