Handle With Care is a small town romance, with a surprise pregnancy thrown in. The blurb had me hooked, and I couldn't wait to read it.

Emily Towson is the town good girl, first grade teacher, and completely bored with her life. After the worst proposal from her boyfriend who she isn't even interested in, Emily finally goes a little crazy and sheds her good girl persona with the town bad boy.

Tanner O'Connor is the town pariah, suffering the consequences of his father's mistakes as well as his own. Content with being the horrible person everyone makes him out to be, he's a bit shocked when Emily comes barging into his shop and defies everything he ever thought about her.

One crazy night of fun, and they both go their separate ways. Too bad life has other plans for them. Now they have to figure out a way to be in each others lives, get around the "morality clause" in Emily's contract, and deal with everyone in towns reactions.

To be honest, I didn't love this book. I felt the story dragged on longer than it needed to, and I really wasn't a fan of either Tanner or Emily. The secondary story of Mimi and Josh I really enjoyed, although I felt that was never fully resolved, and would have loved more of them. So much of the book was based on Sawyer's story, but then basically left unfinished. I did enjoy Tanner's brothers, and would have liked more of them. I'm hoping since this is book 1 in the series, these other characters will get their own books to tell their story.

Handle With Care by Nina Croft is a full length, standalone romance novel and the first book in the new Saddler´s Cove series.
Emily Towson is a teacher in her small hometown, Saddler Cove. She´s a bit a goody two shoes and lives with her grandmother, a meddling, wonderful woman and my favorite character in this story.
And there´s Tanner O´Connor, ex-con, bike shop owner, bad boy and the towns outcast.

Emily´s life is predictable and a bit boring, but in secret she´s had a major crush on Tanner for a long time. One night together leads to a long time commitment for both of them. Tanner wants her, but he doesn´t want to change. And rightly so. It´s not easy to make it work for thses two so different characters and love doesn´t always conquer everything.

Handle With Care is a well written, entertaining read and had me hooked from page one. I adore Mimi and her feistyness, her fearless and hunger for life - I want to be like her when I´m all grown up. I give 4,5 beautiful stars.

Couldn't stop reading it. I really enjoyed reading this book. Love the story and writing. Five stars read.

I struggled a little with my review about the book. I was between 3,5 and 4 stars because at times I felt like the story was dragging.

Emily and Tanner's story is kind of forbidden. She's the town's good girl, a first-grade teacher and he's the bad boy, ex-con biker. You may think that these two people are totally unsuitable for each other but trust me the story will change your mind!

They would never had a chance if it wasn't for Mimi, Emily's grandma. She decides to "buy" a Harley from Tanner, in order to rile Emily up and confront him, hoping that the chemistry between them will be enough. Surprise surprise, the chemistry is enough! Emily confronts him, the passion between them is too much and they sleep together. However because of some bad luck and a three-year-old condom they find themselves with a surprise; Emily is pregnant. 

The decisions they have to make are not easy. They practically don't know each other. The town is not very happy either. Too many things come between them and try to keep them apart. The question is will they make it at the end or they'll drift apart?

I love the secondary characters as well. Emily's grandma is a sassy and strong woman. I was so happy she found someone to spend her life with! We don't get to learn too much about Tanner's brothers and I'm hoping that the next books are about them!!

I now have a new series to love on! Croft's Handle With Care is a fantastic book in a great place with wonderful characters who impressed me, made me care, and made me beyond eager to read all their stories. And all that happened in the first 20% of the book!

I'd say this is a real winner for Croft and a fantastic beginning to her new Saddlers Cover series. Good girl and bad boy hook up for a steamy affair and a lot of lovin' is the basic premise, but please! This book is so, so much more than that. Sure, Emily is a good girl (with both a heart of gold and a wild streak she hides). And sure, Tanner was a rabble rouser with a mile wide chip on his should er in his youth who went to jail. And sure, they were each other's secret fantasies for years.

But the emotional complexity of this book: Tanner's familial relationships, Emily's familial relationships, Tanner's and Emily's relationships with the town, Tanner's relationship with Josh, Josh's relationship with Emily's grandmother, Reece's relationship with his daughter, Tanner's relationship with his former friend. It was a veritable paradise for a reader who loves complex relationships and intertwined stories.

I was so happy to read Josh's story in all this and am more than ready to read Reece's and Aidan's stories too, in part because I loved them but also because I know they will get the same attention to detail and complexity that Tanner did.

