ErikNappies, poop and so many sleepless nights I was pretty sure in some countries this would be considered torture and my kids could be tried for war crimes. Yep, I was now a dad. A dad who had no clue what he was doing. A dad who somehow ended up with two kids who weren’t his but I fuc- er, I mean – gosh-darn I loved them. Only… I needed help. A LOT of help. My house was a wreck and I needed … was a wreck and I needed sleep. Badly.
Enter Laura — the Queen of Clean.
She had to be an apparition caused by my sleep-deprived mind. Cause god knew she was exactly what I’d always wanted in a woman, and one glance at her curves and pretty smile had me reconsidering the need for sleep.
Laura
Being offered my own TV show was a dream come true. As the Queen of Clean I had an opportunity to educate people about the importance of cleanliness.
Only one look at my latest project and all I could think of was dirty, sweaty, filthy things.
Erik Larsson is tempting me with sweet murmurings, beautiful babies and a helpless need for a spotless kitchen. The man knows my weaknesses… the only problem?
I’m meant to be leaving for my next assignment at the end of the month.
The Queen of Clean doesn’t stick around… right?
Warning: This hilarious read involves cute babies, gorgeously helpless men, and an appreciation for a clean house that goes over oh so well. Settle in greedy reader, you might need gloves for this delicious mess.
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Erik is way over his head when he finds himself left a sudden father when one of their workers names him as the father of her twins and leave them at the sheriff’s. Taking everything in stride he adopts the kids and the fun begins. His sister gifts him Laura a woman who loves to clean and their journey together begins. They are captivated with each other and along the way builds a relationship that that grows into them becoming a family! I loved the antics of this story and how it drew me in!
Okay, so technically I’m reading this family’s books out of order since I started with Book 2 of Thor’s Shipbuilding and am working my way back to Thunder Thighs. So when I say I enjoyed this far more than the X-List, know that it’s probably because the X-List set the bar pretty high and this book is straight up fantastic!!!
I mean, you start with babies and a hot, single Viking daddy, add in a meddlesome extended family, and finish off with a cherry of a full-figured woman who is Mary Poppins and Marie Kondo and a little bit girl next door. This book basically has it all. Except cake. But I can always provide that on my own.
Seriously, 100% recommend this book.
A Cute and Sentimental Tale of Ovary Exploding Sweetness…
“Clean Sweep” is another example of the kind of light-hearted, yet deeply sentimental short stories author Evie Mitchell has perfected. It is a beautiful illustration of her special brand of intelligent storytelling that firmly plugs into your sense of home and gives you the feels in all the right places.
Here, as Mitchell once again steps away from Capricorn Cove, we are gifted the story of Erik and Laura. Erik being the brother of Gunner (the delicious Viking who woo’d Ella off her feet waaay back in, “Thunder Thighs”), who with him, is half owner of the family business, Thor’s Shipbuilding. He is a kind and charming bloke, a man who in a twist of unexpected fate, is gifted twin boys by a former employee and becomes an instant father overnight. And Laura Sweep, a caring and genuine woman, known as the Queen of Clean, after her part in her family’s cleaning business leads to social media fame and a popular television show produced by Erik’s sister, Liv. What follows is an ovary exploding tale of a man’s love for his adopted sons and a family’s love for said man. It is a story about how everyone around Erik rallies to help him when the chaos of his new life begins to overtake him. And how the one person brought in to help him the most sees him for who he truly is, a kind, gentle, loyal, albeit a bit lost and overwhelmed single dad. A sight that has her falling in love bit by messy bit.
Once again Mitchell offers us something as humorous as it is sentimental, while also reminding us that true family isn’t always blood. Here again she brilliantly pens a female lead who is strong, independent, and successful in her own right. A woman whose strength and sincerity mirrors that of her love interest, a man her equal in every way. And it is a story that would have been another bit of Mitchell perfection had it not been for the vague and almost nonexistent beginning to it all.
As the reader, you are brought into this book with a prologue that barely covers the most basic elements surrounding how Erik comes into fatherhood. You are pushed at quick speed through a series of sentences that refers to an employee never fleshed out beyond quick, shadowy references. And bring you full circle into said employee handing him over her two babies through the Capricorn Cove sheriff. Then it skips headlong into the rest of the book without so much as a backward glance, which for me, left such a rushed, unsettled bunch of questions in my head I couldn’t fully settle into the book.
Additionally, a bit further on in the book there are references to concerns and worries on Eric’s part about actions his sister takes. Concerns that lead you to believe perhaps things aren’t as settled with the birth mother as the prologue leads you to believe. Plot points that were all far too simplistic and casual, something very much out of character for the typically detail oriented and multilayered storyteller Mitchell is.
In the end, despite its quiet and heartfelt beauty, this one felt rushed and not quite complete. Leaving me with more questions than answers, and feeling perplexed at the circumstances behind it all.
This is such a wonderful series. So sweet and steamy. These guys are swoon worthy. Erik is amazing and he and Queenie are perfect together. Good book.