Title: Brainy and the Beast
Author: J.M. Cartwright
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (311pgs)
Publisher: Loose Id (9th April 2013)
Heat Level: Moderate – Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3 ½ – 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Robotics researcher Henry Travis uses his brain for just about everything, but once he meets Nick Shelton over the hood of his 1960 Mercedes 300, he’s at a loss. How does he control his attraction to this brash, sexy mechanic?
Nick owns his own classic car garage, and he is more than willing to hit it with the brainy, seriously hot, Henry. What he doesn’t need is the aggro that comes with feelings. But since his 14yo nephew, Grant, has come to live with him, he’s been dealing with aggravation every day. And now his dad lives with him, too. A dad who doesn’t mind commenting on Nick’s lame parenting skills.
With Henry turning his crank in a big way, and Nick enjoying not being in charge for a change, things heat up pretty fast. They’re actually dating, with dinner and everything, before he knows it. And the after-dinner drinks at Henry’s gorgeous house have Nick wiping the sweat from his brow.
But Henry and Grant don’t get along; Nick isn’t sure he wants a relationship at all, and Nick’s dad, Big Mike, has an opinion on everything.
How’s a guy to have fun on the weekends – even during the week, for crying out loud – with all the family baggage hanging around?
Purchase Link: http://www.loose-id.com/brainy-and-the-beast.html
Review: Nick is a mechanic who has a thing for smart guys. When Henry drives into his garage, Nick gets tongue-tied over the hot, smart genius and proceeds to wonder how he can catch the robotics researcher’s eye. Henry is a robotics researcher and likes things just the way he wants them. Driving into Nick’s garage disrupts his orderly life, when the hot mechanic catches his eye.
This is a great story of opposites attracts. The genius and the grunt both bring something unique to a relationship that balances on a knife edge. Nick has always had a thing for smart guys. He knows the relationships will never last, but the alluring pull of brains just keeps tantalizing him. When he meets Henry he is instantly attracted to him, but his bumbling makes him think Henry would never be interested. So, when Henry asks him out he is surprised, but pleased. Nick thinks his relationship is doomed though, when he keeps saying the wrong thing and it doesn’t help when his family problems interfere.
Both Nick and Henry are great characters, although you only get Nick’s perspective on things Henry’s character still shines through. Henry is rigid, his emotions rarely really engage with anything other than his work, his fish and his garden. So, when he begins to have feelings for Nick it throws him a bit. Nick really does think he is stupid, but he isn’t, he just doesn’t know what to say when put on the spot and finds it difficult to articulate what he wants to say. Expect fireworks as Nick and Henry clash and expect explosions when they make up.
They storyline is good and not just the relationship between Nick and Henry, but the development of Nick’s relationship with his nephew, Grant, the worry over his father Mike, and the prejudice aimed at Grant’s perspective girlfriend, Shawn. I did enjoy the story but at times found that the wealth of information at times was just too much, it was more like rambling in Nick’s mind and didn’t keep my attention.
I will recommend this to those who like opposites attracting, bumbling relationships, hot sex, a touch of kinky sex talk and a very happily ever after.