Thank you so much to @_Mira_Books_ & @NetGalley for giving me this physical ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 30 November 2021)

SYNOPSIS | Suzy's father has recently passed away & she is feeling very alone in the world as she also lost her mother some years earlier. She is reintroduced to her childhood live-in nanny (Annie) & they start to rekindle their relationship, although things aren't as straight forward as they seem.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the general sense of foreboding
- dual narration & multiple timelines kept my attention throughout

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- it started off really slow & the entire story felt quite drawn out
- all of the characters are pretty unlikeable
- I don't think the cat abuse was really necessary to distill that the character wasn't a particularly lovely human being

After reading this book, I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. The beginning is very slow, but in some places the pace does pick up before slowing to a crawl again. The story is told from two perspectives. Overall if you need something to read you can pick it up, but otherwise if you have other books to read first, pass on this.

The Review

What a shocking and engaging story! The author did such a great job of taking the time to build up these characters and their history together. The alternating chapters between the past as Annie settled into life as a nanny, to Suzy’s present-day struggles to find a connection to the parents she lost too soon, did an amazing job of peeling back the layers of this dark and haunting domestic drama, as secrets are revealed and relationships are changed forever.

What stood out to me was just how strongly the author covered parenthood, loss, and the grieving process. In particular, the focus on motherhood and the impact that things like loss can have on a mother’s relationship with their children and vice-versa was so fascinating to watch unfold. The exploration of loss really covered most of the main characters in this thriller and showed how that kind of pain could impact people in so many different ways, from internal struggles to chaotic and scary external experiences that impact everyone around them.

The Verdict

A brilliant, thought-provoking, and highly entertaining thriller, author Flora Collins’s “Nanny Dearest” is a must-read novel of 2021. The haunting way the author explores the importance of relationships and bonds formed in childhood and the lengths some people will go to in order to regain something lost so long ago was eloquently written into the fabric of this narrative, and the shocking final pages will keep readers hanging on the author’s every word.

This is a debut novel, a psychological thriller, from an American author. We are introduced to Sue, who after the death of her father has been struggling mentally. When she runs into Annie, who was her nanny as a young child, she feels an instant connection and befriends her. She is thrilled to hear stories about herself as a child and about her mother, who died when she was young. As they spend more time together though, Sue begins to think something is off with Annie. This is ultimately the story of two troubled women whose connection may destroy both of them. It is a good recommendation for fans of the genre that are okay with a slower paced novel.

Nanny Dearest felt a little like two books to me. The build-up is slow, but not so much that I lost interest or anything - just slower than I expected. Then, when it takes off, it's a different vibe. The story bounces back and forth between Sue and Anneliese and from past when Annie was the nanny to present when they've reconnected from the beginning, but after about halfway through, I spent a good deal of time wondering which of these women was the most disturbed. They both have issues and do things that cause at least a head scratch or two. I'm not gonna say which way I was leaning at the end, but I will say that the story had some dark moments and I'm still not sure if I like the conclusion or not, but it definitely left me with some things to ponder.
This is Flora Collins's debut novel, and I'll be interested to see how she grows in her craft. I know I'm liking what I see so far.

Any mistreatment of animals makes me instantly hate a book. The book is also an extremely slow read. Give this book a pass.

Thank you Netgally and the publisher for my advanced copy.

I have really mixed reviews about this book. It really took me forever to read. It was very slow in parts and then moved along great and was really good. This was told in two different timelines and I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters that were told in the past, but the present I was not impressed with. I didn't like any of the present characters. It was very well written, but the excitement wasn't there for me in those chapters.

Pub Day Mini Review ✨

Happy pub day to Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins!
Rating: 3-3.5🌟

Nanny Dearest was, for the most part, an enjoyable read! Although on the slower (and I mean sloooow) side, it was quite entertaining, creepy, and it managed to hold my interest throughout.