This is a new author for me and wow, I really enjoyed this story about a bad boy and good girl and the thing they have in common. That's all I shall say as the blurbs says it all.
Exciting

I received a copy from Netgalley and I am voluntarily leaving my own honest opinion

This story should be made into a Lifetime movie, it's that good. A definite must read!
5/5 stars absolutely!
Nina Croft is an amazing writer and I am happy to have read this romantic meddling family story that will make you laugh and cry. The characters oh my I can't express how the main characters you will love them all except Jed Forrester. Small town small minds is what this story is about and you'll enjoy each story told about Tanner and Emily and Mimi and Josh. There is so much thought put into this story that you'll get every thing you desire. Nina did a fantastic job that at the end I seriously believe this should be a romantic Lifetime movie. It's got some drama and attitude but it has the second chance feel and the characters are so deserving to be made into real life. It flowed so smoothly from story to story. You get know the main characters of this small town and the newcomer that just needs a chance to live again. I was hooked from the beginning because the start of the book is with Mimi (Emily's grandmother) meddling because you hear it as she talks. It is a bumpy ride for the characters but they pull through and give you a great ending and so much love.
***Reviewed for Sweet & Spicy Reads, ARC provided in return for an honest review***

Small-town romance and bad boy/good girl romances check boxes on my favorite tropes list. And while Handle With Care started out strong for me, it just fell apart somewhere in the middle. We get it. Emily is "sensible." And Tanner doesn't think he's good enough for her. But the characters have to start believing that they are good together in order for a story to work, and I felt like it took these two so damn long to get on the same page!

That said, the story is cute. No drama involved from exes, and relatively low angst, aside from Emily's unplanned pregnancy and the drama that creates in her life. I wish we would have gotten more of Mimi and Josh's adorable romance! Overall, not a bad series starter, since it seems we will get more books based on Tanner's brothers.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

After reading the blurb that accompanied this book I had in mind what I thought I was going to get out of it. To my surprise (pleasantly) it was not at all what I had expected. I thought it was going to be a lighter, easier read but instead it was actually quite an in depth, emotional story. The story of Tanner and Emily is no easy feat - there are many different factors and decisions that weigh heavily on both of them and they had a tough time coming together even though they both wanted the other and had for some time. There were also tid-bits of stories from the secondary characters that were interesting and although not expected either, added to the overall arc of the story. Ended up quite enjoying the whole thing!

Intrigued to read the books of Tanner's brothers...

Reviewed on behalf of 3 Degrees of Fiction book blog.

Handle With Care had everything I enjoyed within a romance story, two main characters that are complete opposites but have undeniable chemistry between them. Nina Croft did a really good job with this story, as it had an interesting storyline that was packed full of emotion and characters I absolutely enjoyed reading about.

Emily was the sensible school teacher who finally let loose one night which ended with consequences. I did find Emily to be a really caring and sweet character that I really enjoyed reading about. I really liked it when she finally went to confront Tanner at the start of the book and her reaction to him calling her sensible.

Tanner was the towns bad boy that I really felt for because of the way he was treated by the people in Saddlers Cove. He was a good guy that made some mistakes in his past. But he cared about his family and looked after his loved ones.

Handle With Care is Emily the sensible school teacher who has always had a thing for the owns bad boy Tanner. When she finally spends a night with Tanner it ends with unexpected consequences.

Nina Croft has written a story that is filled with enjoyable main characters and secondary characters that I absolutely adored. There was a lot of sweet moments throughout the story and plenty of steamy moments as well. I really loved these characters together and I thought they were perfect for each other. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

I normally love a small town romance, they’re one of my favorite kinds. Add in a bad boy who’s really ‘good’ and you have me. But, HANDLE WITH CARE by Nina Croft just didn’t quite hit the spot for me.
Tanner O’Connor is that bad boy, he was sent to prison for something he didn’t do and now that he’s back home, he tries to act like he doesn’t give a damn, but beneath his scruffy overalls beat a heart that cared too much. He knew all that when he met Emily Towson, he knew she was way out of his league, but it didn’t stop him desiring her above all others.
Emily is considered a sensible woman, that’s who people have talked of her for as long as she could remember and she’s had enough. She’s going to step out of those sensible shoes and wait to see what happens.
She’s always had a soft spot for the town’s bad boy but her never even looked her way, but now she’s set her sights on him.
They didn’t always see eye to eye but they made it in the end. This was a pretty okay story but for me it just didn’t ring any bells, maybe it was the 3rd person POV, which I am not a fan of. Fans of Nina will probably disagree with me, but to each their own.

