4.5 stars 
 Sometimes books take you by surprise and that's exactly what happened to me with CD Reiss' Bombshell. I thought this would be a light, fun, sexy, TYPICAL single dad falls for the nanny story, but this book was anything but typical. These characters were complex and flawed and they knew it and owned up to it, their relationship threw them both for a loop, his daughter was a beacon of light despite the circumstances that brought her into his life, they brought out the very best in each other, but most importantly they "saw" the real person inside the outer persona. Their connection was unique, they made mistakes, the learned from them, and most of all they both realized that together they could handle anything life throws their way. 
 Brad Sinclair is Hollywood's bad boy leading man and is enjoying every minute of his life until he finds out he has a 5 year old daughter from a short lived fling whose mother just died and his whole world changes in the blink of an eye. With a staff to take care of him, he has no idea how he's going to manage a little girl when his parent's return to Arkansas, but when Cara DuMont steps in to help her friend who is interviewing for the nanny position, Brad knows she is who he needs for his daughter because she seems to be the only one who can comfort Nicole. 
 Cara DuMont loves being a nanny to the wealthy, but she absolutely refuses to be one to Hollywood types, but after helping out her friend and a precious 5 year old in a bathroom at the agency she agrees to a one month consulting position until everyone is settled. What she doesn't expect is to fall for her charge's dad especially given her rule to never get involved with a client. She sees something in Brad that most people don't see and most of all she can see that despite the fact he doesn't feel an instant bond with Nicole; he wants to be the best dad he can be. 
 I was so impressed with the man layers to these characters and the fact that they both couldn't seem to help sharing so much of their past lives with each other. It was very clear that this author did a lot of research into the Hollywood lifestyle, of Hollywood style "parenting," and to how easy it is to go from media darling to media pariah with the click of a camera. I loved that Cara treated Brad like any other man, not the big star he was, that she called him out on his bad behavior, she tried to instill in him the need for consistency in regards to Nicole, and that she expected better of him when he messed up. At times I hurt for Brad because it was easy to see he was struggling on several fronts and at other times I kind of wanted to slap him upside the head and tell him to grow up, but I could also see he was trying, he wanted to be a good dad and the more time he spent with Cara it was obvious he wanted her because she made him accountable and made him feel real, like his old self again. He also was very protective of her and Nicole which made me smile many times over. 
 From the first chapter to the righteous epilogue, and the epilogue to the epilogue, I loved this book for its complexity, its humor, its heart and most of all for these three special people getting it all despite everything life threw at them. Oh and by the way, to the one character with a vendetta, KARMA is a b*tch lady! 
 ARC provided for a voluntary review.