Too Hot to Handle [Mass Market Paperback]

Elizabeth Lowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2002

Tory Wells arrived at Sundance Ranch with only a battered suitcase and a letter from a friend that promised employment. Recovering from knee surgery, Tory desperately needed this job. And Ethan Reever was her only hope.

But Reever wasted no time in telling Tory he wanted nothing to do with some city-bred stranger. In his opinion, a woman like Tory knew nothing about ranch life, and he'd decided long ago that he had no use for pretty, useless women. Especially one who looked at him as innocently as Tory did -- no matter how much he desired her . . .

Tory knew one thing for certain. Determined to show him she could make it on her own, she vowed never to ask Reever for anything ever again. Not a job. Not money. And definitely not his love.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I'll buy any book with Elizabeth Lowell's name on it." -- Jayne Ann Krentz

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Reissue edition (December 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551668955
• ISBN-13: 978-1551668956
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell has numerous historical and contemporary novels in print, including her four-book series of suspense novels featuring the unforgettable Donovan family--AMBER BEACH, JADE ISLAND, PEARL COVE and MIDNIGHT IN RUBY BAYOU. Ms. Lowell's current release, DEATH ECHO, is Book 5 in her St. Kilda Consulting series and features twin yachts, international gangsters, and plenty of romantic-suspense. There are more than thirty million Elizabeth Lowell books currently in print. Ms. Lowell lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good old fashioned Love story., April 13, 1998

By 

Jennifer Childress - See all my reviews

This review is from: Too Hot To Handle (Paperback)

I really ejoyed "Too Hot To Handle". It is a good old fashion love story, Tori is a good woman with a heart to match and Ethan is just as strong, so the war is on as soon as they meet.

The storyline is emotional yet has just enough fun thrown in so you don't cry the whole time. The interaction between the main and minor characters is constant and flows well. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down until I finished it.

I would recomend it to anyonewho loves a love story with a twist, so be prepared to laugh, cry and fall a little in love with all the characters. Have fun and enjoy...

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A sensual inferno makes it too hot to handle, January 1, 2003

By 

Desmond Chan (Bishan North Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Too Hot to Handle (Mass Market Paperback)

The re-issue of Elizabeth Lowell's classic Harlequin Too Hot To Handle is a delightful rehash of her earthy style in the earlier efforts. Afflicted by a debilitating injury, Victoria Wells has been cruelly deprived of her aspirations as a champion diver. With a dysfunctional family and lost hopes and job, she leaves home for the Arizona Sundance Ranch where she was promised a job. The honcho of the ranch Ethan Reever turns out to be condescending to city women but reluctantly gives her a job after witnessing her sympathetic plight. The tension of the opposite couple surrenders to a passion that neither can deny - even with their considerable age gap. Tory finds herself falling in love with him as the chemistry between the two smolders but Ethan promises he will give no women his heart. Elizabeth Lowell's classic romance remains timeless and sizzles with deep-sated passion and ravaging emotions. Despite the formulaic plot, the fiery interludes especially the riding lessons rages with a sensual inferno that makes it scandalously hot even after a decade since its release.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One note played over and over, May 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Too Hot To Handle (Paperback)

It was hard to see why Tory fell for Reever; in order to deny his attraction to her he treats her like dirt for most of the book. Then they become lovers, and that's all that happens: touching, caressing, making love, etc., while her heart is breaking because he's told her she's not good enough to be a permanent fixture in his life. What's to love in a guy like this? And one might think a lot of sex in a romance novel is a pretty good thing, but there wasn't enough else to carry the story along and give it some varied rhythm and really engage the reader's interest. I raced though it to get to the inevitable place where they discover that each is mistaken in the other and true love can prevail, as usual about three pages before the end of the book (I'd like them to wallow in their new communion a little more, I guess; I find some of these endings quite abrupt). Don't these people ever have a conversation with each other? Noble or heart-broken sacrifice without finding out if this is what the other really wants just makes me want to slap them upside the head.

Elizabeth Lowell, when she's really on, writes the most emotionally intense romances I know; they're truly gripping. This one had some of the intensity, yet managed to be boring at the same time. I suggest you read some of the others and give this a miss. Or read it out of the library.