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Hard To Handle (SBC Fighters #3)
by
Lori Foster (Goodreads Author)
Sometimes Fate delivers a left hook. After Fate deals Supreme Battle Challenge (SBe fighter Harley Handleman a sucker punch, his uncle secretly hires a pretty lifecoach to get Harley back in the ring of life. Anastasia Kelley has actually known Harley for years, but never as well as she's going to now. Hot for his fighter's form, she has trouble keeping it professional, es...more
ebook, 352 pages
Published
February 5th 2008
by Berkley
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This latest book in the Fighter Series features fighter Harley Handleman and his vacation cabin landlady, Anastasia Bradley, who is also a lifecoach. Harley and Anastasia have no intentions of becoming involved with one another, but when it appears that someone is trying to harm Anastasia, Harley is determined to keep her safe.
I loved both of the main characters in this book, and enjoyed the return of others from the previous books in the series. The protectiveness that Harley shows towards Ana...more
I loved both of the main characters in this book, and enjoyed the return of others from the previous books in the series. The protectiveness that Harley shows towards Ana...more
This is the third of Lori Foster's three-book series about SBC extreme fighters. I've also read the first two, Causing Havoc and Simon Says (but before I joined Goodreads, so they aren't on my shelf yet). This was not my favorite of the three, but I loved them all.
The hero, Harley Handleman, is an extreme fighter who is in training to fight for the title belt of the SBC. Anastasia Bradley is a life coach who is renting a cabin to Harley. When it seems that someone is out to do harm to Anastasia,...more
The hero, Harley Handleman, is an extreme fighter who is in training to fight for the title belt of the SBC. Anastasia Bradley is a life coach who is renting a cabin to Harley. When it seems that someone is out to do harm to Anastasia,...more
Feb 23, 2008
Auntee
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lori Foster fans; sports romance fans
Shelves:
sports-romance
I really enjoyed this book! This is the third installment in Lori Foster's Extreme Fighters series, and one of the better ones. There's lots of sexual tension in this one between the hero, extreme fighter Harley, and the heroine, life- coach Stasia, but they don't actually 'get together' until the last few chapters of the book, and it's well worth the wait. All the characters from the previous two books make appearances, and there is actually a secondary romance between Harley's friend, Barber,...more
Lori Foster is one of my favorite authors, and she doesn't disappoint with this book. I didn't like it quite as much as "Simon Says" and "Causing Havoc" but it was still a great read. I love all the characters from this series of books and the ultimate fighter setting is a nice change of pace from other books.
There are one or two critiques I could give for this book: the plot resolution at the end was a bit rushed, kinda blink and you miss it, and the indiscriminate sexuality from Barber and to...more
There are one or two critiques I could give for this book: the plot resolution at the end was a bit rushed, kinda blink and you miss it, and the indiscriminate sexuality from Barber and to...more
Apr 20, 2008
~*megs*~
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
modern romance readers
I love the book just as I love all of the Lori Foster books. Its not cheezy romance. Its smart, funny easy reads that get a little hot under the collar!! only down side, I didn't like it nearly as much as the previous two in this series, Havoc and Simon Says. There wasn't as much of a story line with the female role. They focus a little too much on barber instead of the story at hand. Yes, it was nice to see what happened to barber, sinse she couldnt write a book alone on him in this series beca...more
A Few Words about Mixed Martial Arts
I’m a big fan of MMA, Mixed Martial Arts. My love affair began when I watched the first season of the reality tv show Ultimate Fighter. It featured real live MMA fighters training and competing for a chance at a title fight and contract with the UFC (one of the biggest MMA organization in the world), while living together in one house. I have to tell you, that if you’re a fan of fighters and want to see them goof off, train and act like a bunch of catty sorori...more
I’m a big fan of MMA, Mixed Martial Arts. My love affair began when I watched the first season of the reality tv show Ultimate Fighter. It featured real live MMA fighters training and competing for a chance at a title fight and contract with the UFC (one of the biggest MMA organization in the world), while living together in one house. I have to tell you, that if you’re a fan of fighters and want to see them goof off, train and act like a bunch of catty sorori...more
I don't get all the high ratings and good reviews of this book. I didn't enjoy it. There wasn't a lot to it.