Nanny Dearest follows Sue Keller, a grief-stricken twenty-something who is mourning the recent death of her father, after already losing her mother several years prior. One day, she runs into her childhood nanny, Anneliese Whittaker, and because Sue is longing for a parental connection and motherly relationship, the two of them grow close and Anneliese quickly begins to fill the void in Sue’s life. However, their relationship is threatened when Sue starts to uncover the truth about who Anneliese really is and why she was dismissed 20+ years ago.

I liked the general story and plot of the novel. There were some minor plot holes that require the reader to piece some things together. The characters were interesting and well-rounded. My favourite, by far, was Anneliese, and although she is completely insane, I can understand how she became that way (it’s honestly weird being able to connect with the villain of the story). Despite my enjoyment of the story and my ability to connect with the characters, I feel like there was something missing from it, at the same time. Perhaps I was hoping for something even creepier and something a little less predictable? I’m not sure. The ending, ending, also left me wanting more. I wasn’t quite satisfied with the way that last chapter went.

Nonetheless, pick this one up if you’re looking for a slow-burn featuring a creepy nanny that’s sure to keep you engaged and hold your interest!

My blog: https://rebekahreads.ca/nanny-dearest-by-flora-collins/
my bookstagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CW6G_BbrNSq/

Annaliese Whittaker introduces herself to Sue Keller saying she was her nanny when she was little. Sue’s mother died when she was young leaving her father, a famous author, to raise her. He too has recently died and now Sue has been left adrift. Now that she has found Annie, she is hungry for the love she remembers from her when she was a small girl. Annaliese is currently living with her sister and taking care of the woman's children.

Today, Sue doesn’t go out much and doesn’t take care of her personal cleanliness and that of her home. She works from home which means she is there all the time.

Sue’s friend, Beth, meets Annaliese and questions her rudely telling Sue that she doesn’t trust her. But, Sue is adamant that she needs her friendship.

This story flips back and forth from Sue’s childhood to her grown-up days. It is very gritty and I absolutely hated Annaliese with a passion What a sick excuse for a life. What she did to the cat made my blood boil. Sue is a whiny mess. No way can I recommend this book unless you want to wrap yourself in weirdness for several hours.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins is a suspenseful mystery thriller that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. The storyline alternates between 1996 and today, which works well. A good slow burner domestic/psychological thriller with the pace suiting the unfolding drama, which is full of tension and suspenseful moments.

Sue Keller is not managing the death of her father well. She lost her mother when she was incredibly young, and losing him, even though she is in her mid-twenties just seems like more than she can manage. A chance meeting with a woman she barely can remember turns out to be just what she needs, or so she thinks. Her childhood live-in babysitter, Anneliese knew both of her parents, and Sue is drawn to this one person who can connect her with the past.
You know what they say about random, chance meetings though, right? They are not usually random at all, as Sue is about to discover.
So, the beginning of this story was quite the slow burn. I am okay with a story where I am not frantically flipping pages if the characters and the plot grabbed my attention. The main problem for me was I anticipated disliking Anneliese, but I wanted to care about Sue and that just never happened. I will say that once I hit the 60% mark, the pace picked up and I was curious how it would wrap up. I struggled to understand the ending, and unfortunately for me, this one just missed the mark. It was a debut though, so I will look forward to what comes next because there were parts that intrigued me.

A young woman grieving her father runs into her childhood nanny and things will never be the same. Annelise was Suzy's nanny back in 1996, working for her best-selling author father and her interior designer mother. When the two run into each other again, Suzy has lost both parents and is feeling unanchored and latches onto Annelise once more. But the more Suzy looks into her past, the more questions are raised.

Told in both the past and present times, this is a slow burn of a thriller. While it may drag in some spots, the twists are good and readers will enjoy the ride.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Nanny Dearest

Author: Flora Collins

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: thriller, mystery

Publication Date: November 30, 2021

Genre: Thriller

Recommended Age: 17+ (sexual assault possibly, animal violence, animal death, violence, mental health, alcohol consumption, parental death, grief)

Explanation of CWs: There is one possibly sexual assault scene, but it was really vague and non-descriptive so it’s hard to tell what really happened. Animal violence and animal killing/death described in detail. Mental health used in an unfavorable manner. Alcohol consumption and drunkenness are shown in the book. There is also a parental death scene in the book and a lot of the book focuses on the main character’s grief.

