UPDATE: Finished the whole series and recommend you don’t even start it. One of TB’s worst efforts!

I just finished “My Killer Vacation”- amazing!- and was SO looking forward to this 4-part series w siblings. Well, I’ll give the next three a shot but THTH is just TWTL (too weird to like). Tessa Bailey absolutely BLOWS the opportunity to deal with genuine Hh traumas respectfully. The sex scenes, which I usually enjoy, are absolute cringe. I do like the characters but TB done ‘em wrong BIGTIME. ( )

“I never really left. My heart stayed here the whole time.”
“It must have crossed paths with mine. It left town when you did.”

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.I preferred the app version of the story more.

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.

I haven’t much to say about the characters. I felt sorry for Rita, at times rooting for her. But the moment she did *that* to Jasper? nope. ( )

I usually love Tessa Bailey but I kind of hated Jasper and his manipulative ways and the whole family is just so so damaged that the book was hard to read. ( )

DNF @ 30%

So for a reader who unapologetically loves [b:Beautiful Stranger|16117506|Beautiful Stranger (Beautiful Bastard, #2)|Christina Lauren|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1359073239s/16117506.jpg|21935683] (and the series for all its flaws, to be honest, but here that book feels most appropriate) -things that could be flimsily classified as romance or erotica or smromance, what made this too ... meh and creepy for me...

I love dirty talking heroes. I love intense sexual connections, and yes,insta-lust. But this book is a weird combination that I just can't quite get on board with. From the second meeting, we have the hero telling the heroine "I don't know you well, but I know you won't take shit" (Or I'm paraphrasing) but WHY, WHY does he know that. (And no thanks)

And why does he feel like a creepy leering guy who wants to but can't quite keep it in his pants. And no matter if I said "I came here for you to fuck me," I feel like I'm a little turned off my just pussy-grabbing in the back room, just me? And the development of the characters was boring. I don't have anything else to say on that...Maybe it's a case of failed execution for me....

( )

Tessa Bailey and her family of misfits took some time for me to warm up to but once it happened, I was all in. The Clarksons are a family that know what they want but lack the direction needed to get there. That guidance has always come from Miriam, the family matriach. Through the flubs she made and the love she gave, her teachings were the one constant in an ever changing world of heartaches and failure. She was the glue that held this faltering group together. Now they have too find the way on their own. With a little divine intervention. I received an ARC of Too Hot to Handle in exchange for an honest review. Rita had the heart to fulfill her dreams but lacked the confidence. Her life is quickly falling apart and she is losing herself piece by piece. Through memories, we get to explore her relationship with her mother and her personal development. I loved how Ms. Bailey wrote a tempting love story but she also explored the deeply emotional bond between a family. Through the good and bad. ( )