Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Handyman and the Barkeep
SERIES: Snow Creek Ranch
AUTHOR: A.M. Arthur
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 221 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2026
BLURB:
Sometimes second chances arrive on red-eye flights…
Malcolm Montgomery will moonlight as almost anything, if you need him to do the job. While he enjoys being the preferred handyman at Snow Creek Ranch, his favorite role is full-time Uncle to his recently-widowed sister’s four kids. Working hard helps him forget he’s never managed a long-term relationship, and that he’s unlikely to find one in small-town Chance, Colorado—not until his first love books a red-eye flight right back into his life.
Ichabod “Iggy” Donohue adores being a mixologist. The job is creative, high-energy, lets him travel, and it puts a physical barrier between himself and other people every night. When his beloved Uncle Howie falls gravely ill and needs help running his saloon, Iggy has no choice but to return to Chance—his old hometown and the site of his greatest heartbreak.
Iggy and Malcolm fell deeply in love back in high school, but a viscous teenage prank left Iggy humiliated and alone, and he’s run from it ever since. He fully expects seeing Malcolm again after seventeen years will be uncomfortable, maybe even painful. Instead, their reunion is like slipping into his boyfriend’s softest sweatshirt: warm, familiar, and he doesn’t want to give it back. They’ve both lived a lifetime without each other, with only empty beds to show for it, but what if…?
Malcolm is settled in Chance; Iggy isn’t here to stay. This second chance might be exactly what they’ve both been waiting for, but they’ll have to clear the wreckage of their shared past, in order to construct a solid foundation for their happily ever after.
The Handyman and the Barkeep is a 60,000 word contemporary m/m cowboy romance featuring a gentle handyman with a heart of gold, a feisty bartender with a painful secret, unexpected second chances, hurt/comfort, and a villainous can of chili. It is book three in the shared world of Snow Creek Ranch. Each book can be read as a standalone, so be sure to check out the entire series!
Content Warning: Mentions of cancer; childhood trauma/abuse/bullying; discussions of unaliving.
REVIEW:
Well this story was a lot more angsty than I expected. These guys have been THROUGH IT. PLEASE take the CW seriously before deciding to dive into this one.
Malcolm ‘Monte’ Montgomery never thought he’d be back in Chance, Colorado to stay. He grew up there in a very unhappy home where he was subjected to abuse by his father. His parent’s marriage was very unhappy and his sister got married (mistake) to get out of the house and then he was there by himself 🙁 Eventually he left town with his mother when his parents finally divorced. The one bright spot in his growing up was finding his first love, Iggy Donohue. Until that ended in spectacular fashion and he was to being alone again 🙁
Iggy Donohue has been in and out of the system because his parents had substance abuse issues. Finally at the end of the line, he lands in Chance, Colorado to live with his Uncle Howie who owns the local saloon. They don’t have a lot and Howie is a widower who has never raised a kid before, so taking on his teenage nephew is new for him as well. But they make it work. Howie is not about to let Iggy down. Iggy meets Malcolm as the new kid at the high school and they end up in the Drama Club working behind the scenes together. On the surface they don’t have much in common, but there is a recognition there.
They end up spending time outside of school and growing closer and when Iggy admits that he’s gay and that’s why his parents left him, Monte comforts him. And more 😉 These two confide in each other and Iggy guesses at what’s going on in Monte’s house that he’s trying to hid. Monte doesn’t even get mad at him for suggesting ways to make it better. They are the only things that keep each other going as they try to get through high school. But then at the end of their senior year, they are victims of more than a vicious prank that tears them apart. And they haven’t spoken since.
When Monte finds Howie Donohue in trouble, he calls an ambulance and it’s a good thing he did. His fast thinking probably saved Howie. He calls Iggy to let him know – to no avail for several days. Iggy finally answers and he’s gobsmacked that Monte is back in Chance. Iggy hasn’t been back since he left after high school. He’s been on the East Coast and has been working as a mixologist for years. He’s had some other drama in his life and he’s not anxious to get back to Chance, but he’s got to get to Howie – the only family member who ever stood by him.
When Monte offers to pick Iggy up from his red-eye flight, he’s nervous. They haven’t spoken since the fateful night in high school. Monte tried, but Iggy refused to see or talk to him. Both have moved on with their lives and here they are virtual strangers. Except there is definitely still something there. But Iggy is worried about Howie. And the Saloon. There is a lot they need to discuss if there is going to be anything between them – even friendship.
Dealing with Howie and Monte’s responsibilities with helping his recently widowed sister and her four kids and keeping the Saloon going take up a lot of their time. In between they fit in visits to Howie, evenings at the Saloon and revealing what the last 17 years have been like for each of them. They both have had their ups and downs. Iggy has had some pretty horrendous trauma that he’s endured and it’s a lot for both of them to divulge. Plus their is the specter of that last night in high school that blew everything sky high. They are going to need to get through all of that before they talk about any kind of future.
Whew. Well this was a lot. Major life stuff happening to both of them while they had no contact was a hurdle for them to get through. There was a lot to say on those subjects and it was clear that Iggy was scared to even hope because he’d already been down this path and had two losses that he’s barely survived. Monte just wants the opportunity to put things right and explain about the night in high school since he’s never had the chance when Iggy left town without speaking to him. I understood why they both didn’t handle things differently. They were kids. They had difficult lives. Neither believed that they deserved good things and they didn’t even know how to fight for themselves let alone each other. It’s too bad it took them so long to get it together, but who knows? If they tried earlier, they might still not have been mature enough to understand how life works. The older you get, the more you hopefully realize that life seldom goes to plan and being flexible and resilient are things that you have to work on if you want to be well-adjusted in the end 🙂 I really liked both of these guys and was happy to see them get their HEA, even if it took years. I would have like more of the ranch here because there is very little crossover with the ranch itself, but that’s only a small niggle. I am enjoying this multi-author series and can’t wait to read the next book.
RATING: 
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