Nothing to See Here is a cute, funny book with a highly improbable premise involving two children that catch on fire when they get agitated. It had me laughing out loud, which does not happen every often when I read. It is an easy novel to read and perfect if you are looking for a bit of levity after some heavy reading.

The novel is about a twenty-eight-year-old woman named Lillian who has not done much with her life since getting expelled from boarding school when she was a teenager. She is living in her mother’s attic and working dead end jobs at two competing grocery stores when she gets a letter (the novel is set in 1995) from her friend Madison asking for her help, although the letter does not specify what she needs help with.

Madison was Lillian’s friend at the boarding school Lillian got expelled from, and Madison is the reason she got expelled, so Lillian’s feelings towards Madison are complicated, but she still feels compelled to drop everything (not that has much to drop) and find out what Madison needs help with. Madison is the wife of a much older politician, but she isn’t a trophy wife; she is very smart and politically savvy, if a little eccentric. She worked on her husband, Jasper’s, campaign and helped him get elected as a US senator. The thing that Madison, and Jasper, need help with is that Jasper’s ex-wife has died and his two children from his previous marriage, Bessie and Roland, are coming to live with Madison and Jasper, and they need someone discreet to take care of the children for the summer as Jasper is in the running to be appointed Secretary of State, and Bessie and Roland are a political liability because they can literally catch on fire.

Lillian agrees to help Madison because she has nothing better to do and because she will be generously compensated. She is unfazed by Bessie and Roland’s ability to catch on fire, and their wild, ferocious behaviour. Instead, she immediately feels a protectiveness towards them after their shitty upbringing with an unhinged mother (who committed suicide) and an absent father who wants to hide them away from the world. Lillian is an unconventional caregiver who has no idea how to take care of children and this is where the humour comes in.

Nothing to See Here could have been a darker novel, but instead it gives you cozy feels as Lillian, Bessie and Roland learn to trust, and possibly love, each other. It feels like a bit of a stretch how much Lillian is willing to do for the children so shortly after meeting them, but the ending seems to acknowledge this, and I was happy with it. I first noticed this novel a couple of years ago but decided against reading it at the time as there is just so many good books out there. I am glad I decided to read it in the end.