Handle with Care [Kindle Edition]

Josephine Myles (Author)

Book Description

The best things in life aren’t free…they’re freely given.

Ben Lethbridge doesn’t have many vices left. After raising his little sister to adulthood, he wasted no time making up for the youth he lost to responsible parenting. Two years of partying it up—and ignoring his diabetes—has left him tethered to a home dialysis regimen.

He can do his job from his flat, fortunately, but most of his favourite things are forbidden. Except for DVD porn…and fantasizing over Ollie, the gorgeous, purple-haired skateboarder who delivers it.

Their banter is the highlight of Ben’s lonely day, but his illness-ravaged body is the cruel reality that prevents him from believing they’ll do anything more than flirt. Not to mention the age gap. Still, Ben figures there’s no harm in sprucing himself up a bit.

Then one day, a package accidentally splits open, revealing Ben’s dirty little secret…and an unexpected connection that leaves him wondering if he’s been reading Ollie wrong all this time. There’s only one way to find out: risk showing Ollie every last scar. And hope “far from perfect” is good enough for a chance at love.

Warning: Contains superhero porn comics and a cute, accident-prone delivery guy with colour-changing hair. Readers may experience coffee cravings, an unexpected liking for bad mullets, and the urge to wrap Ollie up and take him home

Editorial Reviews

Review

“...Josephine Myles has amazing storytelling ability. She has a knack for making you fall in love with her characters… It has everything a good book needs- humor, romance and lots of passion. It’s so much more than just mm erotica.” —Night Owl Reviews

“...a truly beautiful story about opposites being attracted to each other... I could have gone on reading about Benji and Ollie and their relationship forever.” —Two Lips Reviews

“…another really wonderful story from Myles. I think she does “opposites attract” so well and this book was no exception… sweet, romantic, hot, and full of hope.” —Joyfully Jay

“This seemingly simple story touched my heart… Highly recommended.” —Reviews by Jessewave

“Josephine Myles is an autobuy author for me, and once again she has demonstrated why.” —Dark Divas Reviews

“...The more I read Josephine Myles, the more I love her work… [The humour] provided a good balance to the parts of the story that were more serious... A really nice ending to a lovely story.” —Smexy Books

“...you can’t really go wrong with her stories. There is always enough laughter and romance even for the demanding individuals. The lady sure knows how to write.” —The Romance Reviews

“...It’s a rarity for an author to tackle a romance with one of the main characters having an illness…but Ms. Myles handles it with creativity and sensitivity… This is a cute story but has unexpected depths because of its subject matter.” —Romance Junkies

“...Josephine Myles has penned a unique delightful romance for Ben and Ollie... Kudos to Josephine Myles for penning a story that is more that just entertainment.” —Sensual Reads

“...engaging characters, believable conflict, and lots of emotion.” —Joyfully Reviewed

Book Description

After raising his little sister to adulthood, Ben Lethbridge wasted no time making up for the youth he lost to responsible parenting. Two years of partying it up—and ignoring his diabetes—has left him tethered to a home dialysis regimen.

Most of his favourite vices are forbidden. Except for DVD porn…and flirting with Ollie, the gorgeous, purple-haired skateboarder who delivers it. When a package accidentally splits open, Ben’s dirty secret is revealed—and an unexpected connection that leaves him wondering if “far from perfect” is good enough for a chance at love.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 307 KB
• Print Length: 149 pages
• Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (April 24, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0073WI0ZU
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,068 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved these characters! April 28, 2012

By Becky C

Format:Kindle Edition

HANDLE WITH CARE is a character-driven novel. The plot is a wrapper for the characters, one of whom is Ben, a thirty-three year old software designer seriously ill with kidney failure and diabetes and the other of whom is Ollie, a twenty-year-old purple-haired twink who was abused as a teenager (he doesn't think of it as abuse) and is now trying to build his life around his own internal strengths and interests. The story is told in first-person from Ben's perspective.
I loved that Ben never saw himself as a victim of his illness. He took responsibility for what caused him to get to this point, had very real emotions about it, and ultimately did what he had to do. Ms Myles has written a book that could have gone either way - maudlin or easy solutions, but instead she let the disasters simmer, nearly boil over, and finally gives us the HEA that is so hard won by her characters.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Emotional and funny April 25, 2012

By Rabid Reader

Format:Kindle Edition

This book was really good. It was emotional, with one of the guys being so ill, and also sweet with a lot of humor. I love romantic "nerd" stories, and Ollie fit the bill with his purple hair and super-hero fixation. I was totally absorbed from beginning to end and closed the book with a smile on my face. I highly recommend it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful story July 20, 2012

By Beck

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a beautiful book. I love stories where people who are permanently injured or broken get a HEA. So often the MCs are buff & beautiful but it is nice to read about inner beauty & love conquering physical limitations.

I love that Myles writes in an unapologetic English voice. Not editing out the British-isms. It makes a pleasant change from the Cowboy drawl.

