The Nanny

The Nanny is a 2023 novel by American novelist Lana Ferguson. A contemporary romance and Ferguson’s first published novel, The Nanny focuses on the story of Cassie Evans, a graduate student and former OnlyFans performer who takes a position as a live-in nanny only to discover that her employer is one of her former subscribers. By employing contemporary romance tropes, Ferguson explores themes about the past, self-acceptance, and family structures.

This guide refers to the Berkley e-book edition of the text.

Content Warning: The source text features discussions of child neglect.

Plot Summary

The Nanny switches perspectives between Cassie Evans, a nanny, and Aiden Reid, her employer. After being let go from her job at a children’s hospital due to downsizing, Cassie Evans is left with no way to make money or afford rent. She seeks advice from her neighbor and best friend, an eccentric 72-year-old woman named Wanda, who advises Cassie to return to her old side hustle of making videos for the adult website OnlyFans. Though Cassie made good money and felt empowered through her OnlyFans account, it is later revealed in the novel that she got too close with her top subscriber, a man she only knew as “A.” Cassie, going by the name “Cici,” fell for A and arranged to meet him in person, but he stood her up, leading her to delete her OnlyFans account.

Feeling foolish after her near encounter with A, Cassie refuses to reactivate her account and instead turns to the classified ads. She applies for a job as a live-in nanny for a single father that pays exceptionally well and includes housing. When she meets Aiden Reid, the man who posted the ad, Cassie is immediately attracted to him. Though she worries about the consequences of living with her attractive employer, Cassie is desperate, so she takes the job.

Aiden, too, is desperate as he struggles to take care of his nine-year-old daughter, Sophie, after the death of her mother, Rebecca, nearly a year earlier. Aiden is the executive chef at a popular restaurant, leaving him with little time to spend with Sophie, whose rambunctious personality has scared away all her other nannies. Additionally, Aiden must deal with Sophie’s aunt, Iris, who sees Aiden as an unfit parent and believes she should have gotten custody of Sophie after her sister’s death.

Though Cassie deals with feelings of self-doubt as she begins her new job, she quickly bonds with Sophie and feels herself growing more attached to Aiden. Both she and Sophie are disheartened by Aiden’s frequent absence, which makes Sophie miss her mother even more. Aiden’s absence reminds Cassie of her own parents’ neglect and how they always complained of her being a burden. However, Cassie feels that Aiden is still a good father who wants to be there for Sophie, unlike her parents. Meanwhile, Aiden is insecure about being a good father but easily warms to Cassie as he sees how she brings Sophie out of her shell.

Cassie quickly begins to care for the little family, but she still finds it awkward to be living with Aiden. Aiden is secretly just as attracted to Cassie as she is to him, and the two try to avoid one another but continually find themselves in awkward conversations and tense moments.

Cassie’s and Aiden’s perspectives are intermingled with excerpts from Cassie’s past conversations with her subscriber, A. One such conversation reveals that both A and Cassie have scars from cooking accidents, and the two bond over this shared detail. One night at Aiden’s house, Cassie sees him shirtless and notices a scar that is exactly like the one A described. Cassie panics as she realizes that Aiden is in fact A, and she wonders whether to tell Aiden that they actually know one another very intimately.

At Sophie’s request, Aiden and Cassie go with her to Disneyland for her birthday, spending a night away from home. During yet another awkward conversation, Cassie and Aiden admit that they are attracted to one another and have sex. They begin a relationship that they try to keep separate from their employer-employee relationship, and Cassie continually worries about Aiden finding out that she is Cici. When Aiden finally sees her scar and realizes her true identity, he is not mad about her keeping a secret, and their relationship only becomes more serious and meaningful from there.

They tell Sophie about their relationship, and she is happy that it gives Cassie a reason to remain her nanny. One night, the couple goes out, leaving Wanda to watch Sophie. They become so distracted that they forget to check their phones. The next morning, Aiden and Cassie see that they have dozens of missed calls from Sophie. They learn that Wanda had a heart attack. After Sophie called 911, she tried to reach Aiden and Cassie but couldn’t. Instead, she called her aunt, Iris.

Iris is with Sophie at the hospital when Aiden and Cassie finally arrive. Iris accuses them of being selfish and only caring about their sexual relationship, threatening to sue for custody of Sophie and making them feel guilty. Cassie believes that the situation is all her fault, still harboring feelings about being a burden that were instilled in her by her parents. Ignoring what Aiden and Sophie want, Cassie decides she should leave them so she cannot hurt them any further.

Cassie goes to live with Wanda, who tries to convince Cassie that she has made a mistake she will regret. One day, Sophie shows up at Wanda’s apartment in an attempt to get Cassie to return with her. Cassie brings the missing child home, where Sophie insinuates that Cassie and Aiden are in love with one another but won’t admit it. Sophie’s admission leads Cassie and Aiden to confess that they do love each other, and all is forgiven. An epilogue set a year later shows Cassie passing her graduate school exams and Aiden planning to propose marriage.