Irresistible (Cloverleigh Farms Book 1)

I’m a relatively new Melanie Harlow reader, and frankly, I’m kicking myself for it. I binge read her One and Only series, the predecessor to this series, leading into the release of Only You, and I’ve been looking forward to this book since. It did not disappoint. I really enjoy Harlow’s writing. Full of feels, her sweet, steamy romances and endearing characters come together into tender love stories that sweep me right up into them.

Irresistible, the first book in the Cloverleigh Farms series, spins off of Only You, the last book in the One and Only series. The hero, Mack, is a side character in that story, and Cloverleigh Farms is the vineyard where both Mack and that book’s hero, Ryan, work. I loved that tie-in, it gave this series starter a familiar yet new feel. Mack, a former Marine, was trying his hardest to be the best dad to his three little daughters that he could, but sometimes everything just piled up and he couldn’t help feeling a bit overwhelmed. That’s where Frannie came in. She was his part-time nanny, and she was also the daughter of the Cloverleigh Farms’ owner and a coworker there.

I loved everything about this story. I loved Mack, I loved Frannie, I loved the two of them together, and his daughters were adorable little show-stealers. A little bit bittersweet, a whole lot swoony, Mack and Frannie’s love story was one that I devoured in an afternoon. I couldn’t get enough of their story, these characters, and I’m already looking forward to the next book. Five smooches from me for Irresistible by Melanie Harlow!
~Danielle Palumbo, Red Cheeks Reads

As an author, single dads and nannies are my jam and so when Melanie announced this book I was like gimme gimme gimme. Let me just say, she does not disappoint! It’s angsty and delicious, funny and sexy all at once!

I’m beyond ecstatic to finally get my hands all over Mack! We met Declan MacAllister, or “Mack”, in Only Love as a rugged, no-nonsense ex-marine. In Irresistible (the first book in the all new Cloverleigh Farms Series), we find that he’s so much more…

He’s a devoted single dad just trying to find his new normal while being the best dad he can, raising his sweet girls. Most days, he feels like he’s being pulled in multiple directions, so of course he doesn’t have time to date. But he can’t seem to get his mind off a particularly cute blonde he works with at Cloverleigh Farms, and also happens to be a part-time nanny to his girls.

Frannie Sawyer would give anything for Mack to see her as the woman she is, instead of the kid her family still treats her like. She has no idea she has a starring role in Mack’s late night fantasies and it’s taken every ounce of his control to keep his hands off her. But it’s put to the test when Frannie finally decides to go for what she wants.

I absolutely adored everything about these two! From their strong and intense connection, to Frannie’s friendship and love for Mack’s girls, Mack’s misguided sense of logic at the expense of his own happiness, and of course the three little scene stealers that are Mack’s girls. The absolute best was the grand gesture towards the end; I loved how Harlow incorporated a couple from a prior series and Mack’s girls, which kept me laughing through my tears of happiness.

Ever since I joined Goodreads two months ago, I keep finding new authors that I have never heard of but I instantly want to devour every single word they have written. Melanie Harlow is no different. When I read the blurb for Irresistible, I was instantly pulled in and it did not disappoint for one single second.

“…..because I’ve been lying here for fucking hours and I can’t stop thinking about how much I want you.”

HOT Single Dad.
Three adorable girls.
Former Marine.
Put in an impossible situation.

Loving heroine.
Youngest of five girls.
In love with one man she thinks would never want her.

I really don’t want to go into too much about this book because you need to experience the story and fall in love with it like I have seen so many other people have including myself. The warmth of this book gave me all the feels and I was disappointed for it to end. Can’t wait to read book two and find out what happens with the other four Sawyer sisters.

I loved this book! It had all the good feels that I needed from a romance novel and so much more.

Frannie is the youngest daughter of Daphnie and Jack Sawyer, the owners of Cloverleigh Farms. She has lived a very sheltered life, due to some major health issues during her childhood, and now at the age of 27, she’s more than ready to take control of her life and move on. The only problem is trying to convince her parents, especially her mum, that she’s ready to fly solo.

Ex-marine Mack has had it tough ever since his wife walked out on him, their marriage and their three beautiful daughters. When we meet Mack, he’s recently divorced and has full custody of the girls, and has his hands full trying to be a good dad and as well as the CFO at Cloverleigh Farms. He morning he receives a phone call from his child minder that she’s been involved in a freak accident, leaving Mack with a dilemma…. he urgently needs to find a temporary nanny to take care of his girls after school… so when Daphnie suggests Frannie for the position, he is absolutely relieved when she agrees to help him out.

I loved the flow of this story, especially the interesting and sometimes hilarious dimension the kids brought to the storyline. I also loved the way the book highlighted the realities, commitment and sacrifices a single parent faces every day whilst trying to raise a family on their own… and that some times it’s okay to put your needs before that of your children, in order to find happiness and a second chance to finding love.

Irresistible is about Mack and Frannie and his three daughters. Mack is a single dad raising three young girls. He’s thirty-seven and divorced. Mack is the CFO of Cloverleigh Farms where Frannie works as the receptionist.
Frannie is also a part-time nanny for Mack as well as the bosses daughter of Cloverleigh Farms. She’s twenty-seven and single living in the inn on the farm basically she still lives at home just in her own space. She enjoys baking and hopes to one day have her own bakery. She’s the youngest of five sisters.

When Mack divorced his wife he took on a huge responsibility of becoming not only dad but mom to his three young girls. While Frannie was his nanny she was only a temporary replacement. The babysitter helped on occasions but the primary responsibility was left to Mack who also had a full-time job.