Handle with Care & Myles' Barging In are great books to curl up with on a Rainy Sunday afternoon. The pace of her writing is languid. The characters are allowed to grow & develop naturally without the insta-love plot of so many other romance books. The erotica content is light but well written. Just an all-round lovely read.

Originally posted on Goodreads.com

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Aggravating April 3, 2013

By amf0001 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ollie is the sweetest of the sweet young things, far too sweet for a diabetic like Ben, who is grumpy and has so much self-loathing that I started to loathe him too. It's rare that I actively dislike a main character in an m/m book but Ben, who is meant to the be the older, more aware one, is so obsessed with his age and health, that it's a wonder he sees Ollie at all. And the entire relationship, such that it is, goes way, way too fast.

Warning - spoilers ahead

Basically Ollie is a delivery boy that the housebound Ben fantasizes about. They have one intimate moment, and suddenly, from that moment on, they are in a committed relationship where Ollie takes all sorts of grief from Ben, who admittedly is going through an awful lot. And then all Ben does is worry that he is becoming too dependent on the very sweet Ollie and backing away from him, saying awful things to him and completely misunderstanding his point of view.

By the third weird fight I gave up, and thought, I'm reading this for my entertainment, and feeling far more incensed than entertained, I can stop. So I put it down and feel relieved.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Good pick-me-up novel August 27, 2012

By Emanuela

Format:Kindle Edition

3.5 stars.

It's a feel-good story, with a great premise, but I wasn't able to like the narrator's love interest, Ollie.

Ben was the first person narrator and most interesting character. I liked the way the author handled Ben, the narrator's, health condition, choosing to tell the story of a man who's not hot, sexy perfect, but because of the bad choices in his past, he now has to face his limits. The regret, the feeling of inadequacy, especially because in a relationship with a young, healthy man, were depicted vividly. The author doesn't shy away from the imperfections, and they became a weird attraction for Ollie.

I liked the way Ollie tried to make Ben see he didn't have to be afraid of being a survivor, and how he made a sort of a comic super-hero out of him. Unfortunately, as I said before, the younger, smiling, energetic and generous Ollie seemed some times too childish and other times too emotionally unstable, so I really had the impression at times that Ben was robbing the cradle. The story later made us see a more grown-up side of Ollie, but I was never able to see the man inside the puppy with hero worship. I know it sounds unfair, but maybe the ending was also a bit too abrupt and probably a chapter more, or some kind of epilogue a few months later, would have completed the character development.

Anyway, it was funny and cute, with a good taste of Britishness and I'd recommend it as a pick-me-up.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "...All the conflicts in Handle With Care are dealt with realistically and sympathetically..." July 7, 2012

By M. Nix

Format:Kindle Edition

Ben spent much of his young adulthood raising his little sister after their parents were killed. For the next couple of years after his sister moved out, he partied as hard as he could, indulging in sex, alcohol, and drugs and not taking proper care of his diabetes. As a result, he's now on dialysis. He works from home, and the only vice he can allow himself is porn. That, and fantasizing about the sexy delivery guy, Ollie. With his health issues and their age difference, Ben figures he hasn't got a chance with Ollie in real life.

When Ollie unexpectedly finds out what's in the packages Ben gets so often, Ben finds out he might have a chance after all--if they can get through Ben's health issues and Ollie's past.

I really enjoyed Handle With Care. I normally don't mention the covers of the stories I read, and I barely notice half of them. In this case, however, I was drawn to the cover right away. I'm happy to say my first impression of the story, the lovely and sweet cover, didn't mislead me one bit.

First-person stories can sometimes feel limiting or make the narrator come across as self-centered, but that didn't happen in this story. Ben is an extremely likeable narrator. He loves his sister fiercely, and doesn't regret the years he spent caring for her. He's very realistic about his condition (and his own hand in causing it). The loss of the sex appeal he used to have has smashed his confidence, to the point that he doesn't believe an attractive younger guy like Ollie could ever be interested in him. His insecurity makes the beginning of his and Ollie's relationship take a while, but I liked the slow buildup a lot. His wonder when Ollie isn't put off by his health problems is sweet....

Seen through Ben's eyes, Ollie is a little harder to read, but he still comes across as a fully realized character. He's got energy and enthusiasm to spare. He loves comics, skateboarding, and drawing, and he dreams of owning his own coffee shop. Although he's quite a bit younger than Ben, he's more mature than anyone seems to give him credit for. I loved the way he saw past Ben's health issues and fear to the man inside. Despite his youth, Ollie has a past of his own that rears its ugly head.

All the conflicts in Handle With Care are dealt with realistically and sympathetically. Ben's health issues in particular came across as very real, but the emotional conflicts are well done too. While Handle With Care doesn't feature a ton of drama and heavy angst, it's got engaging characters, believable conflict, and lots of emotion. I've only read a couple of Josephine Myles' stories, but Handle With Care has convinced me to see what else she's got out there.

Reviewed by Cassie
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More About the Author

English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. She blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She's beginning to suspect he enjoys it.