Review: "Too Hot To Handle" by Tessa Bailey (Romancing the Clarksons #1) ★★
Review: Too Hot To Handle by Tessa Bailey
“I never really left. My heart stayed here the whole time.”“It must have crossed paths with mine. It left town when you did.”It was the Clarkson’s late mother’s (Miriam, renowned French chef) dying wish to have her four children dive into the icy Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island beach as she did when she was 18. 28-year-old Rita, the oldest daughter, convinces her other siblings Belmont, Aaron, and Peggy to go on the trip from San Diego to New York, one side of the States to the other. Their Suburban car breaks down just outside Hurley, New Mexico.
Fortunately, 33-year-old motorcyclist Jasper Ellis saves them from their predicament. He owns the bar in the town and also happens to be the “town tramp”, a title he is tired of being. He has for years sworn off women, until of course he locks eyes with Rita. Rita is eager to escape from living up to her mother’s expectations, taking after her in cooking. She sees her escapism in Jasper, and also the opportunities to face her fear. Drawn to each other, they are running on borrowed time, and Jasper has 3 days to convince Rita of forever.
OVERALL OPINIONS
Having read a condensed version of this on the Chapters Interactive Stories App in 2019, I wanted to read the real thing. Nothing compares to Chapters’ cover for it – seriously, it is absolutely gorgeous, see for yourself here.
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| "Too Hot To Handle" cover on Chapters app |
Don’t get me wrong. I liked the idea of the plot, the spice was excellent, but this wasn't my cup of tea. I think what happened here was the spice became the plot instead of being a single aspect of it. This is fine if that’s what you like, but it lacked depth – the other kind of depth haha, get your head out of the gutter!
I do want to check out Tessa Bailey's other works though, so hopefully I will do so soon.
<< Positives >>
Some aspects of the plot I did like were:
π the way Jasper comforts Rita when she gets a panic attack in his grandmother Rosemary’s kitchen, remembering her mother and thinking herself a failure and not as good as her
π when he tries to get her back into her passion for cooking. He had good intentions behind it, pity it didn’t go the way he hoped
π the way Jasper wants to change himself for the better, mature, make a name for himself that isn’t tarnished - to the extent that his grandfather finally approves
π the way the siblings all realise how much of each other they’ve missed over the years, all their quirks and things they didn’t know so their bond becomes stronger than ever
<< Negatives >>
π It all felt too convenient. Break down in the middle of nowhere, knight in shining armour on a motorbike, 3 days stuck there for Jasper to convince Rita he isn’t just a roll in the hay, happens to run the town’s pub but wants to start an eatery, throwing Rita right back into the kitchen that she is trying to escape. It seemed inevitable she would stay and find a way to still be there to dive with her siblings for the new year, so the inner conflict about it being impossible to stay seemed to be a fuss about nothing.
π The thing that mainly sold it short was characterisation: I couldn't connect to the main characters and their relationship. everything felt at surface value, not enough depth. I didn't warm to Rita's siblings; I think there needed to be more wholesome interactions throughout the book where they all could properly click instead of the harsh sarcastic quips at each other. they only really clicked near the end.
π Being the first book of the Romancing the Clarksons series, and personally knowing what Peggy's story is, you would have thought it would be the 2nd book in the series. But no, Aaron is first, and he is my least favourite.
CHARACTERS
-ΛΛ ꒰ Rita꒱ ΛΛ-
Oh boy, I haven’t much to say. I felt sorry for her, at times rooting for her.
But the moment she did *that* to Jasper? nope.
"He’d worked all morning to do something nice for her—she’d repaid the man by treating him like garbage." you said it, sis. I really hated her here. I don’t think I recovered after. Took her long enough to realise she was really fumbling the bag.
*⁀➷ Favourite quotes
• “I’d rather see someone’s worst than their best. Saves time.”
• It could have been the cool blue of Jasper’s eyes—the lack of judgment there—or the sudden lack of strain after her flashback. Maybe even the dancing. She didn’t know. But words passed from her lips, quietly and without permission.
• Ohhh. And the crowd goes wild. Well, technically it was her loins going wild. Not because she was a sucker for sweet one-liners. But because his words felt genuine. *He* seemed genuine.
• Her own life’s recipe hadn’t called for him as an ingredient when she’d left San Diego.
-ΛΛ ꒰ Jasper꒱ ΛΛ-
Despite the motorbike and Matthew McConaughey looks I’d not be drawn to him in real life. He felt superficial. And there’s something about the “I’m trying so hard to be a gentleman right now but I really want to get my leg over you” thing that irks me. It makes sense for the character he is and his well-known history in town, but having self-control is the bare minimum of standards, if even that. That side of him and some of his controlling side is not it for me.
