REVIEW: The Handyman and the Barkeep by AM Arthur (Snow Creek Ranch Series)

THE HANDYMAN AND THE BARKEEP

Snow Creek Ranch Series

by AM Arthur

Release Date: February 28, 2024

Review

The Snow Creek Ranch multi-author series has not steered me wrong! I have thoroughly enjoyed every book so far, and this installment by AM Arthur is no different.

Malcolm, the town handyman and sometimes barkeep, thrives on being there for people, including bar owner Howie when he falls sick. And with that, Iggy returns to town. Town native turned city boy mixologist, he stumbles back into small town life (with flair).

It’s a great reunion. I mean it’s awkward, a bit stumbling, and hella healing. It also includes some wonderful new and old characters that help make this series feel so warm. Like you’ve been there yourself.

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Synopsis

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!

About AM Arthur

No stranger to the writing world, A.M. Arthur has been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance wasn't a thing yet) with her later discovery of and subsequent affair with m/m romance stories. When not writing, she can be found in her kitchen, pretending she's an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.

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