• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Bookshelf
    • Audio
    • Complete List of Chautona’s Books
    • The Rockland Chronicles
      • The Vintage Wren
      • The Aggie Series
      • The Hartfield Mysteries
      • Sight Unseen Series
        • Sight Unseen Series Archives
      • The Agency Files
      • Christmas Fiction
    • Legacy of the Vines
    • Meddlin’ Madeline
      • Madeline Blog Archive
    • Ballads from the Hearth
      • Ballads from the Hearth Blog Archive
    • Legends of the Vengeance
    • Journey of Dreams
    • Wynnewood
    • Webster’s Bakery
    • The Not-So-Fairy Tales
    • Heart of Warwickshire
  • Start HERE
    • Characters
    • Suggested Reading Order
    • Free Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Podcast
    • Advertising
    • Podcast Guest Information
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • Bonus
  • Speaking
  • New & Coming
Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Does It Take to Be a Superior Nanny?

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

"Tutor, Sanny, Spit-up, Spy" couldn't have been more fun if Nanny McPhee arrived with Colin Firth and set everything to rights herself! Seriously, hilarious. via @chautonahavig

So a couple of years ago, I read a book with the world’s greatest babysitter. Seriously, Phoebe can babysit my bestekids any day. She’s awesome. You can read about her in Cathe Swanson’s Baggage Claim.

When you’ve found the best, who needs any more, right? Well, as any wise mother knows (and bestemors are just old and wise mothers, after all… really old. I begin the last year of my 40s this weekend! EEP!)… where was I? Oh, right.

Babysitters. One is never enough. You always need a backup—or twenty.

What Does It Take to Be a Superior Nanny?

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Yesterday, I read Tutor, Nanny, Spit-up, Spy from The Accidental Cases of Emily Abbott. As promised, I read it with an eye to a “loved, hated, laughed, cried, recommended for” review, but I learned a few things I had to share.

What Does It Take to Be a Superior Nanny?

Well, having seven daughters, most of them who have either nannied, babysat, or both (one’s just not old enough yet), I’ve got an answer to that!

Grit.

Seriously. A good nanny needs grit. It’s not enough to know when and how to dial poison control. One needs more than regular and infant CPR. Cleaning up after yourself is a bonus, but moms want to know their kids will be alive and kicking when they get back home again.

And with the crazy stuff kids do sometimes, they need grit.

Forget the crazy stuff kids do. If Baggage Claim and Tutor, Nanny, Spit-up, Spy are to be believed, you need a nanny who can out-maneuver crazy adults! Never fear, these gals gotcha covered.

Quick thinking

I don’t even know how smart that thinking has to be. They just have to think quickly or the toddler will tumble down the stairs, the eight-year-old will swing from a chandelier in a perfect Tarzan imitation, and the bad guy will breach—wait. No spoilers. Needless to say, you want them to be able to prevent all of it.

Especially the bad guy thing.

A sense of humor.

No, really, you do. Let me tell you something. Kids are unpredictable. They say and do everything you’re sure they won’t and don’t do what you’re sure they will. The fact is, they have super-secret radar that picks up the most cringe-worthy ideas and they run with them. From asking if your boyfriend kisses you, to asking you to be their girlfriend, it all happens.

And if you can’t laugh over spilled milk, then you’re in the wrong business, sweetie.

Super-fun spy gear.

No wait, that’s only if you’re Emily Abbot. Speaking of Emily…

I think I just found the perfect nanny for my grandkids.

Who but Emily Abbot could make having an assassin out to get your father… fun? Well… for the reader it is.

In this next “accidental case,” Tutor, Nanny, Spit-Up, Spy , there was much to love, hate, laugh, and cry over… and much to recommend.

I loved how she didn’t know everything but managed to fumble her way through anyway, and I loved that I got a glimpse more of Brent’s background. I hated the same thing I always do—the fact that it had to end. (Psst… side note. I found out you can join some Patreon thing and get to read her next ones before anyone else! EEEP!)

I laughed at all the inside jokes… and can’t tell you what they were because you’ll either get it, or you won’t! And, I cried inside (it’s as close as I come to tears, folks) when betrayal happened. It’s always an ugly thing.

Recommended for people who think that Madeline and the Bad Hat would have been so much more fun with spies.

