HANDLE WITH CARE (Saddlers Cove #1) by Nina Croft-Review Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 30 ,2018
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. But in her dreams, 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 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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REVIEW: HANDLE WITH CARE is the first instalment in Nina Croft’s contemporary, adult SADDLER COVE erotic, romance series. This is twenty-six year old, mechanic and town bad boy Tanner O’Connor, and twenty-four year old, first grade teacher Emily Towson’s story line. There is also a secondary story line and relationship developing between Emily’s grandmother Mimi, and Tanner’s friend Joshua Simpson
Told from several third person perspectives including Emily, Tanner, Mimi and Josh HANDLE WITH CARE follows the building relationship between twenty-six year old, town bad boy Tanner O’Connor, and twenty-four year old, first grade teacher Emily Towson. Tanner O’Connor is Saddler Cove resident bad boy. Having spent two years in prison for the death of his childhood friend, the small-minded and judgemental residents of Saddler Cove are still having a difficult time with Tanner’s return to their quiet, little town, six years later, believing his bad boy attitude will affect all who come in contact. Enter Emily Towson, Tanner’s high school crush, and the woman with whom Tanner will fall in love. What ensues is the acrimonious relationship between Emily and Tanner, and the potential fall-out as a ‘morals clause’ in Emily’s teaching contract comes into question when the town’s newest primary school teachers is pregnant by Saddler Cove resident bad boy.
Emily Towson cannot believe she seduced Tanner O’Connor on the heels of her breakup with Ryan Forrester. Being called ‘sensible’ sent Emily over the edge into the arms of Tanner O’Connor, arms that felt right for our story line heroine. But an unplanned pregnancy meant sweet, innocent, sensible and goody-two-shoes Emily Towson was in violation of her teacher’s contract, a violation that threatened everything she had worked for including her relationship with the man with whom she was falling in love. Tanner O’Connor served his time for a crime he did not commit in order to protect his one-time best friend but the people of Saddler Cove had long memories including the time when Tanner’s own father once wore the moniker of resident bad boy. Like father, like son, Tanner’s reputation had a snowball affect especially as Tanner believed the self-fulfilling prophecy as a life-long screw up, and it didn’t help matters that Emily often sat in judgement of the man, herself.
The relationship between Tanner and Emily is tempestuous at best as both have issues of low self-esteem. Emily has a difficult time looking past Tanner’s tattooed and bad boy image, an image that is greatly affecting her own standing in a town filled with judgemental people. Tanner believes himself unworthy of love, especially from a woman as sweet and ‘sensible’ as Emily Towson. The back and forth, yin and yang, accusatory and emotional highs and lows between our leading couple were frustrating and childish; immature and heart breaking. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
There is another ‘forbidden’ relationship developing on the side between Emily’s seventy-year old grandmother Mimi, and Tanner’s former prison cell mate, sixty-eight year old Joshua Simpson. Joshua, a man of color and a Vietnam veteran, served forty years for killing a white man, a prison sentence that does not go unnoticed by the people of Saddler Cove. Determined to make something of himself, Josh begins working for the O’Connor brothers, work that is threatened by the bigotry and rumors around his time spent in prison.
We are introduced to Tanner’s brothers Reese and Aiden, as well as Reese’s six year old daughter Keira: Emily’s seventy-year old grandmother Mimi, and Tanner’s former prison cell mate, sixty-eight year old Joshua Simpson; Emily’s ex boyfriend Ryan Forrester; Tanner’s one-time friend Sawyer Dean and Sawyer’s wife Lanie. There is also a large assortment of bigots, gossips and townspeople who are refusing to let Tanner move on with his life, including Jed Forrester, Ryan’s uncle, and a man who spearheads much of Tanner and Emily’s on-going troubles.
