Vocal Expressions

This is my second time reading a novel by Lauren Blakely and The Sexy One delivered on the genre of single dad/nanny romance. So, let’s meet Simon Travers, the single dad to Hayden, his five-year-old daughter. He’s handsome, sexy, thoughtful, successful, and focused on being the best dad since divorcing his cheating wife. He hires Abby Becker as his daughter’s nanny. Abby is beautiful, adventuresome, into nature and fluent in a few languages including Spanish which she teaches part time.  These two kept their attraction under wraps for the past seven months since Abby became the nanny for fear of being a cliché not to mention there is an eight-year age difference. Simon feels he’s too old to hang with Abby’s friends when she simply wants him to have fun with her. Their respective friends just want them to admit their true feelings and be happy. Well, all it takes is a little light flirting over cake and nature documentaries to reveal it’s more than a crush between them.  ...

Author’s Bio: Matilda Young (she/they) is a poet with an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Maryland. She has been published in several journals, including Anatolios Magazine , Angel City Review , and Entropy Magazine’s Blackcackle . She enjoys Edgar Allan Poe jokes, not being in her apartment, and being obnoxious about the benefits of stovetop popcorn. Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book? Matilda Young: This spring, I was selected as one of Yellow Arrow’s 2022 Writers in Residence. I had the privilege of collaborating with three amazing writers and the great team at Yellow Arrow. The chapbook came together around the theme of Catrice Greer’s fabulous poem “I Want to Love You, Baltimore.” I think of our book as a complicated love letter to a complicated, lovely city. I’ve learned so much from Catrice, Arao, and Amy. It was such a joy to be part of this true fellowship of writers, and I am so grateful to Yellow Arrow for the opportunity.   DL: How do you...