The Pool Boy by Nikki Sloane

I have been so engrossed in all the thrillers I have been consumed with lately that when I picked up this book I thought I was grabbing another one. I think it was the dark colors, and the indifferent look on the pool boy’s face on the cover that had me thinking that the head line “you are going to get wet” meant wet with blood. As an avid spicy book reader, I should have known better. I never felt so naive and clueless as when I got to the first intimate scene in this book, which started at chapter four, which is when I realized that this was actually a spicy romance novel and not a murder mystery involving an attractive serial killing pool boy. Does anyone know of a book with this plot? If you do, let me know, I think I would be into it.

So finding out that I was reading a romance novel after expecting a thriller was my first surprise. My second was finding out that this was actually the second book in a three book series, titled the Nashville Neighborhood. The first book is called The Doctor, and the one following this one is called The Architect. After reading this story I think I can guess who the first book focuses on after meeting some of the side characters, but I don’t have an idea who the third book might be about. I am mildly interested in reading the other two stories. 

I can see myself enjoying the other two books in the Nashville Neighborhood series because I did enjoy this one. There was betrayal, conflict, desire, great spice, and a good story to go along with it. It was not all spice, I did not get to use up that many post its when I was marking the juicy scenes, there was actually a plot. So while the tropes are cliche, the attractive older woman hooking up with a young man trope and the pool boy trope, the rest of the story has you wanting to read past the intimacy. I found myself constantly rooting for Troy, our young man of many talents, as he takes risks with his love life, family, and career. I also greatly admired Erika, the leading lady, as she used her connections to help out the young man she finds herself having an unexpected, hot affair with. The two of them are really great together and they are great for each other.