Publisher: MIRA

Pages: 336

Synopsis: Sue Keller is lost. When her father dies suddenly, she's orphaned in her mid-twenties, her mother already long gone. Then Sue meets Annie. It’s been twenty years, but Annie could never forget that face. She was Sue’s live-in nanny at their big house upstate, and she loved Sue like she was her own.

Craving connection and mothering, Sue is only too eager to welcome Annie back into her life; but as they become inseparable once again, Sue starts to uncover the truth about Annie's unsettling time in the Keller house all those years ago, particularly the manner of her departure—or dismissal. At the same time, she begins to grow increasingly alarmed for the safety of the two new charges currently in Annie's care.

Told in alternating points of views—Annie in the mid-'90s and Sue in the present day—this taut novel of suspense will keep readers turning the pages right up to the shocking end.

Review: For the most part this was an ok book. The story was interesting and it kept me intrigued. I also felt like the character development was well done and the world building was solid.

However, I had a lot of issues reading this book. It was hard to read and it was very draining to keep reading. The book was incredibly slow and nothing really happened until about 75% of the way through. The book is also told in a weird way and I just couldn’t connect with it at all. I was also really off-put by what I felt was the use of mental illness in this book and I especially had issue with the use of animal abuse and violence being used to make someone the villain of the story. That’s really off-putting to me as a reader.

Verdict: It wasn’t for me.

My face when a book disappoints me: 🤨

I don’t share a lot of negative reviews for a few reasons. I’m pretty good at picking books I will like. If I purchased a book myself and didn’t like it, I usually don’t share because I see little value in that. You may love a book that wasn’t for me, and I often find Bookstagram reviews unfair. Whether someone likes a book depends on so many personal factors — and on the flip side, I try to explain why I liked a book so that you can make an educated decision as to whether you would, too.

But with “Nanny Dearest,” I received a gifted eARC from Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for an honest opinion, so I’m going to share one. I thought the writing in this one was pretty good, and I liked the complexity of the main character. There are some parts that got weird, hinting at greater weirdness to come, and that’s a big plus for me 👀 But at 17 percent, I didn’t feel invested or hooked and picking it up was becoming a chore. So it’s a DNF for me. I am disappointed — I love domestic thrillers and nanny plot lines, but I cannot waste my time on a book I’m not loving.

Synopsis: “Sue Keller is lost. When her father dies suddenly, she's orphaned in her mid-twenties, her mother already long gone. Then Sue meets Annie. It’s been twenty years, but Annie could never forget that face. She was Sue’s live-in nanny at their big house upstate, and she loved Sue like she was her own.

“Craving connection and mothering, Sue is only too eager to welcome Annie back into her life; but as they become inseparable once again, Sue starts to uncover the truth about Annie's unsettling time in the Keller house all those years ago, particularly the manner of her departure—or dismissal. At the same time, she begins to grow increasingly alarmed for the safety of the two new charges currently in Annie's care.

“Told in alternating points of views—Annie in the mid-'90s and Sue in the present day—this taut novel of suspense will keep readers turning the pages right up to the shocking end.”

If this synopsis sounds interesting to you, I would encourage you to give it a try, even though it didn’t work for me.

After recently reading and enjoying Nanny Needed, I knew I had to check this one out and it was definitely an unsettling debut!

This one hauntingly explored the dark side of nannying and dives deep into the obsessive and toxic relationships that can develop.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the alternating POVs of Annie in the past and Sue in the present, I found this one just a little too slow for me and I was left wanting just a little more

I love my creepy nanny books..... ahem well who doesn't?!

