For Rich and Becca, it’s definitely not love at first sight — particularly when Becca’s first glimpse of Rich is as he’s stepping out of the shower. Her shower — the one in the apartment she just rented. Or so she thought.
The living arrangements are tricky — the pair have been promised the same New York City space by friends, and Becca arrives with all of her earthly possessions . . . plus a three-legged cat. Rich, a college psychology professor, has recently moved to the city to be closer to girlfriend Gina, an arrangement he thought was working out well. Until Gina unceremoniously dumps him, explaining she needs to be in a relationship with a man a bit more self-reliant than Rich. Someone who can wash his own clothes, clean a house and prepare a meal without the help of his doting mother, say.
Disheartened, Rich turns to Becca for help in becoming a “Domestic God” — a man who can complete any household-related task with pinache! He hopes Gina will be shocked out of her skull to discover how seriously he took her advice — and they’ll pick up their relationship where they left off. And since Rich and Becca can’t reach a conclusion regarding who can “keep” the apartment, Becca’s domestic lessons are a type of trade-off for keeping the peace between them as they co-exist in the space. As long as they keep their hands to themselves, of course.
Which, you know, of course they don’t. Who wouldn’t fall in love with Rich, a handsome, kind-hearted teacher (y’all know I love some teachers)? So what if he can’t even make toast and turns his clothes — and sheets — gray by perpetually messing up the wash? I’d be aggravated, sure, but then I’d set him straight. And we’d live together in perfect romantic harmony, chatting in about academia and eating perfectly-cooked Italian meals. In our gorgeous apartment. In New York City.
But, alas, it’s not that simple. Becca, an artist, has all kinds of emotional baggage from previous relationships — ones in which guys discovered she’s, um, filthy rich and then tried to take her for all she was worth. Understandably jaded, Becca is guarded — and totally not ready to open her heart to Rich. Robin Kaye does a great job of balancing Becca’s hesitations regarding Rich without making her very annoying the whole time.
Still, I wanted to shake her as the novel wore on. Nervous, fearful and full of all sorts of assumptions regarding Rich, Becca seemed unable to let go of her preconceived notions of the “type” of guy Rich was and actually see him as a man willing — and able — to change. There’s a weird subplot about how Rich needing to be in a stable relationship at the nudging of his boss, which just seemed like an obvious contrivance for the plot’s sake and didn’t work for me.
But beyond that? The dialogue was sassy; the chemistry between the leads was palpable. An entertaining, fun contemporary romance with a few laugh-out-loud moments and excellent peripheral characters. Mike, Becca’s realistically protective older brother, and his wife Annabelle, Rich’s sweet younger sister, provide some balance to the burgeoning love between their siblings. I had a little difficulty keeping the characters and their relationships straight at first, mostly because Breakfast In Bed is actually the third book in Kaye’s series, but I eventually got it all straightened out. And now I’m curious about the first two!
3.75 out of 5!
ISBN: 1402218958 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website
Review copy provided by publisher
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