Maid for Each Other

By Lynn Painter

Pub Date 7/15/2025

4.5*s

Publishers Synopsis:

“As a professional cleaner, Abi Mariano never thought her apartment would have any sort of infestation, but because of a building-wide outbreak, she now needs somewhere to stay for a week. As a part-time student with two jobs, she doesn’t have many options. Then the solution presents itself: the owner of the penthouse she cleans is out of town for the week. She normally wouldn’t consider it, but he’s literally never around (she hasn’t even met him). It goes great…until one morning she finds two strangers in the kitchen. They’re the parents of the penthouse owner and they seem to think they’ve heard all about Abi—not as their son’s maid, but as his girlfriend.

Declan Powell has always put his career first, working his way up to become an executive at his company, but he still has his sights set on the next level. When his parents mention that they met his girlfriend, “Abby,” he all but chokes on his escargot. As wonderful as it sounds that she was just darling, he doesn’t actually have a girlfriend—he made her up to get everyone off his back. When Dex finds out who Abi really is, he makes her a proposition: pretend to date him, and he’ll provide everything she needs during their little arrangement. What harm would it do? It’s purely business, no pleasure…right?”

REVIEW:

Maid for Each Other is a great contemporary read, very Cinderella-esque. The pacing is good, the plot is excellent and the characters are really likeable and well rounded. Abi is a scrappy little thing that reminded me of Elizabeth from the show New Girl. She was very much one of those “I’ll do this because we agreed on it but it won’t change who I am and I am totally going to mess with you” types, while Dex was a career minded guy who was all dollars and suits up front with some  hidden depths that weren’t just ab-deep. Total ice berg.

This is one of those easy contemporary reads. Not necessarily cozy, but the kind where there is plenty to puzzle out and where you want to race full speed to find an HEA. It got me through a significant reading slump. This was my first Lynn Painter book, but it will definitely not be my last!

Thank You NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for an advanced ebook copy in exchange for this review!