Book Review: Maid for Each Other by Lynn Painter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Lynn Painter continues to deliver, and Maid for Each Other might just be my favorite of her adult romances so far! This book had me smiling, giggling, and totally hooked from beginning to end. The banter between Abi and Declan was everything, and I’m such a sucker for a good fake dating trope. Their chemistry? Off the charts. The sexual tension was perfectly done, and I loved how naturally their feelings developed over time.

I also appreciated the pacing—it felt well-balanced, with no major slow spots or rushed moments. I especially loved the enemies-to-lovers energy in the beginning, and the whole blackmail-adjacent vibe when they first made their arrangement had me cracking up. It was such a fun twist that added personality to their dynamic.

⚠️ Mild spoilers below! Read at your own risk!

That said, I did have a few small gripes. Abi’s hints about wanting to visit New York felt a little forced—almost like she was fishing for Declan to offer, which felt off for her character. I would’ve loved if that plot point had been handled with more subtlety, like Declan spontaneously planning something instead.

Also, while I thought it was interesting that Declan and his friend ran a low-key philanthropic business, I really expected that to play into the third-act conflict. It didn’t, which felt like a missed opportunity. And the breakup itself was a bit too reliant on miscommunication and random chance. The only reason they reconciled was because Declan just so happened to find out Roman asked Abi to be his fake date at a wedding, causing her to feel like a commodity. If that hadn’t randomly come up in conversation, they might not have gotten back together at all. That kind of “it only worked out because of fate” ending always bugs me a little.

Even so, I flew through this book and had such a great time reading it. If you love a swoony rom-com with fake dating, sexual tension, banter, and just a sprinkle of chaos, Maid for Each Other is a must-read. It’s an easy 4.5 stars from me!

Loved this swoony fake dating novel! Had me giggling through the whole book. & Lynn painter always saves the day for a cute & fun romance. Thank you Berkley for my e-arc!

(just a mini review, will be adding more and elink to my good reads)
I enjoyed this book, however i was able to predict what was going to happen even before it dId. I wish that the anst/yearn gave us more on both sides. The storyline between the two characters was really cute but predictable. Enemies to lovers trope. I will say the ending felt very rushed in my opinion, and i wish there was more of a build up towards the end or even more of the storyline.

Abi is a struggling MFA student living in Omaha and working a couple of jobs to get by. She’s cleaned the very high end condo of Declan Powell for a while and knows his out of town schedule. So, when she needs to vacate her apt because it needs to be fumigated, she decides to crass at Declan’s after she finished cleaning. Abi also loves to bake and the high-end kitchen is too tempting not to make some muffins while she’s there. This scheme seems to be working until she wakes up and here’s people’s voices. She stumbles from bed to the kitchen and is greeted by a middle aged couple raving about the muffins and sating that they were so h pay to finally meet their son, Declan’s, girlfriend…Abi. Huh??? Abi fakes with the parents until she can escape and goes to Benny’s, her grocery store job worried that she was caught and will lose the cleaning job. Declan arrives home and is stunned to hear his parent gush over how wonderful it was to finally meet his delightful girlfriend. Huh??? Once Declan puts 2 and 2 together, he storms into Benny’s ready to have Abi fired, arrested,…something but he gets a crazy idea too. While he is a gazillionaire, he’s not gotten to SVP promo that he deserves because the board members of his employer are all older, settled, and with families and don’t see Dex as ready for the big move up. In fact, Declan invented fake girlfriend Abi to address this problem and has been telling them that she’s very busy and isn’t available for company events. However, the big shareholders weekend is happening and producing a real life Abi would be great. So, they bargain and agree that Abi will play the part at the fancy event that evening. You can guess where this relationship will go from there….it’s a fun journey.

classic lynn painter, super tropey in the best way. reads like an early 2000s romcom, which is truly her specialty. i actually really liked declan and abi together i felt like they complemented each other well. i will always be a sucker for a standoffish man who is soft for his girlfriend. i had a great time reading this, it was the perfect light summer read. i just wanted more! more yearning, more angst! 🌭

thank you netgalley and berkley for the arc!!