HANDLE WITH CARE is a frustrating read; an emotional story about betrayal and discrimination; about issues of low self esteem, and self fulfilling prophecy; of redemption, acceptance and falling in love. The premise is energetic ; the characters are spirited but wounded; the romance struggles in the face of preconceived notions, self doubt and the narrow-minded, judgemental people whose intent is to ensure there is no upset to their clouded balance.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
“Tanner.”
Just the way she said his name, sort of breathless, made him hard. He nodded.“Emily.”
“What are you doing here?” Her eyes narrowed.“Did you follow me?”
“You looked a little upset. I was just making sure no one else followed you.”
“You mean Ryan? He’s being a total pain in the…”
“Ass?”
“Yes.” She pressed her finger to the spot between her brows.“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m usually so…” She took a couple of deep breaths.“He was making me so angry.”
“I thought he was your boyfriend?”
“Not anymore. It’s over between me and Ryan. It was over before that night you and I…”
He decided to help her out.“Had hot, dirty sex on top of the workbench in my garage. Then up against the wall in my garage.”
She gritted her teeth but gave a quick nod.
“Why was it over with Mr. Perfect? Did he finish with you?” Maybe she’d needed some sort of affirmation of herself as a sexy woman. He wanted to beat Ryan for that, though he had ultimately benefited from it.
“None of your business.”
“Come on, Em. I’m curious.”
Her face took on a mutinous expression, lips pursed.“He said I was sensible and then he asked me to marry him.”
Tanner managed to choke back the laugh, but she must have seen it on his face.
“It’s not funny.”
He’d proposed? That made Tanner want to growl. But she had a point. It sounded as though Ryan had fucked up on the proposal. Tanner certainly wasn’t sorry. Ryan’s loss, his gain.“Let me get this straight. If he hadn’t called you sensible, you would have said yes?”
“Probably not. He told me he’d decided it was time to settle down, and I was a nice, sensible woman, and would make him a suitable wife. Or something like that. I sort of stopped listening at ‘sensible.’What sort of man starts a proposal by saying you’re sensible?”
“An asshole?”
“Yes. Exactly. I said I didn’t think we were suited and walked out. Then when I got home, Mimi told me she’d bought a bike from you, and then she more than hinted that I was sensible, too. So when you said it as well, I just…sort of blew.”
“Actually, you kissed me, then you stripped, then you threw yourself at me. I didn’t stand a chance.” He had an image of her standing naked in front of him, challenging him to do something, and almost groaned.
“I did not throw myself at you.”
He just stood there, one eyebrow raised.
She folded her arms across her chest.“Anyway.I thought you were pretending that never happened?”
“Believe me, I’m trying. But I keep getting these little flashbacks at the most inappropriate times. Like when I’m picking up a tool from my work bench and there you are, all soft and naked and panting for me.”
Why did he do this to himself? His dick was almost painfully hard.
She was staring at him wide-eyed, her pink lips slightly parted. She didn’t move. He cast a quick look around the street—it was empty—then he closed the space between them, lowered his head, and kissed her before she could even have an idea of his intentions. He half expected her to pull back and run away, but her lips softened, then parted under his, and he slipped his tongue inside, sliding it along the length of hers. He kissed her until they both ran out of air. He hadn’t thought kissing was such a big deal, but he could kiss Emily all night.
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Growing up in the cold, wet, north of England, Nina Croft spent a lot of time dreaming of faraway sunnier places and ponies. When she discovered both, along with a whole load of other things, could be found between the covers of a book, her life changed forever.
Later, she headed south, picked up the perfect husband along the way, and together they volunteered to work in Africa. There they discovered a love of exotic places and a dislike of 9-5 work. Afterward they spent a number of years travelling (whenever possible) intermingled with working (whenever necessary.) Eventually they stumbled upon a remote area in the mountains of southern Spain and the small almond farm they now call home.
Nina spends her days reading, writing and riding her mare, Gencianna, under the blue Spanish skies—sunshine and ponies. She reckons this is proof that dreams really can come true if you want them enough.
