Daniel Goodman is one of a set of triplets—natural, identical triplets, a rare kind of birth. He is a serious man, often feeling estranged from his wild and carefree brother Jonah and his free-spirited parents. He’s also distanced from his other brother Mark, a genius who might or might not realize that he’s unlike most other people and doesn’t seem to care.Daniel is a man on a mission. For years … mission. For years he has striven for perfection, fighting for the pinnacle of achievement in his world of academia—Headmaster of Westover Academy. Westover, established before the American Revolution, is still one of the most prestigious schools in the country. They accept only boys whose parents fit a certain mold and only those teachers who hold to a stringent set of mores, on and off campus. Jonah considers his brother a prig. Daniel sees himself as doing his best to serve his students. How much better can he serve them as headmaster? That is what he seeks to find out.
Suddenly, into his cut and dried, strictly black and white life of moral and upright behavior, comes Eve Star, formerly one of Europe’s foremost exotic dancers. Her life is anything but cut and dried, black and white. Bad enough that she’s enrolled her son in Westover Academy under false pretenses. More, she runs the town’s most disreputable bar. Worse, much to Daniel’s dismay, he finds himself drawn to her like a kid to chocolate. Nothing good can come of this attraction. Or can it? He is, after all, a good man.
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Daniel is one of three identical triplets. A rare bird indeed. When his perfect world is disrupted by a steamy exotic dancer he has to make a choice between his cut and dry world and the woman he is drawn to like a moth to the flame.
This book was definitely not my type of book. I found the beginning of this book to be absolutely so dry and boring that a damn near brought me to tears. But here’s the thing, this book is actually written from Daniel’s point of view. Writing a romance novel from the male’s point of view is something very daring and definitely difficult for a female author to pull off correctly. This author has done just that! The reason why the beginning was so boring is because they are literally sitting around talking about sports, NASCAR and strippers. And the realism that I felt while reading the beginning of the story put me right into the conversation with them. Which if I was sitting in the conversation with them in real life I would definitely be bored to tears. So bravo to the author for bringing to the table such realism! I found that truly amazing.
The other problem that I had with this book was the premise was so cliche that it was painful for me. It’s the whole “I don’t approve of what my parents do but I’m going to follow exactly in their footsteps anyway” sort of story. But again with the realism, this is exactly how life plays out in real time.
One more thing I didn’t like but I’m sure it’s coming in future books, is that I would really like to get to know the brothers a little bit more and I’m very sad that we didn’t get to see their parent’s wedding. I would have liked to see that since they made such a big fuss over it in the beginning.
The romance part of it is written very well. As is the rest of the book which is why I’m not giving this a lower rating. I very much commend this author for her writing style and the way she is able to bring true life into a fictional tale. I can see that others would really enjoy this book, it’s just not one for me personally.
So with that being said, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes romance with a lot of realism worked into the story.
ONLY A GOOD MAN WILL DO (The Good Man Series Book 1) by Dee S. Knight is a contemporary romance by a new to me author that had me falling for the hero and heroine, fanning myself during the well written sex scenes and looking forward to the other brothers’ stories.
Daniel, Jonah and Mark Goodman are a set of natural born identical triplets. Growing up in North Carolina to loving, but eccentric parents, each brother may look alike, they have gone in very different directions in their adult lives.
Daniel Goodman loves being an educator. He has worked for years to achieve his goal to become the Headmaster of Westover Academy. Westover Academy is one of the most prestigious schools in the country and only accepts boys. There are stringent rules for both the students and those who teach them. Daniel wants to become Headmaster to carry on some of the school’s traditions, but also to make changes that would better serve the students.
Jonah visits Daniel, who has not been home for several years to ask him to come home for Thanksgiving. Daniel loves his parents and brothers, but the reason for his visit home could derail his path to the Headmaster’s office which requires a life of moral and upright behavior.