Frannie was a special child with a different childhood then her older sisters. She was treated with kid gloves and homeschooled. She didn’t get to travel or experience the same childhood activities as her sisters. For that she wasn’t very close with her sisters. Her parents, mostly her mother, smothered and coddled her. Even at twenty-seven her mother was still making decisions for how she lives her life. Frannie wants to be independent with the ability to live her own life and make her own choices.
Mack has been playing the roles of both mom and dad to his kids for a year sacrificing his own needs. He just wants to have time with a woman but his time and attention is devoted to three young girls. He’s not a perfect father nor a perfect man, but he can’t help crave the touch and intimacy a woman provides. He’s a man with many excuses as to why dating isn’t something he can make time for, yet he allows time for sex.
The cover is a show stopper. The single dad trope is a favorite of mine.
I was looking forward to reading about all the ways Mack has taken on all the responsibilities as a single dad while juggling work and family. Instead the story focused on juggling sex with the nanny. I had hoped Frannie’s character would have been portrayed as something more significant than a good lay. Mark’s biggest complaints rest on deaf ears when he made time for sex and allocated time for Frannie to spend time with his girls. He’s already conquering his fears without even realising it. For me this ruined the illusion of single dad. The role reversal is sexy not when it’s contradicted with complaints.
Frannie has her own sets of issues to deal with. Her relationship with her sisters is a situation that she needs to remedy by including them into her life. Her situation with her parents is a topic all too common in many households.
Parents are a huge influence after all they molded her into the woman she is today. What’s disappointing is when Mack has thoughts about Frannie they are always sexual. He limits her to a person of sex not as a woman who will fit into his life with the girls which she already does.
Overall this is a story about change and adapting to that change by finding new ways to live life given the circumstances.
This is referenced as a small town romance, but the story didn’t center around that trope. Instead the center focused on the small town connections in a positive way not addressing the typical issues.

One of my favorite romances! I LOVED this book! I like how it’s a little taboo, but not too much, where you feel a little guilty for liking it. It had the perfect amount…and I loved that tension between the couple…so good…a must read!

Mack became a single dad to his 3 young daughters when his wife walked out on all of them. He loves and cherishes his daughters Millie, Felicity and Winnie, and every day he does his absolute best to juggle job responsibilities with parental responsibilities and still stay sane. His girls are adorable and chaos, a combination most parents will recognize. I think it’s impossible not to fall in love with Mack in the very first scene of this story.

He is CFO for Cloverleigh Farms. Frannie, the youngest daughter of the people who own Cloverleigh, also works there. She is part-time nanny to Mack’s daughters. There is irresistible attraction between Mack and Frannie. Good guy that he is, Mack worries that the 10-year age difference between them makes him too old for her, he has too much personal baggage, that her family – who employ him – will not approve. The degree to which he is seriously tormented is beautifully written, as is her devoted and broken heart.
Wonderful characters, excellent secondary characters, and a setting where I’d love to live made this a book to savor. The HEA will keep you smiling.

This is my first book from Melanie and I won’t stop here. It was a lovely story with amazing and soooo cute characters (yes the kids were awesome). It is definitely a feel good storyline without any anguish or tears involved. I didn’t mind because it was also really hot. This Dad “brought it home”.
The really good thing is that, it makes you want to learn more about the Sawyer sisters and this is what I’m gonna do.

I confess that I read these books out of order, but I’m actually glad I did because I’m able to appreciate and sympathize with these two particular characters in a way that I probably wouldn’t have if I read this book first. I love Melanie Harlow’s books because of the complexity of her characters and the realism of the situations in which they find themselves. There’s nothing silly or unbelievable about her stories. I imagine she does her research with real people like these characters and delves deeply into their personalities and their motivations.

Mack is a very complicated character. He has so many issues to deal with, shifting out of military life and thrust into civilian life immediately after his discharge from the Marines. Add to that heavy duty domestic responsibilities—three young daughters, and a wife who wasn’t understanding (she eventually took off)—and it’s a recipe for disaster.

This is probably just a stereotype but I imagine an ex-Marine would have an expectation of himself to be stoic and confident, bucking up under the pressure. So maybe that’s why Mack felt so guilty about pursuing a relationship with anyone, much less one with Frannie. He felt he had to be selfless. Kudos to Mack for being the more sensitive type, but that made him all the more conflicted.

Frannie was ten years younger than Mack. Not a deal breaker chronologically, but in terms of life experience she was nearly a lifetime behind him. She fit right into the family domestically, but there had to be times when it felt to Mack like she was more of an older daughter than an equal, and that would just add to his sense of taboo. What was difficult for them as a couple was that Frannie wasn’t confused at all about what she wanted and Mack was. She wasn’t afraid to go for it and he was. Mack had obligations and she didn’t. She was growing and he was stuck. He had so much ambivalence about them being a couple, with good reason. He needed her on an emotional level for his own happiness, but felt it was wrong for the kids. I could relate to everything he was feeling and how a parent has to put their children first.

This is a story that might make you impatient, even irritated at times with the characters, but Mack’s concerns are very real, and Frannie’s innocence created the perfect storm for their relationship. It’s that much more satisfying when they come out the other side with an HEA. I enjoy a story that I can relate to on a deeper level. Sometimes you want to read something fluffy, but other times you want depth and Ms. Harlow gives you that in a big way. Don’t forget to sign up for the bonus episode offered at the end of the book.