It’s Lynn Painter so I knew I’d eat this up. However… I was already nervous just from the blurb because maid x billionaire feels like a power struggle waiting to happen. But I liked it a lot! Abi was very relatable in finding ways to get by and make things work. Declan seemed so horrible at first and I was not getting good vibes, but I’m glad I stuck with it. This one definitely jumps HEADFIRST into the fake dating because that happens so early (and feels a bit too early and too full-on upfront tbh). Declan also continued to be kind of a douche to her for quite a while? But then his perspective was very sweet and romantic towards her so it was a little odd. I did still eat it up though🤭

Her YA titles are still my faves from her, but I will continue to buy and eat up anything she writes :)

I'm always excited to pick up a Lynn Painter book, and this one is no exception! Maid for Each Other is a cute, lighthearted and bingeable rom-com I loved from beginning to end! With Lynn's signature witty banter, adorable and captivating characters, and her uncanny ability to draw readers in from the very first page, this book is a fantastic read. I think it was a cute fake-dating story inspired by Pretty Woman that so many are going to enjoy and I can't wait to recommend it to my friends!

3.5⭐️

I was immediately intrigued with this reimagining of “Pretty Woman.” It was a cute, bingeable romance that was filled with Lynn Paitner’s iconic wit and banter. I always enjoy reading Lynn’s characters especially when they are opposites that attract with the fake dating trope. The pace at which the fmc and mmc develop their romance connection was a little rushed in my opinion. I would have loved to see more of a slow burn between the characters, but that being said there was still plenty of scenes filled with tension. Overall, it was a feel good story that I would recommend to anyone looking for something short and sweet!

5 grow to love stars

This one has a unique meet-cute with parents! Abi is a master’s program student and works part-time as a cleaner and also at a grocery store. She also needs to find a temporary place to live, as her apartment is being fumigated. What if she spent the night in the last apartment that she was cleaning? Would that be so bad? She bakes a killer batch of muffins and is just heading out in the morning when she runs into a distinguished couple. They happen to be the apartment owner’s parents, and they LOVE her muffins! They are so glad to meet Abby, their son’s girlfriend. Yikes!

What are the chances that Declan has told his parents his girlfriend’s name is Abby?

For the rest of the book, the clever banter between Declan and Abi was such fun! She agrees to act as his pretend girlfriend, and there are tons of hilarious moments. I loved Abi inventing many of their relationship milestones. Abi loves pretending, but are things getting real?

Declan seems to have his career well in hand, but he sticks out without a wife and kids. I loved how the two were friends at first and didn’t instantly fall in love, and this way was much more fun.

I’ve read several Lynn Painter books, and that woman writes a killer kissing scene! I really enjoy the way she approaches her romance stories, and they have all worked for me so far!

I absolutely adored this book. It was a "Pretty Woman" style retelling, but without anyone being a sex worker, she's a maid instead. But both characters were amazing. It was a fun happy read with depth of character and great storytelling,

3.5 Stars

This is my second Lynn Painter book. The first was Better Than the Movies, which I loved so much that I was thrilled to find out she wrote little shorts from Wes’s perspective. I just adore the way she writes from the MMC's POV, and this book was no exception. Maid for Each Other was such a fun, easy read that made me swoon! There’s just something about the strangers (maybe enemies for a minute?) to friends to lovers pipeline that always gets me.

I usually hate third-act conflicts, but in this one, it just felt kind of meh? I also wish we’d gotten to see the moment the fake dating was revealed to Declan’s family. Their reaction wasn’t shown at all, and I really wanted to see how that played out. Still, I totally recommend this to anyone looking for a light, swoony romcom.

Lynn Painter is an auto read author for me, and when I was approved on NetGalley as an early reader for this story I was over the moon!

Maid for Eachother was such a cute, easy to read, insta love story for me. You have Abi who is a young woman who works her butt off for everything she has; and then you have Declan who is more than wealthy and could care less about money and what he does with it...or so Abi initially thinks. Watching this story about fate dating attached to a transaction that leads to the love story was simply charming. I adored the main characters and even the side characters!

