Title:  A Partridge in the Au Pair’s Tree
Series:  12 Days of Christmas #1
Author:  Susan Donovan
Genre:  Christmas Romance
Published:  December 4, 2013
Publisher:
My Rating:  5 snowy stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

British nanny Noelle Clarke finally gets a break when her wealthy employers and their two high-maintenance children go to Aspen for the holidays.

Despite feeling a little homesick, Noelle can’t wait to kick back and relax with a bottle of wine and some telly. But when she accidentally trips the family’s alarm system and the dashing American cop Ryder Partridge comes to her aid, Noelle may get a far more satisfying Christmas than she’d hoped for.

Read on for my thoughts on A Partridge in the Au Pair’s Tree.  No true spoilers, promise.

Noelle was finally getting a break from her duties as a nanny for two extremely active children.  Their mother insists that she is not the nanny but an au pair simply because it sounds so much more worldly, yet nanny is exactly what Noelle is in this household.

It wasn’t a bad job, really.  but Noelle had hoped to see a bit of the local area on her own, maybe find out what it really was like to visit America.  Instead she spent every waking moment of the day attending to the children.  Even on “vacation” she had no time to herself, so when the family took off for Aspen for the Christmas holiday break Noelle was delighted to be all by herself for two glorious weeks.

That is until the alarm system became determined to make her out to be a fool in the eyes of the most delicious police officer she had ever meet.  When danger truly does come calling Noelle knows exactly who to call… and it’s not the alarm company’s number.

A Partridge in the Au Pair’s Tree is a short, delightful misadventure of Noelle and the alarm system.. along with an ornament eating dog.  When Ryder answers the first call to the home, he’s surprised and quite interested in the English nanny who has been left behind for the holiday.  He’s more than willing to spend some time getting to know this beauty and showing her all that America has to offer.

I enjoyed this short story very much.  It’s light hearted, funny with a touch of whimsy.  Perfect for a quick read and enjoyable enough to wish for a slightly longer, involved version of A Partridge in the Au Pair’s Tree.

~*~

Did you know that the Twelve Days of Christmas actually take place after that holiday?  I didn’t, and not afraid to admit to that either.  I never really thought to trace back to what the days of such a well known Christmas carol actually meant… sad to say.  But when I discovered this delightful collection of extremely short Christmas novellas I decided to release each review on the corresponding real date… which leads away from Christmas.

The twelve days of Christmas begin with Christmas Day on December 25th, and continue until the eve of Epiphany on January 5th.  And now we both know.  🙂

Available for the Kindle