Handle With Care by Josephine Myles

Handle With Care by Josephine Myles
Samhain Publishing

Novel: 191pgs

Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb:
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. 

Review:
If you know me, you know I love pretty men and beautiful boys. I like them a lot! I also love people, all types of people and I’ve been told by many a friends that I love a lot. So when I read M/M romance, I love all pretty men and the beautiful cocks and all that, but sometimes I just wanna read about love. I read it in Handle With Care, love in it’s purest form that just makes you want to smile and say thanks for writing this.

Ben is ill, and not the flu type of ill but the serious my body needs help to function ill. After taking on the responsibility of raising his younger sister in his teen years, when he was finally able to party on down he went a little crazy. Ben has always known he’s diabetic but that’s didn’t matter when he was getting high, getting drunk, and fucking anything that moved. Well his hard lifestyle caught up to him, with kidney failure and now having to live his life on dialysis. He’s living a half of a life, finding his kicks in porn and the sexy young guy who delivers them. Ben knows nothing can come from lusting after his delivery boy, he’s a broken man with a broken body and what hot young thing would want him?

Ollie the delivery guy is flirting the crap out of Ben, but he doesn’t seem to be getting it or he just can’t believe it. What would this beautiful young man want with a middle-aged sick guy? It’s a series of hot and cold, vicissitudes, and trying to build a relationship in the middle of chaos and crisis.

I really liked Ben he touched me. He felt so real with dealing with his illness and even the events that led up to him becoming being ill just felt like ‘Yeh, that could happen’. He was kind of on the outside looking in, seeing all the bad, and the tubes. With Ollie, he went on the inside and started looking out and up, and realized he has so much to offer.

Ollie was super sweet and fun and just brought the happy. Love his ever-changing hair, and how he loves unconditionally. I am not really a fan of his attitude most of the time, how he is quick to anger and jumps to conclusions. I am also somewhat irked that he was bothered by Ben being hit on by his ex =__= was he jealous for Ben or was he jealous of Ben? That’s still kind of playing in my mind, it bothers me but I still love him.

Overall, I really loved this book! I appreciated that Ben illness wasn’t just glossed over, it was apart of the story and not in a ‘cry me a river’ sort of way, but a real honest portrayal of a man with an illness and how it affects his relationship with the people that matter to him. It’s a real character driven story, and the supporting characters are excellent and provide such a wonderful foundation for our main characters to shine. Awesmazing book from the author once again.

SideNote- I am irked by Ollie’s past boyfriend making a sleazy appearance. IRKED!!! Also, love the cover could look at it all day.

4 1/2 Pants Off