A review by nickartrip102
Handy by K.M. Neuhold

3.0

“...he’s willing to butter me up and stuff me like a Thanksgiving turkey. Gobble gobble, motherfucker.”

Swoon!

I needed a romance fix and after perusing some recent releases I realized there was a new book in the Four Bears Construction series and landed on Handy by K.M. Neuhold as my next read. In Handy, we meet Ledger, a park ranger who has a pet raccoon and recently purchased a fixer upper with his inheritance money. He’s in luck when he finds himself in over his head, because his neighbor is none other than Four Bears Construction’s Griff, a quiet and moody bear who he has been eyeing for months. The two come to an agreement that Griff will help him his renovations in exchange for some trips to pound town, but it quickly becomes clear that sex isn’t the only thing either of the them have on their minds.

I definitely rolled my eyes when I found out that Ledger has a pet raccoon. Does every man in this series have to have some kind of quirky pet? Whatever. Honestly, I went with it, because my stepsister also had a pet raccoon once. Maybe it’s me. I’m not the sort of person who could have a pet raccoon. Probably because my stepsister’s immediately peed on me the one and only time I agreed to handle it. Also, Griff acting clueless about his secret admirer for the majority of the book? Did he have a brain tumor for breakfast? Come on. It’s obviously the sloppabottomus across the way.

A little grump-sunshine pairing, however, warms my heart so I overlooked some of the sillier elements of the story. And an age gap? We love it. I’m not going to lie, I fell hard for Griff. I can absolutely understand why Ledger had such a massive crush on him. An emotionally closed-off, wounded puppy of a bear who can do things proficiently with a hammer? Honey, it’s the dream. I think that’s what I love about the men of Four Bears Construction. They each have some wonderful, irresistible quality. Griff may be my favorite!

Okay, and Ledger is pretty amazing too. I love a man with patience, especially with such a tough nut to crack (but clearly not to bust, oooh!) like Griff. The level of caring he demonstrates for Griff throughout the story was very sweet. I couldn’t help but wish we had more insight into his character. A friendship with Jericho and an appreciation of nature isn’t much to work with, but what does become very clear throughout the book is that Ledger is a nurturer at heart. I found his subtle and not-so-subtle courtship of Griff to be endearing.

In terms of story, Handy really doesn’t have much to offer, but it doesn’t really need to. I didn’t really mind, because Neuhold has the formula for their romances down pat. It’s low-stakes with big feelings. I’m glad that Neuhold gave Griff such a thoughtful backstory, because it really helped to give the book some weight and was a nice way of understanding Griff’s character. Even if the secret admirer part was a little half-baked, I thought the actual gifts and notes were adorable, and the relationship between Griff and Ledger was satisfyingly sweet. I had a lot of fun reading this and it was a great little escape.