Okay, and for people who just can’t wait to read the next and then the next of a really fun series.

Case in point?

I finished this one and promptly read the next despite needing to get my own work done. Ahem.

Note: Tomorrow’s review book, A Spying We Will Go is on SALE today for just .99!!! If you’re not a KU reader, you wanna snag it while it’s cheap. I did. And I’m buying them in paperback. But at .99? Yep. MINE!

And if you missed yesterday’s review, HERE it is! Psst… don’t forget. Today is the last day with TWO reviews.  You’ll get All In soon, but it was a good book, so there’s that.

tutor, nanny, spit-up, spyTitle:  Tutor, Nanny, Spit-Up, Spy

Author:  Perry Elizabeth Kirkpatrick

Synopsis: He’s a tutor and she’s a nanny… but not really.

Emily Abbott, coffee barista and accidental spy, is asked to fill in for an injured ICS agent. Intelligence suggests a guerrilla group is plotting to assassinate the president of a small South American country while he and his family are visiting the U.S., and that the assassin may actually be one of his protection detail.

Undercover as nanny to the four young Gonzalez children, Emily will be perfectly positioned to keep an eye on things and report back to ICS, the spy organization Brent Peterson works for. Emily and Brent–who is undercover as the children’s tutor–must navigate long-division, spit-up, arguments over toys, and suspicious guards to discover a plot that’s far more complicated and time-sensitive than they realized.

the accidental cases of Emily Abbott bad things small packages

The Accidental Cases of Emily Abbott is a series of clean spy-comedies set in Phoenix, Arizona.

1. Red Rover, Red Rover – (Review HERE)
2. Plan to Fail – (Review HERE) 
3. Bad Things, Small Packages – (Review HERE)
4. Tutor, Nanny, Spit-up, Spy
5. A-Spying We Will Go – (Review HERE)
6. Once Upon a Dime – August 26, 2019  (Review coming)

Share230
Pin
Tweet
Email
235Shares
Share
Pin
Tweet
Email
235Shares

Related

Filed Under: Book Reviews

Previous Post: « How to Avoid Paper Cuts in 3 Simple Steps
Next Post: Sometimes We Need the Ugly to Embrace the Beautiful »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You have to agree to the comment policy.

Or, you can subscribe without commenting.

Primary Sidebar

The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
byChautona Havig

Debut Author, Sara Brunsvold, is bursting on the Christian Women’s fiction scene with an amazing book, The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. With characters who have captivated my heart from page one (and enough quirkiness to keep my attention to the last), Sara Brunsvold is sure to become a favorite author, and this book is already on my top five of the year before it’s even released!

Note links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

This Novel Isn’t Even Available Yet, and It’s in My Top 5!

If you’d told me that I’d fall so in love with two chapters of a book that it would push that book into my top five of the year so far, well… I’d have laughed.

The joke’s on me because it happened with Sara Brunsvold’s The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. This debut women’s fiction novel has a bit of a split-time element and is set in Kansas City. Trust me when I say that meeting Clara was one of the most fun introductions to a character I’ve ever had. I just love this woman, and I’m drumming my fingers to get to read more about her.  Not surprising considering it won the ACFW Genesis’s award a couple of years back. 😀

Sara says her passion is intergenerational stories, and you definitely get this with Aidyn and her “assignment,” Mrs. Kipp.  But you also get inter-cultural and ideological influences in this book as well.

And then there’s that next book she has coming out.  You know, the one about a gal cooking her way through her grandma’s German cookbook?  Yeah.  The one we have to wait until early 2024 for?  Yeah. That one.  Sigh.

When Sara told us about her favorite authors, a lot of things made sense.  Just sayin’. Find out which of Katherine Reay’s books are her favorites and how she fangirled over Reay’s response to an email (and why you should email your favorite author!).

The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold

Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she’s been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who’s just entered hospice care.

But there’s more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she’s not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it’s a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that’s just what Mrs. Kip will give her–but she’s going to have to work for it.

Debut author Sara Brunsvold delights with this emotional multigenerational story that shows that the very best life is made up of thousands of little deaths to self. You’ll want to be just like Mrs. Kip when you grow up!

This book is 40% off with free shipping from Baker Book House. That’s less than the Kindle version if you like paper!