I'm not sure why any of the characters were attracted to each other. Harley stated quite well why he wasn't interested and there was never really any indication that he was mistaken about his feelings. Yeah, he was interested but not very. Same for her. But she follows him a few weeks later anyway?
The thing between Jasmine and Barber ... ? What was that? He moves from disdainful to smitte...more
I'm not sure why any of the characters were attracted to each other. Harley stated quite well why he wasn't interested and there was never really any indication that he was mistaken about his feelings. Yeah, he was interested but not very. Same for her. But she follows him a few weeks later anyway?
The thing between Jasmine and Barber ... ? What was that? He moves from disdainful to smitte...more
Thank you, Baby Jesus for not having a weird hook like having people from the future. This is a great book even above that. Harvey Handleman has had a hard life. The only goal he's had in life is to get an SBC title belt and the last three chances he's had have been interrupted, first by his mother's death, then his fiancée's near death and, in the last book in the series, a dislocated elbow gotten when he was trying to defend his friend's wife.
Anastasia Bradley is a life coach whose last clien...more
Anastasia Bradley is a life coach whose last clien...more
This is my least favorite of the SBC fighters series so far. Like the other books in the series, it was a quick, largely entertaining read, but unfortunately, I felt that both Harley and Anastasia were underdeveloped as characters. The sum total of what I know about Anastasia is that she's 28, a life coach, she rents out cabins in the winter and stays there to relax, and she loves Harley. I'm not sure if her parents are alive or dead, or if she has any family. She doesn't seem to have friends, e...more
I think this book deserves more of a 2.5 stars rather than 3. This was my first Lori Foster book. It started out really good but kept taking unexpected turns. It doesn't read like your usual romance novel which I found refreshing. However, the plot was sloppy. It reminded me of a soap opera. The story kept changing courses. In the beginning of the book the heroine is describe as a tough, forward, no-nonsense type of girl but by the end she turns into this insecure complicated nut case.
The subpl...more
The subpl...more
Nov 14, 2011
Kerry sullivan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
thriller-suspence-mystery,
romance
This book was reviewed for Musings of a bookworm
The Blurb
Sometimes Fate delivers a left hook.
After Fate deals Supreme Battle Challenge (SBC) fighter Harley Handleman a sucker punch, his uncle secretly hires a pretty lifecoach to get Harley back in the ring of life. Anastasia Kelley has actually known Harley for years, but never as well as she's going to now.
Hot for his fighter's form, she has trouble keeping it professional, especially since Harley doesn't know she was hired. And when Anast...more
The Blurb
Sometimes Fate delivers a left hook.
After Fate deals Supreme Battle Challenge (SBC) fighter Harley Handleman a sucker punch, his uncle secretly hires a pretty lifecoach to get Harley back in the ring of life. Anastasia Kelley has actually known Harley for years, but never as well as she's going to now.
Hot for his fighter's form, she has trouble keeping it professional, especially since Harley doesn't know she was hired. And when Anast...more
Sep 26, 2010
Jane Stewart
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-romance
Enjoyable, fun story.
The first couple of pages "grab you." Very well done. Harley is a mixed martial arts fighter who only does one-night stands with women. I wish the author would have given the reader a little more detail about why he fell for Stasia. She had always been attracted to him, but she held back and tried not to show it, which I could understand, but it was not sincere. He gradually fell for her. I wanted to know more about what changed him to want only one woman. I think I would ha...more
The first couple of pages "grab you." Very well done. Harley is a mixed martial arts fighter who only does one-night stands with women. I wish the author would have given the reader a little more detail about why he fell for Stasia. She had always been attracted to him, but she held back and tried not to show it, which I could understand, but it was not sincere. He gradually fell for her. I wanted to know more about what changed him to want only one woman. I think I would ha...more
Extreme fighter Harley Handleman has an outlook on life as hard as his muscular body. Fate has dealt him a sucker punch - and a low blow, at that. First there was his failed attempts at the title belt. Then Harley's mother lost her fight with breast cancer, leaving him with no family but his trainer, Uncle Satch.
