In Love for Beginners (Under the Hood #2) by Sally Clements , Melody Swan is part of an all women mechanic shop. She is doing great with her two friends but after one of them had an accident, now they need a mechanic to help them out in the meantime. Melody takes care of the office part of the business, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how to work on cars, but if she spends a lot of time doing one thing the other gets neglected.

 

So while looking for a temporary mechanic, on the side Melody is looking for a man to share her life with, she wants to share her hopes and dreams, but the one thing she will not accept is passion. She knows what passion can lead to and how it can burn out and then end things, she wants a companion for the rest of her life and passion will not be taken into consideration. Read More...

Many Romance Readers complain of incompetent heroines.  No these ladies. They do a job that is still male dominated and one that demands problem solving. 

 

Enjoy these wonderful Mechanic Heroines of Contermpary Romance. 

 

1. Last Chance Knit & Stitch by Hope Ramsay Molly Canaday 

2. His Unlikely Lover by Natasha Anders Bobbi Richmond 

3. In Rides Trouble: Black Knights Inc. by Julie Ann Walker Becky "Rebel" Reichert 

4. Winter Love by Merri Hiatt Winter Montgomery

5. A Long, Hard Ride by Alison Kent Cadin Worth 

6. Expecting Royal Twins! by Melissa McClone Izzy

7. Promises Of The Heart by Elaine Overton Callie Tyler

8. Love for Beginners by Sally Clements Melody Swan

9. Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl Lori

10. Undertow by Cherry Adair Teal Williams (Ship Mechanic)

 

Do you have a favorite I missed? Let me know!

 

To vote for the best of the best of Contemporary Romance Mechanic Heroes and Heroines, go to the Goodreads list: Grease: Best Contemporary Romances with Mechanics

 

Enjoy some Mechanic Eye Candy of both sexes and all eras on my Pinterest Board: Wrench: Mechanic Heroes and Heroines of Romance.

 

Don't forget you can request a list! 

 

3 - 3.5 stars

I occasionally had trouble connecting with the characters, but I really enjoyed the ending. Great read for a rainy afternoon

Full Review -

I picked up Love for Beginners because I had a short window of time open in my reading schedule, and a story about a mechanic sounded like fun. I have enjoyed quite a few Entangled novellas, so I was eager to jump into another one. While I occasionally had trouble connecting with the characters, I found this an entertaining afternoon read.

Melody and her friends run a garage, and it’s shop policy to employ only female mechanics. After Alice breaks her ankle, though, Mel and Betty are run ragged trying to keep up with repairs flooding the shop. Alice’s brother, Heath, agrees to fill in for her, and the women are so desperate for help they agree. Mel has reservations, however. Heath has a reputation of being a ladyslayer, and the one time they met, he didn’t impress her. She resolves to keep her distance while he’s working with them, regardless of how charming or good looking he is.

Betty has other plans, though, and sets them up on a date, under the guise that the women are treating him to dinner for helping them out. Betty promptly backs out, leaving Mel with hostess duties. She gamely wines and dines their new employee, surprising herself by telling him things she’s never confided to anyone else. She spills her greatest secrets to him, and for the life of her, can’t figure out why.

Read the rest here - http://www.mangamaniaccafe.com/?p=10896

This is the second novella in the Under the Hood series. I love that these books center around independent women who work in nontraditional jobs, doing for themselves AND other women. It's a great bit of female empowerment in a fun way.

 

This time, the story focuses on Melody Swan, a woman who comes with a plane full of baggage. Her nickname is "Ice Queen" and it is an apt moniker. That iciness made it truly hard to warm up to her as a character. Instead, I felt more for Heath Starr, the Ladyslayer. Player or not, he was a far warmer and far more sympathetic character. He is also the brother of Alice, one of Melody's best friends and co-owner of their garage.

 

To say that Melody has issues with men, relationships, and sex would be an understatement. The entire thought of intimacy leaves her icily cold to the point of revulsion. This is completely at odds with her deep desire to have a lifetime relationship with a man. In a perfect world, that would mean nothing more than a deep connection and no intimacy. She was so cold and so aloof about what makes her that way that it was hard to connect with her. It felt like Heath was putting it all on the line for her, and she was not giving of herself much at all. Later we find out why she is the way she is, and it makes a little more sense. But it still seemed like an extreme overreaction to the situation.

 

In the end, however, the story became as romantic and sweet as the first book. It has the perfect happy ending!

 

Things to love...

 

--The ending. I hate an HEA in which someone has to give up something just to be together. Heath stood to be the one to make that sacrifice and he didn't. Excellent.
--Heath. In many ways, the book was more about him than Melody. She transformed, but he was more sympathetic.

 

Things I wanted more/less of...

 

--Man hating. The sheer amount of man hating from some of the characters (no names/no specifics=no spoilers) seemed too be a bit much.

 

My Recommendation: This is a fun read with a great ending and even a few twists!

Synopsis:

 

Mechanic Melody Swan is looking for a man who can share her hopes and dreams, but she swore she would never lose herself to passion. When sexy Heath Starr agrees to temporarily sub in the Under the Hood garage for his sister, Mel sees the perfect opportunity to enjoy being with a man without becoming attached.

Heath came to Meadowsweet to photograph nature, not find a hookup, especially since his last relationship ended in disaster. He vowed he’d never break another woman’s heart, and in turn, protect his own. Still, when Mel offers to serve as his outdoor guide, he can’t refuse.

Mel may say she’s only looking for right now, but her body is speaking a whole different language. And Heath’s viewfinder is drawn to her time and again. When the two find themselves isolated in a rustic cabin, they could both break their promises if they aren’t careful…

 

 

My thoughts:

 

 

Careful this might have a few spoilers

Hmm not sure about this book, it was not terrible but not great either.

The first few pages were kind of confusing to start off. I also thought the title somewhat reminded me of a self-help kind of book.

 I thought the main character Mel was kind of weird, she was not looking for a relationship and if she wanted one that one without sex… okayyyyy. But most men didn't go for that… (Wonder why). So than she meets Heath and she tells him that , and he suggest , that she should learn how to tolerate a man’s touch and he is more than willing to help her with that.  Who needs to learn to tolerate anybody’s touch was my thought about that . But then she completely changes and all she can think about is having Sex with Heath, who doesn't want more than friendship not even a one night stand, even though he is known as the “ladyslayer” ……

So with all this it was a bit weird and confusing…..  But I’m sure some people might like it.

It is a short story so that was a bonus as it can be read fast.  I recommend it to all romance and contemporary romance fans

 

I give it 2 ½ ★

*Received an arc copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!