You can learn more about Sara at her WEBSITE (and sign up for that newsletter so you can get Mrs.Kip’s 8 Rules to Live By). Oh, and if she does those videos of her cooking through that book, you’ll want to know when/where to find them.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

  • Apple 
  • Castbox 
  • Google Play
  • Libsyn 
  • RSS
  • Spotify
  • Stitcher
  • Amazon
  • and more!
Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
May 20, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 144: Chatting about Restored Grace with Kathleen J. Robison
May 17, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 143: A Chat with Romantic Suspense Author, Mary Alford
May 13, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 142: A Chat about A Promise Engraved by Liz Tolsma
May 10, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 141: A Chat with Elizabeth Goddard about Critical Alliance
May 3, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 140: A Chat about When the Meadow Blooms by Ann H. Gabhart
April 29, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 139: A Chat with Middle-Grade Author, RM Ruiz
April 26, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 138: A Gush about a Good (more like GREAT) Read & GoodReads
April 22, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 137: A Chat with Contemporary Romance Author, Mandi Blake
April 19, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 136: A Chat with Middle-Grade Historical Author, Marie Sontag
April 15, 2022
Chautona Havig
Search Results placeholder

Join a Reading Challenge

2022 Write Reading Challenge

Love Audio Books?

audio book ad

Check out the Sparrow Island novels. A tiny island with a lot of heart

independence islands series

Featured Books

Finding a Memory

Finding a Memory
Buy This Book Online
Purchase with Paypal
Buy from Amazon Kindle
Buy from Amazon
Finding a Memory
Buy now!

Penelope’s Pursuit

Penelope’s Pursuit
Buy This Book Online
Buy from Amazon Kindle
Buy from Amazon
Purchase with Paypal
Penelope’s Pursuit
Buy now!

The Last Gasp

The Last Gasp
Buy This Book Online
Purchase with Paypal
Buy from Audible.com
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Amazon Kindle
The Last Gasp
Buy now!

Upcoming Posts

  • Now, Did You Hear about That Time I Ended up in High Water? (June 2, 2022)

Or just subscribe to the newsletter

Recent Blog Posts

  • What Happens When the Past Rears Its Ugly Head and Murder Ensues?
  • This Novel Isn’t Even Available Yet, and It’s in My Top 5!
  • What Wonderful Author Combines Romantic Suspense and Women’s Fiction Elements?

I buy my stickers here! (affiliate)

Custom Stickers, Die Cut Stickers, Bumper Stickers - Sticker Mule

Footer

What Am I Working On?

Book, Chapter & Vows
Book, Chapter, & Vows
Phase:Week 3
Due:6 months ago
53.1%
Get Book Updates

Featured

Finding a Memory

Finding a Memory
Buy This Book Online
Purchase with Paypal
Buy from Amazon Kindle
Buy from Amazon
Finding a Memory
Buy now!

Dial W for Wrangler

Dial W for Wrangler

Disclosure:

Disclosure: Links on this website may or may not be affiliate links and as such, I may receive compensation from the retailer indicated for linking to their product. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Note: I DO NOT link to products that I do not recommend.

Privacy & Cookies. This website uses cookies (not the delicious kinds that make life grand) to do stuff it needs to do. By staying on the site, you agree to this evil substitution of yummy cookies for internet calorie-free substitutes. For more info, click here and read the boring stuff. Cookie Policy
Reposted from @beckylewis345 Life can be hard. Ent Reposted from @beckylewis345 Life can be hard. Enter cozies like A Sprinkle in Time by Dana Mentink. Clean, with a sweet romance, whose amateur sleuth runs a delectable shake shop. A dog, a child, precocious twins who work for the shake shop, and lovable Papa Luis. Plus, of course, plenty of suspects. “Murder, mayhem, and milkshakes. Who’d a thunk it?”

Trinidad Jones becomes someone I truly care about in this book. I am amazed at how she and Gabe’s two other former wives forgive each other and actually become friends. Not just friends, but family, as thick as blood. Now there is a small cluster of characters to follow and enjoy in this town of Upper Sprocket. Fun!

I enjoy the inclusion of dogs, children, and special-needs people, and Dana Mentink brings them all to our Shimmy and Shake Shop story. Noodles is old, but what a loyal companion, and, wow, does he have an amazing ability or two! Little  Felice adds warmth and vulnerability to the tale. Doug, the special-needs brother of Trinity’s love interest, Quinn, adds reality and complexity to the novel. 

