I take pride in reading books by different authors. I enjoy a cute romance every now and then, but let’s be honest: most of them follow the same GPS route. Two people fall in love, break up over a misunderstanding that could have been solved with one honest conversation and a glass of water, then reunite just in time for their happily ever after.
Hot Single Dad by Claire Kingsley checks all of those boxes, but it also adds a few details that made the story a little unsettling for me.
Caleb is an ER doctor and a single father. After having issues with unreliable nannies, his in-laws—who apparently despise him but still want to help with childcare logistics—decide to send their younger daughter, Linnea, to care for his daughter, Charlotte.
Now let’s start with the obvious: Caleb’s love interest is his deceased wife’s sister. That alone made me pause. Then the book repeatedly points out that Linnea is only 22 and possibly too young to take on the responsibility of caring for a child. So now we have a widowed father, his much younger sister-in-law, and a child caught in the middle. I’m sorry, but my romance radar immediately started making a warning sound.
Age gaps in books already make me uncomfortable, especially when one character knew the other when they were growing up. How exactly do you fall in love with someone you watched become an adult? That feels less like romance and more like something that needs a family meeting and possibly a PowerPoint presentation.
Linnea also frustrated me. She was so afraid of her mother that she could barely ignore a phone call while being hundreds of miles away. Not answer the phone? Apparently impossible. Set a boundary? Absolutely not. And that made it hard for me to believe she was ready to step into any kind of parental role. If you cannot stand up to your mother, how are you going to help raise a child?
In the end, I could not celebrate the happy ending. The book had the usual romance formula, but the details around the relationship made the entire story feel more cringeworthy than heartwarming.
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