A millionaire and a house cleaner are a match maid in heaven in this sparkling new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Happily Never After.
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?
Title: Maid For Each Other
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Publication Date: July 15, 2025
Review:
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for supplying me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Painter is always good for some fun romance with a bit of a third act twist. And of course this one did not disappoint. With the Pretty Woman theme, I was ready for some fun!
Abi Mariano is just getting by. She works two jobs and goes to school all so she can graduate and work her dream job as a professor teaching fiction. When her apartment becomes infested and she must vacate, she decides staying at the billionaire's she cleans while he's away is a great idea. She doesn't think she will get caught, or get wrapped up in a fake dating scheme that keeps her off the hook from him calling the police. But what Abi, and Declan Powell don't expect is to find attraction and even possibly something more.
I really enjoyed watching the relationship between these two grow. I loved their sarcastic banter which brought a ton of humor to the pages. But there were also emotional times when they each needed to hear each other. I liked the balance Painter brought to their relationship with the serious side still showing through.
Abi is your typical girl who just can't seem to make ends meat but wants so badly to live the life or her dreams. She squeaks by between her cleaning job and her job at the grocery store. And she has her opinion of the rich: they all just throw money away. Declan seems like that typical rich guy, until she starts to get to know him and realizes there is more to him than just his money.
Declan is really more than his money. He enjoys being wealthy but wants to give back. This is a huge secret throughout the book which doesn't present itself until the end. While I loved what Painter thought up, I wish there was more of it than just him talking about it and never telling us until the end. While the big reveal was nice, the build up for me was lacking.
The romance was typical of a rom-com where opposites attract. But I didn't feel a huge amount of chemistry with these two. Painter tells us all about it on the page, but the emotion was lacking and I would have rather it be shown to me.
The pacing of the book is done well. I was definitely kept entertained and wanted to get to the heart of things so I could see what the big secret was all about.
Overall, another fun story from Painter with sweet and touching moments plus a whole lot of comedy! I will continue to pick up her books just for the fact I know she'll keep me entertained.
Author:
Lynn Painter is the author of Better Than The Movies. She writes romantic comedies for tweens, teens, and adults, and when she isn't reading or writing, odds are good she’s guzzling energy drinks and watching rom-coms.
Obscure facts that might make her sound interesting (but probably don't):
*She can fit an entire cupcake in her mouth. BOOM.
*She threw up all over herself on the first day of 2nd grade.
*She once saw Kelsey Grammar hailing a taxi in Manhattan, so she's pretty much an NYC native who is best friends with celebrities.
*She has a one-inch vertical.
*Her love for spaghetti is brighter than the sun, stronger than The Rock.
*If you see her doing anything crafty, it isn't her; she has literally set things on fire with a hot glue gun and has the motor skills of a preschooler. No offense, preschoolers.
*Her 4th grade teacher moved her desk out into the hallway because she wouldn't shut up. Like, ever.
*She held the record at her elementary school for finding the most bats (vampire, not baseball) in a single year. The little dork located - and alerted authorities to - four potentially-rabid bats.*
So technically, if you think about it, she might've saved hundreds of lives with her nerditude. #hero
*She was the only one to ever find any bats because everyone else had better things to do at recess.
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