What if all you want is the one thing you can’t have? First grade teacher Emily Towson always does the right thing. The sensible thing. In her dreams, though, she does bad, bad things with the town’s baddest boy: Tanner O’Connor. But when he sells her grandmother a Harley, fantasy is about to meet a dose of reality. And then he goes and calls her “sensible”… Tanner can’t believe sweet Emily … “sensible”…
Tanner can’t believe sweet Emily is standing in his shop. Yelling and waving her hands and looking so god damn sexy he’s having trouble focusing. He’d spent two hard years in prison, with only the thought of this “good girl” to keep him sane.
He really should send her away…
Before either one thinks though, they’re naked and making memories on his tool bench with apparently the oldest condom in history. Now Tanner’s managed to knock-up the town’s “good girl” and she’s going to lose her job over some stupid “morality clause” if he doesn’t step up.
But can this bad boy teach his good girl they’re perfect for each other in time?
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Tanner and Emily weren’t too bad but it was just lacking something that I can put my finger on. It was a sweet small town romance that focused on two people that were completely different on paper but someway hit it off. Tanner wasn’t the hero I expected him to be and Emily was likeable. The secondary characters made the story much more interesting.
Besides everything else their romance was cute and Emily made it funny especially her grandmother Mimi. She was meddling but hilarious. Tanner’s brothers intrigued me and I’m sure they will be a good read.
This book is a little hard for me to review because, for the most part, I enjoyed it a lot. I found it sweet. It was pretty low angst. The hero had been celibate for three years. The heroine wasn’t a virgin. There was no OW drama. A little OM drama (but nothing bothersome). It was mildly spicy. It had excellent secondary characters. I especially loved Mimi and Josh, and their secondary romance. I want to read more about Tanner’s brothers. I found the heroine quite likable. And the ending was sweet and had me shedding a few tears.
So why the 3-Star rating? Tanner…good lord the WOE IS ME attitude was strong in this one. And it lasts until 90% into the book. The chip on his shoulder was the size of the Titanic. Yes, he had a more than his fair share of shitty things happen to him. Yes, the town was made up of judgmental twats. But instead of working to prove them WRONG by being a decent human being, he spent YEARS acting like a douche. He was surly. He was arrogant. He was nasty. He was an a$$hole. He was a self-fulling prophecy. And…ultimately, for me, he was a giant whiny pussy right up until the END. Because of that, I just couldn’t bring myself to give this a higher rating.
Whew! Angst, steam, and swoon are all prominent in Handle With Care and take you on one heck of a ride! This book is certainly a roller coaster of emotion and brought out so many feelings in me as a read it. Everything from heart melting romance to utter frustration and tears, I felt it while I was reading this.
Emily was hard for me to love. While she was sugary sweet to nearly everyone, her attitude towards Tanner at times really came off as judgmental and snobbish. It was a lot of one step forward two steps back with these opposites attract, which definitely built up that tension, but those steps back were always filled with what she wanted to change about Tanner. Don’t get me wrong, Tanner nailed being the town jerk occasionally, but quite frankly it was warranted.
This man having such a tragic past, does nothing more than run his business and keep to himself but can’t seem to go anywhere without being judged and deemed horrible. From start to nearly finish it was like he was the town punching bag and nothing about him was good enough so when Emily would ask him to just try to change it made my heart hurt for him. Emily definitely had some growing to do, but with the more time she spent with Tanner and some more meddling and honest words from her grandmother she definitely grew to be someone I liked by the end.
Along with the angsty push and pull romance between these two there are many twists and secrets that keep you flying through the pages and pull you in deeper.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It has a great cast of characters and the story kept me turning pages pretty much nonstop until I reached the end. I was fully invested in Emily and Tanner’s story even though it was not without it’s frustrations. I also liked the subplot with Emily’s grandmother Mimi and Tanner’s ex-cellmate Josh. The writing is great and I really cared about these characters. This book was a great read. 4.5 stars.