Enter Eve Star and her son Timmy. Eve is formerly one of Europe’s foremost exotic dancers. She will do anything to provide her son with an education at Westover Academy. This includes making up a false background. All it takes is one night of helping a young man from Westover for the possibility of her secrets being revealed and her son removed from the school.
Daniel decides to help keep everything he has learned about Eve to himself, but is it to help his students or is it because he cannot control his attraction to this beautiful mother? And are Daniel’s years of sacrifice to achieve his goal more important than one woman?
I sat down and just got lost in this romance. Daniel was a great hero to follow through his journey in this book. At first, everything was black-and-white and goal oriented and then… Eve upends his world. I knew from the glimpses of his childhood remembrances that there had to be a hero under all of that pomp and circumstance. Eve was a wonderful single mother doing her best for her son and not letting others define her or her past. Daniel and Eve challenge each other and their beliefs. The sex scenes in this book are explicit and smokin’ hot, but not gratuitous. I also fell in love with all the boys who were secondary characters. I completely agree with Daniel who believed in rules, but there are also times, as he discussed when you have to let kids be kids.
I highly recommend this romance and I am looking forward to reading Jonah and Mark’s stories!
I enjoyed this sweet and spicy romance. Daniel Goodman, English teacher at a prestigious boarding school for boys, couldn’t be more different from his triplet brothers in lifestyle and aspiration. Far too concerned with appearances, Daniel seems like an insufferable prig striving for the headmaster’s position at Westover Academy. Fear not—his interactions with his students reveal his sweet side and deep devotion to their well-being and growth. He truly wants to make the school into a more progressive, nurturing place. But to do that, he must walk a fine line, doing nothing that might displease the stuffy, tradition-bound board. To make matters worse, he must constantly dodge the amorous attentions of a board member’s daughter—and her father is his staunchest supporter.
One stumbling block on the road to respectability: Daniel’s parents, an ex-con and a former stripper, are finally getting married, and the wedding plans are drawing massive media attention. If the board won’t approve of an illegitimate son as their headmaster, they definitely won’t approve of a headmaster found dating a former exotic dancer.
Enter Eve Star, whose left behind her dancing career in Europe to settle in New England. In order to get her adorable young son into Westover, she’s posing as a wealthy widow. Actually, she’s living above a bar she manages, one with a bad reputation, though she’s working to fix that. Rejected by her son’s wealthy Italian father, she’ll do anything to give her child the best possible start in life.
You can see where this is going—isn’t it fun? The stuffy schoolteacher and the sexy stripper/sultry widow meet, and sparks fly. Lots of juicy sex scenes as their inflammable attraction pulls each toward reconsidering everything. Add one really nasty ex-boyfriend and you’ve got a fun, steamy, angsty ride.
At times, Daniel’s priggishness made me want to bonk him over the head with a Lacrosse stick. Likewise, it took the heroine a long time to see the light. The ending left me smiling, if scratching my head a bit. A very enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading the other triplets’ stories.
An incredibly well-written story!
This is one of those books that just flowed. I honestly wasn’t sure if I would like it when I first started reading, but I was steadily pulled through the book like a building crescendo and then BAM! Daniel’s big realization about Eve hit and everything changed from there and it was SO awesome!
Daniel certainly had a tough decision to make, follow his head or follow his heart, and I enjoyed reading how he rationalized and hashed out what the next step in his life should be. He had plenty of doubt, and I felt that made him a realistic character.
I admired Eve’s dedication to her son. She was willing to do whatever it took to make sure he was taken care of, even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness. She fully accepted that, and Dee did an excellent job writing Eve’s emotions as she prepared herself to make a life-changing decision. (No spoilers!!!)
I haven’t read Dee’s books before, but holy smokes is there some heat in here! Given that the setting is primarily in a boarding school, I wasn’t expecting much in the heat department, but boy, was I wrong!
I learned of Daniel’s two other brothers, and I hope they get their own stories too! I will DEFINITELY be reading them!!!
(I was given a copy of this book in consideration of my honest thoughts)