Handle with Care is the first book by Nina Croft that I’ve read.

I really enjoyed it. It was a quick read for me, told in third person POV. What’s not to love? The small town, the good girl crushing on the bad boy. It’s everything I love in a book. Plus great secondary characters. Mimi and Josh were great.

Some parts were a little hard to get over. The bad boy who has the worst self esteem. The good girl that says she doesn’t want him to change. Or does she? Tanner and Emily had to get past quite a few hurdles to figure out what truly wanted and if it was worth the risk.

All in all, it was a good book. I’m really hoping that this is the first in a series about the brother.

the o'connor boys drew an unlucky lot at childhood. none more than middle brother tanner, who after two years in prison for manslaughter has returned to saddler cove and set up a respectable business with his brothers selling and customizing motorcycles.

as handle with care opens, emily towson's (meddling) grandmother, mimi, decides to buy a motorcycle for her 70th birthday, she correctly anticipates that this will force emily and tanner into contact with each other.

emily goes to tanner's shop to yell at him. and somehow ends up sleeping with him. and when it turns out that those expiration dates on condoms do actually matter, suddenly emily is faced with dealing with an outdated morality clause in her teaching contract and raising a baby with a guy she isn't sure is all that interested in her.

both emily and tanner have a lot of baggage and insecurities from their childhood. emily is always afraid of being someone's unwelcome responsibility. and tanner feels judged for how he feels always lacking. but underneath all those insecurities and miscommunications, tanner and emily want each other desperately. they want a life together. they just need to figure out their words.

reading that journey is well worth the wait. this is a small-town romance, so you also get to know quite a few of the secondary players, who will likely turn up in future stories. i'm pretty sure that those o'connor boys are all destined for their own happy endings.

**handle with care will publish on july 30, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (amara) in exchange for my honest review.

A small town romance - bad boy, first grade teacher what’s not to love? This book is funny, with lots of steam. I was on an emotional roller-coaster, but loving every minute. All the characters stole my heart and I can’t wait for more Saddler’s Cove!!!

This was just an okay read for me. I found it difficult to connect with the characters in this story. I found I did not like the main characters for a majority of this book. The blurb for the book caught my interest, but I found that my interest waned when I didn’t connect with the story.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I normally like small town romances because although the gossip is a sure thing and privacy is an illusion, the sense of togetherness and friendship overrides the negative. I didn't really get that feeling in HWC. In fact I really couldn't connect the dots as to how all the negativity and judgement in this town could possibly be appealing to anyone. In Tanner's shoes, I probably would have reacted the same way, tbh (or you know, left this town in the dust and never looked back).

The first half of the book had me really liking Emily, she sounded quirky and sweet, Mimi seemed endearing and Tanner was looking to be a slow to warm up to kind of hero. But the second half had every one of my first impressions doing a complete reversal. The more I learned about Tanner, the more I felt for him, Mimi ended up warping into a melancholy stickler who always sided with Emily and who's secondary story bogged down the pacing of the book and Emily became my least favorite character of the bunch with her willingness to conform so easily attitude.

Other's may enjoy this one but I had trouble sympathizing with the heroine and it kind of derailed the overall enjoyment for me.

What happens when someone calls you sensible? Just read Handle with Care to find out. I loved both of the main characters. Emily Towson and Tanner O’Connor are both interesting characters with things in their past that need to be faced. Turns out in spite of surface looks they are a perfect fit. Great story with some interesting side characters who look to be in line to find their HEA in future books.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

I loved this book!!! I love the falling for the bad boy type books. Tanner  is the bad boy who works at the motorcycle shop and Emily is the good girl who is a teacher. But you find out Emily has thought about Tanner her whole life. She has a wild side! I seriously love these types of books because you always find out Tanner is not the bad boy everyone thought he is and he has this sweet side. This is my first book by this author and I can´t wait to read more. Her writing style had me engrossed in the story the whole time. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romance.

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!

Emily Towson is the quintessential elementary school teacher, she's the good girl who doesn't rock the boat.
Enter, Tanner O’Connor, the town bad boy who gives zero f$#@& on who he might piss off. He's been dealt a really crappy hand in life, but he's made something for himself and his brothers. Little did he know making his fantasy of Emily a reality would change both their lives.

Just the right amount of drama, do I wish the characters would actually talk to each other? Yes! But where would the story be if everything was fixed easily, we need a little angst. This was a great start to the new series cause you definitely want to see what happens with Aiden and Reese and of course Mimi and Josh.