Taking a break in the mountains seemed like a good idea. But his vacation isn't nearly as restful as he expected - thanks to his landlady, Anastasia Bradley. Their verbal sparring keeps...more
Taking a break in the mountains seemed like a good idea. But his vacation isn't nearly as restful as he expected - thanks to his landlady, Anastasia Bradley. Their verbal sparring keeps...more
Enjoyed this one way more that Simon Says. I think I even liked Simon better in this one then I did in his book. Harley "Hard to Handle" Handleman and his Uncle Satch are charmers from the get even in their prickliness, and Barber is front and center and gets his own love story with Jassy, the polar opposite of Dakota. This book was fun, and the beginning scenes between Stasia and Harley in the icy cold town of Echo Lake were great. I understood Harley and his need for control, and I found it an...more
For the most part I would say that this book is typical Lori Foster. I'm becoming a little jaded by her SBC fighters. I no longer connect to this idea of primitive male who is aggressive, arrogant, and protective. Sometimes her male characters are asses. In a way that is part of the joy of them. Emotionally, they aren't an idealized representation of the man that "progressive" women want to be with. They are the men that they are actually with. The idealized part comes with the physical descript...more
This book follows the Foster formula perfectly with the hero being a professional fighter and the damsel being in distress. The big alpha male continually pushes the heroine away, while peeing on her leg. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. Foster’s take on bondage is eye rollingly ridiculous. Like Foster’s other books, the baddie isn’t anything truly scary. I’m not sure the baddie’s motivation is very clear.
The narrator changed, a lot. It changed enough that I found it irritating. But,...more
The narrator changed, a lot. It changed enough that I found it irritating. But,...more
Aug 19, 2011
WillowBe
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
modern-romance-explicit-sex
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Liked the hero, liked the heroine, remember many of the side characters from previous installments. Overall light and fun. A solid 3.5. So what keeps it from the four spot? The plot. The reason behind the attacks and how and why everybody was together was by far the weakest point in the story.
Harley Handleman is an MMA fighter in search of his title belt. Anastasia Bradley is a life coach and an independent woman. Life coach? OK, I'll buy that. Odd blizzards and hired thugs that don't make a lot...more
Harley Handleman is an MMA fighter in search of his title belt. Anastasia Bradley is a life coach and an independent woman. Life coach? OK, I'll buy that. Odd blizzards and hired thugs that don't make a lot...more
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Although the whole SBC fighter thing in the most recent books leaves me cold, I usually love Lori Foster's books.
However, this one was a disappointment to me. I strongly disliked Harley's character and that wrecked the book for me.
In addition, this book seemed strongly weighted towards the male point-of-view; in that it was more about one-night-stands and a body count and less about romance and love. As a female reader, this bothers me and leaves me dissatisfied. I prefer books where I feel af...more
However, this one was a disappointment to me. I strongly disliked Harley's character and that wrecked the book for me.
In addition, this book seemed strongly weighted towards the male point-of-view; in that it was more about one-night-stands and a body count and less about romance and love. As a female reader, this bothers me and leaves me dissatisfied. I prefer books where I feel af...more
1 like · like · see review
Anastasia Bradley is Harley Handleman's winter landlord and though there is attraction on her part, Harley has always been stand-offish. However, this year when the blizzard hits, Stacia is being threatened and Harley starts to "feel" something for her. The white knight in him won't let him leave her in potential danger so he spends more time than he wants with her, developing an unwanted connection. His troubled past usually keeps him from committing to anything more than a one night stand. Sta...more
Sep 07, 2010
KimKirt
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
romance-contemporary
Sometimes things about a book bug me, and they stick in my head throughout the whole book. Now, don't get me wrong, I love this series and as far as this particular book goes, I enjoyed it just as much as the first two, except I can't get it out of my head when near the beginning of the book the power is out in the whole town, but they drop the local garage owner, Ned, off at his house and wait until he turns the porch light on before driving away. Then the story continues and the power is still...more
3 likes · like · see review
Mar 05, 2009
Maria
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Maria by:
Jayne Ann Krentz
Shelves:
romance
Since I am not knowledgeable about MMA, it took me a while to get into this book. On the other hand, I have a son who wrestles, so some aspects were not completely foreign. Again, I'm usually not into promiscuity, whether on the male or the female side, so I almost put it down due to that aspect of the book. I'm glad I didn't, because it soon left the promiscuity behind and got very interesting. Now I'm thinking I need to read the two prequels to this book.
