Too Hot Too Handle by Katie Rose Series: The Boys of Summer #2
Genres: Contemporary, Sports Romance
Published by Loveswept Publication Date: 27 January 2015
Pages: 240
Also in this series: Third Base, Grand Slam
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Katie Rose’s Boys of Summer series returns for a delicious double-header—with the story of total opposites who are drawn to each other like moths to a flame. Nikki Case is no fan of baseball. Her ex gambled away a fortune on the sport, and now her PR firm has tasked her with cleaning up the league’s most notorious bad boys. The New Jersey Sonics are known for wild womanizing and booze-fueled brawls, so Nikki expects the worst. Her first stop in the battle to win hearts and minds is star hitter Jake Baldwin—a legendary ladies man so smokin’ he threatens to melt her tough-girl armor. Although his teammates prank her without mercy, Jake admires the way Nikki gives as good as she gets. She may be the queen of frost, but there’s kindling beneath those sultry curves—and he’s just the man to ignite it. But when a PR nightmare lands the Sonics in headlines across the country, Nikki is ready to walk. Only then does Jake realize how important she is to the Sonics’ success—and that winning the love of a good woman is no game.
Iris’ Thoughts
All right, I admit it; I know absolutely nothing about baseball and I won’t pretend I do. What I do know is PR and how important maintaining a good public image is. With that said, I found every bit of this story engaging. I found the plot predictable however… hotshot ladies man gets conned by his friends into placing a bet they know he is sure to lose. The bet? Romancing the new straight-laced PR rep hired to whip them in to shape. Obviously she fights the attraction, he pushes it to win a bet but before they know it, it gets serious real quick.
What I enjoyed the most though, was the camaraderie between the team members. Not many people who have not been athletes themselves understand the teasing and hazing-like behavior of teammates. It may seem mean and hateful, but there is nothing they wouldn’t do for each other. Rose gives us an inside look at the harmless pranks, the good-natured teasing and even to the heartbreak of a possibly career ending injury.
Predictability aside, I did enjoy reading Too Hot To Handle. I found it well written and the characters pretty realistic and would recommend it to others.