Mentink has a good sense of humor and I laughed out loud several times. Just what I want out of a cozy. Mystery, romance, great characters, laughter. A fun occupation that the sleuth actually works at. I am happy to report I made it through the book without indulging in ice cream! But, can you?

I am looking forward to more murder and mayhem in Upper Sprocket! Plus more Freakshakes! 

———————————————————————
I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. (I also bought my own copy.) No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.
———————————————————————
Notable Quotables:
“He was merely a friend the way a Ming vase was just an old pot.”

“There’s your plan and God’s plan, and your plan…” “Doesn’t count,”

“Maybe it’s one of those weird small-town happenings.” “A body in your trunk isn’t a happening, it’s a horror movie,”

“It wasn’t an easy thing to command the heart to feel what the brain ordered.”

“Rumors carry so much more weight than the truth, sometimes.”
Giveaway on blog in bio.
#celebratelit
#danamentink
#frozendesserts
#justdeserts 
#justiceforsprockett
#amreadingcozies
Reposted from @celebratelit Did you know that When Reposted from @celebratelit Did you know that When the Pilot Falls by April Hayman from the Ever After Mystery series is 25% off with the Celebrate Lit Summer Sale? 

More about the book: 
In 1923, there aren’t many pilots, but Willie Labeau didn’t let that stop… her.

A bear of a man, Hugh Taylor, needs a stunt plane pilot, and despite their rocky introduction, Willie sets off for golden California and a new life as his pilot. There’s just one little thing she has to do in addition to flying.

Leave his past alone. Period.

When the flame of her own curiosity becomes fanned by encouragement from Willie’s sister, the feisty pilot can’t help but do just a little investigating.

And Hugh vanishes.

Friends rally around her, and with all the information she can find in hand, Willie sets off to rescue Hugh and battle the evil family holding him hostage.

A fierce air race, a sincere act of humility—are they enough to free Hugh and give Willie a chance to be with him… forever?

Find out in this next book in the Ever After Mysteries, combining beloved fairy tales and mysteries. When the Pilot Falls offers a retelling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” that will keep you gripped to the edge of your seat as you watch hearts soar and daring dos.

Link in bio! 

#aprilhayman #whenthepilotfalls #everaftermysteries #celebratelit #christianfiction #historicalfiction #bookstagram #bookloversofinstagram #readersofinstagram
Dial W for Wrangler: Vi's just trying to sell used Dial W for Wrangler: Vi's just trying to sell used recliners and old, broken wagon wheels.  She can't help it if folks keep asking for help with their love lives... can she?
See the lengths Wade goes to in his quest to behave like a rational guy.
Releases Tuesday, May 24. Available on 
#Kindle
#KindleUnlimited
#PaperbackBooks

#ChristFic
#YouAreOnTheAir
#ContemporaryChristianSweetRomance

Leave a comment request and I'll send you a link. :D
Ready for giveaways and fun? I sure hope so, beca Ready for giveaways and fun?  I sure hope so, because I'm planning on loads!
Win books (mine and others'), fun swag (Do you see those cute pins and reading list bookmarks?), and more!
Starts off Tuesday morning! (or maybe tomorrow... or this evening... depends on how much willpower I actually have!) Join us in the You Are on the Air Reader group!
#booklaunch
#newrelease
#Giveaways
#YouAreOnTheAir
Link to group is in my bio!
And tomorrow the GoodReads Giveaway begins!
How does this author celebrate a finished book? By How does this author celebrate a finished book? By reading someone else's finished book. 😀 
#amending
#needicecream 
#onthemenu
#freakshakes
"Murder, mayhem, and milkshakes. Who'd a thunk "Murder,  mayhem,  and milkshakes.  Who'd a thunk it?"
@dana_mentink 
#shimmyandshakeshop
#cozymystery 
#needicecream
Love it when publishers use plays on words. #amend Love it when publishers use plays on words.
#amending
#cozymysterybooks 
@dana_mentink
  • Home
  • Bookshelf
  • New & Coming
  • Blog
  • News!
  • Disclosure & Policies
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Chautona Havig · All Rights Reserved · Coding by Gretchen Louise

Don't go before you grab your FREE short story collection!