Of all lines, I cannot picture him deadpanning saying “you’ll look me in the eye while I’m ringing your bell.” I chortled because what on earth was this?
π But when he is a gentleman, he is so lovely! Him giving her the nickname “beautiful”? Love that. Letting ladies go first? Love that too. Bonus point for leaning on the doorframe. And another bonus for tipping the hat. Aaaand another bonus for hand on frame.
*⁀➷ Favourite quotes
• No one like Rita would pass through this place again, and she’d gifted Jasper with her time. She wouldn’t be sorry about that. He wouldn’t let her be.
• Jasper Ellis was the god of sex. And—and—he was way, way fucking more than that. He was everything underneath the sex. An understanding, funny, caring, insightful man who’d only been attempting to break through to her.
• “It’s so good because I love you, Rita,” Jasper confessed through stiff lips. “It’s good because you love me back. Fuck the amount of time it took. When it’s right, it’s right. We’re above time.”
-ΛΛ ꒰ Peggy꒱ ΛΛ-
I love Peggy, and she loves her innuendos just like me. I probably also relate to her the most because we are the same in age.
π It all felt too convenient. Break down in the middle of nowhere, knight in shining armour on a motorbike, 3 days stuck there for Jasper to convince Rita he isn’t just a roll in the hay, happens to run the town’s pub but wants to start an eatery, throwing Rita right back into the kitchen that she is trying to escape. It seemed inevitable she would stay and find a way to still be there to dive with her siblings for the new year, so the inner conflict about it being impossible to stay seemed to be a fuss about nothing.
π The thing that mainly sold it short was characterisation: I couldn't connect to the main characters and their relationship. everything felt at surface value, not enough depth. I didn't warm to Rita's siblings; I think there needed to be more wholesome interactions throughout the book where they all could properly click instead of the harsh sarcastic quips at each other. they only really clicked near the end.
π Being the first book of the Romancing the Clarksons series, and personally knowing what Peggy's story is, you would have thought it would be the 2nd book in the series. But no, Aaron is first, and he is my least favourite.
CHARACTERS
-ΛΛ ꒰ Rita꒱ ΛΛ-
Oh boy, I haven’t much to say. I felt sorry for her, at times rooting for her.
But the moment she did *that* to Jasper? nope.
"He’d worked all morning to do something nice for her—she’d repaid the man by treating him like garbage." you said it, sis. I really hated her here. I don’t think I recovered after. Took her long enough to realise she was really fumbling the bag.
*⁀➷ Favourite quotes
• “I’d rather see someone’s worst than their best. Saves time.”
• It could have been the cool blue of Jasper’s eyes—the lack of judgment there—or the sudden lack of strain after her flashback. Maybe even the dancing. She didn’t know. But words passed from her lips, quietly and without permission.
• Ohhh. And the crowd goes wild. Well, technically it was her loins going wild. Not because she was a sucker for sweet one-liners. But because his words felt genuine. *He* seemed genuine.
• Her own life’s recipe hadn’t called for him as an ingredient when she’d left San Diego.
-ΛΛ ꒰ Jasper꒱ ΛΛ-
Despite the motorbike and Matthew McConaughey looks I’d not be drawn to him in real life. He felt superficial. And there’s something about the “I’m trying so hard to be a gentleman right now but I really want to get my leg over you” thing that irks me. It makes sense for the character he is and his well-known history in town, but having self-control is the bare minimum of standards, if even that. That side of him and some of his controlling side is not it for me.
Of all lines, I cannot picture him deadpanning saying “you’ll look me in the eye while I’m ringing your bell.” I chortled because what on earth was this?
π But when he is a gentleman, he is so lovely! Him giving her the nickname “beautiful”? Love that. Letting ladies go first? Love that too. Bonus point for leaning on the doorframe. And another bonus for tipping the hat. Aaaand another bonus for hand on frame.
*⁀➷ Favourite quotes
• No one like Rita would pass through this place again, and she’d gifted Jasper with her time. She wouldn’t be sorry about that. He wouldn’t let her be.
• Jasper Ellis was the god of sex. And—and—he was way, way fucking more than that. He was everything underneath the sex. An understanding, funny, caring, insightful man who’d only been attempting to break through to her.
• “It’s so good because I love you, Rita,” Jasper confessed through stiff lips. “It’s good because you love me back. Fuck the amount of time it took. When it’s right, it’s right. We’re above time.”
-ΛΛ ꒰ Peggy꒱ ΛΛ-
I love Peggy, and she loves her innuendos just like me. I probably also relate to her the most because we are the same in age.
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