So after 3 months I finally found the time to finish this book. I bought it and 2 others at Half Price Books during their sale because it was Lori Foster and I do love her.
I did enjoy this book. This is not the same as the series I first fell in love with, her Men who walk the edge. I did enjoy. I did not read the first two in the series (mainly cause I did not realize there were 2 before this one). There were a lot of characters and sometimes it was hard to keep track of who was who and how the...more
I did enjoy this book. This is not the same as the series I first fell in love with, her Men who walk the edge. I did enjoy. I did not read the first two in the series (mainly cause I did not realize there were 2 before this one). There were a lot of characters and sometimes it was hard to keep track of who was who and how the...more
I have to say I think that this was my favorite. I really liked that Barber's story was in here as well. Barberosa? Who would have thought? Ha! I liked Harley from the moment he made an appearance in the Simon's book. Circumstances aside, Harvey turned out to be my favorite so far. Thanks for theses books I love them. Now I just have to wait to get Mallet's story from the library!!
Harley an SBC fighter is recovering from an injury at a cabin near Anastasia's cabin who is a life coach. They have known each other for years but Anastasia always thought of Harley as just a friend until now... unforeseen events bring to two together. Then Harley gets his chance to get back in the fighting game and goes back to Harmony, Kentucky to train with fellow fighters and friends. What he doesn't know is that Anastasia followed him but not for the reasons he hopes...Harley is attracted t...more
Book 3 Hard to Handle is my favorite of all the SBC so far, Harley sexy as hell with rock hard body and sexy attitude, Anastasia is a beautiful owner of the cottage Harley rents to get away. At first Harley doesn't notice the sexy stasia (as Harley calls her) but Stasia always noticed Harley. Stasia and Harley make a sexy couple, but Harley makes not commitments or does he? When they say. Goodbye they can't stop thinking about each other. When they meet again sparks fly and they can't stay away...more
I am enjoying Ms. Foster's way of writing sexy, manly, sexual characters without being pornographic, cookie cutter or misogynistic. Its unfortunate that I began reading this one without knowing about the others in the series, but I don't think I ruined the other stories and I'm looking forward to reading them!
Sep 22, 2009
Trang Nguyen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-romance-sport,
read-in-2009
Another great read by Foster. What I loved about this book is the fact the previous couples from the first two books reappear and take a certain role in Hard to Handle. I also love the fact that there is a little but of everything in this book. The steamy romance which finally Errupts, a suspenseful plot line, witty funny characters, and at times melancholy moments.
Again another good read that keeps me reading about these SBC Fighters.
Again another good read that keeps me reading about these SBC Fighters.
Another smokin' hot novel by Lori Foster. Hard To Handle is book 3 in the SBC Fighters series, and I can say that they've all been full of action, drama, love, lust and just flat out sexiness. Foster creates an image of fighters who are strong, powerful, incredibly motivated, extremely driven, passionate, and sexy, sexy, sexy men! They're awesome fighters, and they fight hard, but once the right woman storms into their lives they love even harder.
Each novel in the series focuses on one fighter i...more
Each novel in the series focuses on one fighter i...more
A story about a prize fighter named Harley who takes a break in the mountains every year and rents his cabin from Anastasia. She acts like she is only a friend and not interested in a relationship. That catches his attention but then his fight training gets in the way of their connection.
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Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a Waldenbooks, Borders, USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. Lori has published through a variety of houses, including Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin, Silhouette and Samhain. She is currently with Berkley/Jove.
Lori believes it’s important to give back to the community as much as possible, and for th...more
More about Lori Foster...
Lori believes it’s important to give back to the community as much as possible, and for th...more
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