“She works out naked?” Pontus asks, and gosh, there is a little color in his cheeks, which is kind of cute. “Of course, although you will probably find this weird. She puts on a sports bra for the running machine because she says she hates having her boobs flap around.”
― Sophia Soames, The Naked Cleaner
CBR15Passport: This book is set in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Pontus is financially and professionally successful, but he is horrible at taking care of himself or allowing others past his excessively rude and childish behavior. He thinks he is perfectly happy working from home, running his small business and only associating with his best friend, Jonas. One of their long-running jokes is that they give each other stupid gifts for Valentine’s Day. This year, Jonas has a girlfriend, so he gifts Pontus a one month subscription to a weekly cleaning service. It isn’t until Louis, the cleaner and Jonas’s cousin, arrives on Pontus’s doorstep that Pontus realizes what his gift really is: a weekly house clean from a hot, nude guy.
Louis and his parents are naturists, and prefer to live life free of “textiles.” They wear clothing in public, but Louis founded his one-man cleaning service primarily to serve the local naturist community. Louis is also a trained nurse, which comes in handy since Pontus is dehydrated from overwork and on the verge of getting scurvy. Despite running his own business and having his nursing degree, Louis is lost. He created his company because he feels so out-of-place working in an office while being required to wear clothes. He can do it, but it sucks the life and energy out of him. He is great at helping others, but not very good at running a business.
They both know this is a setup by Jonas, but they are also both stubborn enough to prevent excessive rudeness and excessive naked cheerfulness from keeping them from their assigned work.
Based on the book’s title, I was skeptical. However, I enjoyed it way more than expected. The characters, especially Pontus and Jonas, reminded me of the MCs in Alexis Hall novels: rude, socially inept, self-sabotaging arseholes who are looking for love, and self-acceptance, just as much as anybody else. Louis is the sunshine to Pontus’s unrelenting grump. Louis, being a nurse, is there to fulfill all of the hurt/comfort needed to bring them closer together.
I’m giving this book three and a half stars, rounded up to four, simply because I had a long long week of stressful work and this book was a perfect Saturday read. However, I think Pontus is a complete twat (his words), despite how attractive and helpful Louis finds him.
If you are looking for a low-angst, cozy (this is set in Copenhagen) romance with a bit of silliness, I recommend this one. I will definitely check out some of Sophia Soames other romances.
Tropes: Grumpy/sunshine, hurt/comfort, fish-out-of-water
I got this as part of Stuff Your Kindle day on Romance Bookworms.
