Nanny Needed – Georgina Cross

Nanny needed. Discretion is of the utmost importance. Special conditions apply.

When Sarah Larsen finds the notice, posted on creamy card stock in her building’s lobby, one glance at the exclusive address tells her she’s found her ticket out of a dead-end job – and life.

At the interview, the job seems like a dream come true: a glamorous penthouse apartment on the Upper West Side of NYC; a salary that adds several zeroes to her current income; the beautiful, worldly mother of her charge, who feels more like a friend than a potential boss. She’s overjoyed when she’s offered the position and signs the NDA without a second thought.

But in retrospect, the notice in her lobby was less an engraved invitation than a waving red flag. For there is something very strange about the Bird family. Why does the beautiful Mrs. Bird never leave the apartment alone? And what happened to the nanny before Sarah? It soon becomes clear that the Birds’ odd behaviors are more than the eccentricities of the wealthy.

But by then it’s too late for Sarah to seek help. After all, discretion is of the utmost importance.

Review

GIRL! This did NOT go where I thought it was going to. Such a nice detail to have that *[Special Conditions Apply] on the title; pay attention! I also don’t know if it was deliberate, but the summary on Goodreads for the paperback edition only says NANNY NEEDED, and it creates such a cool, creepy vibe for the book. I love it.

Sarah is struggling with debt—lots of it—and gets on by waitressing along with her fiancé, Jonathan. Add to that, they have grand plans for a wedding and a future together, so they really need to stumble on some money. What to do? Seems like the couple needs to get a second job or work even more hours than they do now.

Fear not! The Bird family needs a new nanny, and it sure does look like Sarah needs a second job… Also, those extra benefits ~~(hush money)~~ sure look nice…

I honestly didn’t see ANYTHING coming; I had my suspicions about some things that actually turned out to only be my wishful thinking. Seriously, I’m a thriller veteran, but from the 3 plot twists, I didn’t guess ANY. My god.

I was thinking about simmering and letting my head think through more in my rating, but I honestly did feel a bit cartoonish the final revelation and how the closing scene went down. It felt like the author wanted an epic, dramatic movie scene to play out, but movie scenes don’t really translate well a lot of times when you want to write them as literary scenes. I do think this book is going to my favourite shelf, though.

I want more of Georgina Cross!

Click for spoilers!

First off, there was no child to take care of. The nanny position was actually to take care of Colette, who lost her daughter, Patty, 20 years ago to an illness and was so traumatised by the loss that she started to hallucinate her and believe she was alive, always staying 4 years old.

However, we learn that Sarah was actually Patty. Her “aunt,” who was working as a nanny at the time, abducted her from the Bird family because she believed that Colette was making her sick, but this was also not true; Pauline was the one poisoning Patty because she was obsessed with Colette and saw Patty as a threat for her attention.