Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Sweat Connection
SERIES: Hot Under the Collar
AUTHOR: Katherine McIntyre
NARRATOR: Dylan Rockwell
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 11 minutes
RELEASE DATE: August 16, 2023
BLURB:
One disaster bi single dad. One sexy plumber on a house call. One hot-as-hell romance.
Rhys
If I was a hot mess before becoming a single dad, my life’s pretty much an on-fire garbage can now. Okay, maybe that’s a tad melodramatic—my bestie/baby momma/ex-girlfriend is still awesome, currently in the throuple of her dreams. And my kiddo Sammy’s amazing, albeit exhausting. I’m the one who’s too intense and rambling, too obsessed with random trivia, too liable to set dinner on fire. Essentially, too much for any relationship.
However, when a hottie plumber drops by to fix our toilet—thanks, Sammy—and gives me his number? My luck might just be turning around.
Cole
After my dad moved to a retirement community, he left me with the big, old house I grew up in and a whole lot of loneliness. I thought by now I’d be settled down, but no one’s looking for the guy who likes long hikes with his dog, stargazing, and fixing shit around the house. They want fun, entertaining, flashy—not me.
Except when I give Rhys my private line for an emergency house call, I show up for the job to discover it’s a date. It seems like I might’ve met the one man on earth who’s just as interested as I am—if only we can find the guts to admit it.
REVIEW:
Cole is the plumber that Rhys calls to fix a toilet that Sammy has clogged up with a toy 😉 Cole is a big burly guy who ticks all of Rhys’s boxes. When Cole finishes the job, he gives Rhys his card with his personal number. Rhys misreads that and asks Cole to come over at 5 pm. It’s a date. That he isn’t an all clear about. Cole thinks he’s there for a plumbing job and has come straight from his workday. Rhys is mortified. Cole tells him he doesn’t hit on customers – trying to be professional and all 😉 But he can’t help be flatted by the gorgeous guy inviting him over. Things go a bit sideways with dinner, but Cole sort of rescues the evening. And well one thing leads to another 😉
Cole and Rhys keep texting and seeing each other. Both of them are waiting for this thing to end because neither of them have been lucky in relationships. Cole isn’t one for partying. Rhys has his toddler every other week. But they keep really enjoying each other’s company and doing things together that they both enjoy. Cole is too agreeable at times and Rhys pushes him to verbalize what he really wants rather than just going along with him. He also calms Rhys’s chaotic reactions in a way that nobody has every done before. He’s happy to go along with spontaneous Rhys.
Eventually they introduce each other to the important people in their lives. Cole’s father has recently moved to a retirement community and Cole is rattling around the family homestead alone. When Rhys meets Cole’s dad finally, they really hit it off and he’s thrilled that his son has found someone. That Rhys already has a kid is a huge bonus. Rhys’s friends who are really his family embrace Cole right away. They grow more comfortable in each other’s lives although they are still holding back about what they are really feeling and wanting. It takes a little bit of a push from outside to get them to the next step 😉
This is a really sweet and sexy story of two guys who don’t believe that they are what anyone would be looking for in a partner. Cole thinks he’s too boring for anyone to want to be with long term – as based on his past experience. He’s not a party guy. He’s spent a lot of years being there for his dad after his mom died. He’s a homebody and that’s just fine with him. Potential boyfriends though? Apparently not so much. Rhys is a single dad who, after calling it quits with his best friend and mother of his son, is feeling like he’s never going to find someone. He’s been told over and over and over again that he’s “too much” and that has given him a complete lack of confidence in relationships. He figures if he can’t make a go of things with his best friend Kelsey, then why would some guy want to be with him when his life is chaos personified and include a rambunctious toddler names Sammy? I love that this story is told from dual POV so that we know how each guy is dealing with maybe finding the guy that they can be with forever. Their motivations were clear and more than that believable. I really felt for Rhys being told he was too much by too many people who should have had his back. I loved how Kelsey and the rest of this friends rallied around him and pushed him to go after what he really wants. Everybody needs friends like this! These two both deserve their HEA and it makes a lot of other people happy for them which is extra sweet 🙂 This is actually my first book from this author and I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.
Dylan Rockwell is a new to me narrator. I enjoyed his performance here. He really performed the sex scenes with gusto 😉 Both MCs have distinct voices that I appreciated. Sammy, the toddler was a delight! All of the supporting character voices were well done and fit the characters as well. I though he hit the right emotional tones too of these two guys who didn’t think they’d ever be a good fit for anybody. I’m looking forward to more books from this team.
RATING: 
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