I can't wait for everyone else to be able to read this :)

Lynn Painter is the queen of witty banter, and this book has it in spades. Lovable characters, who form a friendship under forced proximity, and I only wanted to smack the MMC one time, so that's a huge plus.

I especially loved all the Gilmore Girls and Pride & Prejudice references, with a nod to Pretty Woman!

I love Lynn Painter. No one can compare to her smart banter and witty sarcasm. I just love how she writes characters that are so fun to love. This fake dating/cinderella story was completely bingeable. I devoured it over the course of a day with coffee, getting my oil changed and hiding from my family. I love how Painter writes love. That said, this book was super money focused and I could have used less of that. But the wit and the swoon were all there.

If you ever wondered what Lynn Painter’s modern day retelling of ‘Pretty Woman’ would be like, then look no further… this is the book for you!

This hilariously cute romcom felt like a wonderful walk down memory lane as you get to have a very similar experience as the 1990s movie starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere (sans the creepy, bad side character friend). In ‘Maid For Each Other,’ we get to meet Abigail and Declan, the maid and millionaire, who find themselves in a deal that becomes more than they ever expected!

I absolutely love this duo and enjoyed every minute! You can expect:
✨🧹a bold and quick-witted, hardworking fmc
✨💻sarcastic but soft for her, businessman mmc
✨💍fake dating
✨🥂dual pov
✨💗(top tier) flirty banter & chemistry
✨🛏️ one bed trope
✨💋swoon-worthy moments, adult romance

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and author Lynn Painter for the opportunity to read an eARC in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed this one so much and highly recommend!

A great addition to anyone’s contemporary romance library. Featuring classic tropes like fake dating and rich guy/poor girl dynamics. The story is told through an evenly split duel narrative, switching chapter to chapter between the female and male protagonists.

The start of the story is a little clunky. We begin right away with Abi being discovered in Declan’s supposedly empty suite due to an infestation at her apartment (I will leave the rant about tenant laws out of this). However, that’s not an indicator for the rest of the book because the story picks up when the two characters start getting to know each other outside of their first impressions.

Overall, this is a charming romance that’s easy to read and enjoy. If you’re looking for a low-stakes beach read with low spice (scenes are there but are not overly descriptive), this is the book for you!

This was such a fun read!!! The banter was literally everything and I loved the relationship between Declan and Abi. Painter always writes the most fun romcoms and does the perfect mix of humor and serious topics. I loved how fast paced this book was, although the only thing I didn’t love was how fast their relationship came together. But otherwise, I had so much fun reading this book. And the fake dating trope gets me every time and this was no exemption.

Thank you to Berkley for the advanced reader copy. All thoughts are my own!

I am SO SAD that I did not love this one!! This was such a highly anticipated read for me that I read it months before its release. I’ve been trying to work up the courage to write this review and admit that I didn’t like this book nearly as much as I wanted to. I hope others have better luck than me.

I just could not connect with these two characters, therefore it was hard to believe in the chemistry between them. I also started to really dislike Abi as I felt like she made a lot of unfair assumptions about Declan and his money. She felt really judgmental a lot of the time and it turned me off. I think this was a really fun premise, it just didn’t stick the landing for me.

I love Lynn Painter books so this was a no brainer for me to request. Loved the dynamic between the maid and the billionaire--a little predictable but sometimes that is perfectly fine in a romance. THanks so much for the gifted copy!

Abi Mariano’s week in the penthouse she cleans was supposed to be quiet—until she meets its owner’s parents, who mistake her for his girlfriend. Enter Declan Powell: workaholic executive with no time for relationships, who’s desperate to keep his lie going. A fake-dating deal is struck, but sparks fly in ways neither expects.

A charming, trope-filled delight of mistaken identities and slow-burn romance that’s equal parts sweet and sizzling. Perfect for fans of fake dating with a dash of forced proximity!