Too Hot to Handle by Portia MacIntosh on April 8, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / Siblings, Fiction / Friendship, Fiction / General, Fiction / Humorous / General, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Holiday, Fiction / Romance / International, Fiction / Romance / New Adult, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Fiction / Sea Stories, Fiction / Small Town & Rural, Reference / Weddings
Pages: 246
Format: ARC
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This is the perfect read to bring along to the beach or pool—light, funny, and easy to breeze through. The premise is great, and while the story slows down a bit in the middle, the last 30% really pulled me in. Overall, it leaned more toward a slow burn for me, with no open-door scenes.
The story kicks off with Molly watching her best friend get engaged. Later that night, her boyfriend of a few years invites her to a romantic, private dinner at an empty restaurant. She thinks this could be her big moment too—but instead, she gets a shocking surprise. Cue the breakup.
Still wanting to support her newly engaged friend Lou, Molly heads off on a hen party getaway. The girls arrive at a beautiful villa—only to discover it’s been double-booked. Now they’re stuck sharing the space with a group of guys on a bachelor party. What follows is a week of hilarious competitions to win the villa for the second week. It was fun watching which guys got under which girls’ skin and all the sparks that flew.
That said, some moments had me rolling my eyes—in the best way. Like the shampoo scene—why on earth would the girls even give the guys a chance to get into their rooms or mess with their stuff? I was yelling at them half the time for the silly things they did, but it added to the humor.
In the end, I enjoyed the dynamics and friendships between the two groups. I did wish for a bit more steam, though. With a title like Too Hot to Handle, I went in expecting some spice, so I was a little disappointed on that front. Still, the story was fun and entertaining, and it made for a great quick read.
My rating is 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I know it’s silly to deduct points for the lack of spice, but come on—with that title, it felt a little implied!
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the eARC.