I am voluntarily reviewing an advance reader copy of this book.
I LOVED this book! It was one of those books that I had no expectations when I started but before long the awesome characters and the intriguing storyline had me fully invested and unable to put it down. Tanner is known as the town bad boy. He’s one of the sons of the town drunk and after a car accident he was sent to prison after being convicted of causing the death of his friend. Emily Towsen is a school teacher and a good girl but she’s always had a soft spot for Tanner and never believed he was responsible for the accident. Their worlds collide when Emily’s meddling grandmother goes to Tanner’s shop and buys a Harley. When Emily confronts Tanner about the motorcycle, things get real crazy real fast. After that nothing in their lives will ever be the same.
I highly recommend this one!
Everyone in town knows Tanner O’ Conner, but not for the reasons he’d hope to be known, when you come from a family like his it’s hard not to catch flack from the tight knit community. His father paved the way by being known as the town drunk, then of course his siblings found their fair share of trouble, and he too earned a bad rap by doing a little stint in prison. He’s use to the looks, whispers behind his back, and the common displeasure he receives while dealing with the towns folk, heck he is almost immune to it these days, he knows he’ll never be able to redeem himself in their eyes, so why even try right?
But when a disgruntled Emily Towson wanders into his shop one night, voicing her distaste in him selling her elderly grandmother a motorcycle, he has a hard time biting his tongue and taking the lashing Miss Prim and Proper is dishing out. She is just like the rest of the town, thinking he’s up to no good and taking advantage of her grandmother, when in fact that couldn’t be farther from the truth. But, instead of admitting that he already canceled the order for the hog, he decides to mess with her a bit, he’s really getting a kick out of her standing in his shop all fired up and struggling the hide the lust in her eyes. It’s all fun and games for him until the conversation takes an unexpected heated turn when he calls her sensible, and she literally jumps his bones… now he finds himself with a whole new host of trouble that he never saw coming!!
Handle With Care takes readers to Saddlers Cove, and front and center into the lives of two characters that learn the true meaning of opposites attract, Emily and Tanner couldn’t be more different, but love knows no bounds! This sweet little small town romance tale had a lot to offer readers; a wonderful pairing with sizzling chemistry; an engaging plot full of humor and heart; and of course some endearing secondary characters that round out the story; and leave you wanting to return for more! I really enjoyed this one, it captured my attention from the first page and had me hanging on tight until the last; it’s sure to be a hit with small town romance readers!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from NetGalley, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.
He’s trying to outrun his past. She’s trying to run toward her future. Who knew that they’d find what they sought in the most unlikely of places. In a town where image is your calling card, the good girl and the bad boy are a mismatch made in gossip that borders on heartache and strolls through heaven. Handle With Care is a calling card of the power that love has. A courageous tale of second chances, surprise romances and happy endings.
What a delicious small time romance that had flair, sass, sweetness, heart and heat! I am so in love with Handle With Care. The characters are 100% likable and the story just hooked me in right from the cover and synopsis. It was very enjoyable!
This book gave me the feels and made me grin and this is definitely one of the best HEA stories this summer! I got a thrill from these characters and their witty banter. The plot oozes sweetness and perfection and begs a reader to sit on back and enjoy.
I give this romance with flair a FIVE STUNNING STARS!
Safe. Sensible what a way to be described. It was true though, that’s all she showed to anyone except him. He was angry, defiant, scared and the town bad boy. The problem is that’s not who he is and why he came back. I have to say this was a well written story and yeah their story is a good one. I love that these two found what they needed and it really is a feel good story where you want them to succeed. This actually feels like a story within a story. The secondary story of Mimi and Josh is the thing that keep this story from dragging and being too long with the fight to be good enough between Tanner and Emily.
The combination of the two couples makes this a wonderful emotional story of recovery and love, forgiveness and healing for everyone. This is the great start of a series from an author I haven’t had the chance to read before. I love her characters and the issues addressed, they are passionate and quirky and utterly real. I can’t wait to enjoy more of this series.