Okay, first things first, I actually love the book cover! Normally I'm not all too keen on the cartoonish covers, but for some reason this one really delighted my eyes. I think it's really well done and I love the colours. Also, the tagline "This towel ain't big enough for the both of us" was what secured me into wanting to read Too Hot to Handle.

The book has a fairly simple premise. A villa is double booked and so comes the games of who gets to keep the villa for the following week. It'd be a great beach read. Short and simple, it never asks for too much from the reader. It'd be a great palate cleanser between reading heavier books, but there was still some little issues I had.

Molly, the female main character, was a bit drab. She's not a fairly charming character. If anything, she's a blank sheet of paper. I had hoped that mopey Molly had some development where she learnt to loosen up, became less uptight and more fun, but sadly, she didn't really carry the story well enough to become a fully rounded character. Now, in terms of the actual story, we do have a bit of set up. We see Molly in Leeds living her normal going through-the-motions life, but it felt almost unnecessary. I didn't see the point of learning about Dean (the ex) or even wallowing about him. I also didn't really see much point of anything of these pre-holiday chapters. This makes a good chunk of the book a little needless, and for me, is what made Molly a bit of a bore. I just wanted to skip to the villa antics, because after all, that's what the book's premise was about. All in all, Molly wasn't alone in her character faults. We learn little to nothing about Travis, the main male character too. All of the characters aren't really fleshed out as well as I thought they could've been, and this makes the book a little rushed. It focused on the wrong things; Did we need the random lad's holiday group at the airport? It just made the stag do guys at the villa feel like a rehash of the same thing. Did we also need to see Molly go back to Dean's flat to grab a toothbrush? It was obvious he wasn't important to the story.

But despite all of this, the book never felt like a drag to read. I just wish it had a bit more passion thrown into it. A bit more humour, like the tagline.

Fun in the sun paired with forced proximity, sprinkled with a little rivals to lovers with a sweetheart MMC!
I couldn’t put this down and devoured it in less than a day.
The banter between the guys and the girls was on point (I’ll never be able to smell anything mango scented without laughing again).

I did find it took a little while to get going and the storyline between the MMC and FMC felt a little rushed but I did love the references to Love Island sprinkled through too!

Overall I enjoyed the book and will absolutely recommend it to others!

This book was so good that I had to read it all in one day! Such a cute “rom-com” style romance! I felt like the main character was someone I could really relate to. In this story, the villa they are staying in is accidentally double booked. They are there for a girls trip and the other group is a group of guys. The romantic tension and cute banter adds a lot to this story. While it may not be the most realistic story, the characters are all relatable. Such a fun read!

- [ ] This is an ARC review. I want to thank Boodwood Books and Portia Macintosh for allowing me the chance to read this book ahead of release day! This book I gobbled up QUICKLY! It was my first book from this author, but I know for sure it won’t be my last! This was such a good book with witty banter and comedy relief throughout the book. The hen party that should have been way less eventful, became one I wish I was a fly on the wall to witness. Molly is every female who overthinks but also is a tad bit impulsive in all the best ways. I loved getting to know each person in the friendship groups and found myself wanting to join them myself. It was such a well written book from start to finish. I will absolutely be recommending this book and buying it myself! “The best kind of friends are the ones who will do whatever you say, whatever crazy scheme you’re cooking up, they are here for it.”