Nanny Dearest where do I start with this one? This was quite the slow burn of a psychological thriller. I was struggling a little bit to connect in the beginning but the second half BAM had me turning those pages!!

Talk about dysfunctional and dark relationships. Oh I can't get enough of this. Obsession, creepy, dark, and eerie at it's finest here. Flora does an amazing job throwing those curve balls at her readers and throwing us off little by little ;).

I really was shocked by Annie's thoughts and boy was she a hard character to like sometimes.... yikes haha.

I am impressed by Flora considering this a debut novel and am definitely looking forward to what she has up her sleeve next!

Bring on the dark, dysfunctional, and creepy reads Collins ;).

Overall, 3.75/5 stars.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade publishing for my arc

Sue Keller is in her early twenties when her father dies, and struggling with grief she bumps into the person in her life she feels can help her: her nanny, Annie Whittaker. Sue’s mother died too, several years ago, and Annie was the Keller’s live-in nanny at their large house. Annie and Sue had a strong bond back then and Sue is very pleased to have Annie back in her life again, but then Sue starts to uncover the truth around Annie’s rapid departure…

This slow-burn thriller contains some really good twists artfully dotted throughout the book, so the reader doesn’t need to wait till the end for shocks and “my goodness” moments. Flora Collins gives the novel a real sense of time and place and brings stacks of personality to her characters, especial in the case of Sue. The story is told in different time frames; Annie’s past diary entries from the 1990s and Sue in the present day. The author does a great job building the suspense and feelings 0f foreboding. Evil seemed to be lurking just around every corner and I was constantly pondering who if anyone was being truthful. A true sense of creepiness was prevalent throughout the greater part of the book that kept me on edge. A fantastic début I’m pleased to have read, I’ll be looking out for more from Flora Collins going forward.

A special thank you to MIRA and the author for a complimentary copy of this novel at my request received via NetGalley. This review is my unbiased opinion.

Confusing to read and hard to follow. DNF. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Books for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Well baby fluff!! 😳

This was quite an interesting novel! Although at times it seemed slow, the surprises and unravelling seemed to make up for it as it progressed. A nanny named Anneliese who looked after Suzy, bump into each other again years later. But that's just the beginning. Isn't it always the way we want what we can't always have? This novel kept me wanting to read faster and faster just to find out that ending! & find out I did, with a resurrection of an ending.

Thank you to @Netgalley for allowing me this ARC.

I give this 3.5 / 5 snowflakes! ❄️

3.5 Stars: Nanny Dearest is a dual timeline story, one from the 1990s where Anneliese is Suzy's nanny, and one from the present day where the two of them reconnect. The Keller’s are a wealthy family with Suzy’s father being a best selling author and her mother a successful interior designer. Anneliese soon becomes an integral part of the family. In the present day Anneliese and Suzy meet accidentally in New York, Suzy is deeply grieving the loss of her father who raises her after her mother’s death many years ago. Annelise seems to be thrilled to see Suzy again but Suzy doesn't immediately remember her. As they talk and reminisce, she begins to remember "Annie" and wants to spend more time with someone from her past. Is this a good thing for Suzy?

This is a slow, at times very slow burner of domestic/psychological thriller. As we learned about both Suzy's and Annie's past, things became a bit clearer that Annie has an unhealthy fascination with Suzy. There were some strange tangents that this story went off on that had me confused about their relationship. Annie's home life, when she was young, was very sad and dysfunctional, which hints at some mental health issues. In the present, Annie is a nanny for her niece and nephew but there is some eerie feelings that something is not quite right. It was about 50 to 60 percent into the story, that I became more engaged and wanted to know what was going to happen. I will say the premise of this story was good, but for some reason, I did not connect to the characters, most of them unlikable. There is also some animal cruelty in the story (a warning). Overall, this was a story that pulled me in at points, but not at others. This is Flora Collins's debut novel, and I do see promise in her writing and look forward to seeing what she can come up with next. If you are one who enjoys a slow burn domestic/psychological thriller, then pick this one up, you might enjoy more than I did.