Handle with Care by Helena Hunting

Narrated by Andi Arndt and Jacob Morgan

Standalone in the Shacking Up connected series.

I was looking at what I was reading last year at this time and saw I was reading Handle with Care by Helena Hunting, so I looked up my review to share it and realized I somehow never reviewed it! So I went back through my notes and found the review, almost finished, but not quite. Then I remembered that it was also the same week I filed for divorce, so I had a good excuse for not finishing. So I just did a quick re-read via audible and loved it again. Helena Hunting never really disappoints, and the Shacking Up Series is one I truly love.

Wren is a PR consultant who was hired by Moorehead media to clean up the messes that the younger Moorehead son, Armstrong, kept making. When Armstrong’s father, the head of Moorehead Media passed away, the grandmother asked Lincoln, the older brother, to stay home and help run the empire for the next 6 months.

Lincoln works building homes in poor countries. His humanitarian efforts are all he wants to do and the big city is the last place he wants to be. He is certainly not at home wearing suits and conducting business. So Wren is given the additional responsibility of whipping the older Moorehead into shape.

“Better get used to me, Lincoln. I’m going to be like your shadow for the next several months.”

Lincoln is gruff and angry to be pulled away from his life’s mission to have to wear a stuffy suit and run a business. But he has a heart of gold and will help his grandmother because she asked. Wren takes none of his crap. If she was able to control Armstrong’s wandering pervert hands (headlock for the win!) she could certainly handle Lincoln’s brooding behavior.

I loved their banter! Hate-to-love is probably my favorite kind of story because I love all the banter that happens before they give in to their feelings. Lincoln and Wren were perfect for each other, and Helena’s writing had me smiling the whole time.

“You know, Wren, until you came along, I didn’t think love like this was possible.” I smile up at him. “You just needed someone who could handle how amazing you are.”

Likes:

Stood alone perfectly but is even better if you have read the ones before.
Helena writes amazing banter.
Not too angsty.
Wren was an amazing, tough woman and I loved her.
It took a little time to like Lincoln, and I loved that I didn’t love him right away.
Some of the plot twists surprised me.
Great communication between the couple.
Lincoln & Wren were adults who didn’t play games.
Villains you love to hate.

Dislikes:

Some of the family drama was just too over-the-top.

The Narration:

Andi Arndt and Jacob Morgan were absolutely perfect for the characters of Wren and Lincoln. I read it the first time and listened the second and feel like they really brought the characters to life.

The Down & Dirty:

Handle with Care by Helena Hunting may just be my favorite of the Shacking Up Series. Not only did it make me so happy to see Armstrong get put in his place, but I just loved getting to know and love Lincoln. Loving the heroine is so important to me loving a book and Wren was awesome. They had a mature relationship without silly misunderstandings, a rarity in romcoms. While this one wasn’t quite as over-the-top funny as other Helena Hunting books, it didn’t need to be. It was still a happy, sexy, feel-good romance that I loved both times through.