Reputation

Tempt Series

De: Jenna Hartley

Narrado por: Lucy Rivers, Tor Thom

Pretending to be a celebrity billionaire's fake fiancée is anything but simple, especially when the man is my boss, Nate Crawford.

He's fifteen years older than me. One of the hottest actor-producers in Hollywood. And my childhood celebrity crush. Or at least, he used to be—before I became his daughter's nanny and realized how demanding he could be.

The only reason I haven't quit is because I adore his daughter, and I'd do anything for her. Which is how I find myself agreeing to a fake engagement to prevent Nate's ex-wife from gaining full custody.

But when Nate kisses me, it feels real. And the longer we pretend, the easier it is to believe it's not all just an act. Now I'm worried his daughter's future isn't the only thing at stake because I'm falling in love with my fake fiancé.

©2024 Jenna Hartley (P)2024 Tantor Media

Absolutely loved Nate, Emerson and Brooklyn.

This story will grab you right away because the narrators are perfect and the characters are amazing. I loved every word.

A billionaire studio head and award winning actor falls for his nanny - as much as he tries not to - and that’s part of his charm. Tor Thom narrates Nate with strength and exudes his charm too. His voice will capture your soul. Nate is a billionaire with a heart of gold, he just needs to admit his feelings for Emerson.

Lucy Rivers delivers a wonderful narration of Emerson who is a female character with heart and determination. You can’t help but love her.

This book ends in a tear-inducing HEA that’s beyond perfect.

The Nanny, the Billionaire, and the Chemistry

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💛💚🖤
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋🙂😁🥰
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration

Character Backgrounds and Plot Summary

Reputation centers on Emerson Thorne, a 29-year-old Olympic athlete who works as the live-in nanny for Nate Crawford’s daughter, Brooklyn. Nate is a 40-year-old billionaire actor and producer, and Emerson has the added complication of having once had a childhood crush on him. Unfortunately, being attracted to his daughter’s nanny is not something Nate wants to acknowledge, so he initially keeps Emerson at arm’s length and communicates with her mostly through email. Emerson eventually reaches her limit and calls him out on his behavior, which becomes an important turning point in their relationship.

Things get considerably more complicated when Nate needs to protect his relationship with Brooklyn from his manipulative ex-wife, who is threatening to use their situation to pursue full custody. A fake engagement between Nate and Emerson seems like the perfect solution. Of course, pretending to be engaged becomes increasingly difficult once Nate kisses Emerson and neither of them can pretend the attraction is fake anymore. I especially liked that Brooklyn wasn’t simply a plot device. Her relationship with Emerson and her father’s efforts to protect her are central to why these two people begin seeing each other differently.

Highlights and Limitations

The strongest part of this story for me was watching Nate’s attitude toward Emerson change. He starts out cold and frustrating, but Emerson isn’t the type to quietly accept being treated badly. Her confrontation with him was one of those moments where I wanted to cheer because she finally said what needed to be said. I also appreciated that Nate actually reflects on his behavior instead of simply expecting Emerson to tolerate it. That character growth made him much easier for me to root for.

Brooklyn was another highlight. I loved how naturally Emerson’s affection for her developed and how much both Nate and Emerson cared about making her feel secure. The fake engagement could easily have become the entire story, but the emotional stakes surrounding Brooklyn gave their relationship more substance.

I did find Nate frustrating at times, particularly when his uncertainty made Emerson question his intentions. One reviewer described him as wishy-washy, and I can understand that reaction. I also have mixed feelings about the frequent Taylor Swift references. Some readers clearly loved them, and there is even a major Swift-related moment in the story, but personally, I thought there were enough references that they occasionally pulled me out of the romance.

Narration

Lucy Rivers and Tor Thom were a great combination for this audiobook. Rivers gave Emerson a voice that fit her determination without losing the softer side of her personality, especially in scenes involving Brooklyn. Thom was particularly well suited to Nate’s character. His delivery captured the confident, wealthy single-dad persona while still allowing Nate’s more vulnerable moments to come through.

The audiobook runs just under eleven hours, and I thought the dual narration worked especially well for a story where the emotional tension between the characters gradually builds.

Final Opinion

I ended up enjoying Reputation quite a bit. The nanny and single-dad setup, fake engagement, age gap, celebrity romance, and only-one-bed tension are all tropes I enjoy, but what really sold me was the relationship between Emerson, Nate, and Brooklyn.

Emerson was my favorite because she had enough backbone to challenge Nate rather than simply falling at his feet because he’s rich and famous. I also liked seeing Nate move from controlling and emotionally distant to someone willin to examine his own behavior and fight for the people he loves.

There were definitely moments when I wanted to shake Nate, and I could have lived with fewer Swift references, but those issues didn’t outweigh the chemistry and emotional payoff. If you’re looking for a steamy single-dad romance with a nanny heroine, fake engagement, Hollywood glamour, and a genuinely lovable child at the center, this was an entertaining listen that gave me plenty to smile about.

Good story and good female narrator

I’m not a fan of Tor so his performance distracted me from this audio. I did enjoy the story itself and the other narrators performance!

Long but in the end….

This story has a lot going for it. The performance is excellent, the writing is well done, the storylines could use some shortening here and there, but maybe that’s just me, and the characters are all very charming. I can see this would be a great series with all of the great characters introduced in this book. The book does drag quite a bit in the middle, but the last third is really excellent when things pick up.

I enjoyed this series

This is one of the books that follows ‘Temptation’. I enjoyed how it shared the path of the other characters. It’s like an outside view when we’ve seen what it looked like from this inside.