Roosevelt

Steel Bones Motorcycle Club #2.5

by Cate C. Wells

Hunger is the sweetest spice.

Theo Mancini wants me.

He touches me when he shouldn’t. Says things that make my face burn. He’s always there, and he always has my back.
And even though I shouldn’t, I want him, too.

But I’m thirty-one, and I’m about to lose everything.

He’s twenty-two with his whole life ahead of him.

It’s impossible.

But Theo Mancini doesn’t let anything—or anyone—stop him from getting what he wants, and that’s me—heart, soul, and body.

Roosevelt is a steamy, older woman/younger man age gap romance. This novella is a companion to Nickel’s Story, the second book in the Steel Bones Motorcycle series, but it can be read as a standalone. Intended only for adult readers.

No cheating. HEA guaranteed.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Novella, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Fiction

101 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 17, 2021

About the author

CATE C. WELLS writes gut-wrenching paranormal and contemporary romance. Whatever the world, readers can expect character-driven stories that are raw, real, and emotionally satisfying. Cate's into messy love, flaws, long roads to redemption, grace, and happy ever after, in fiction and in life.

As well as books, Cate has collected a husband, two daughters, and a cat along the way. She lives in Baltimore when she’s not out exploring with the family.

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Reviews

[Romantically Inclined Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a book with a plus-sized woman (who becomes even more curvy) where the author does more than just casually mention she has a muffin top...but then somehow her stomach is still flat? Idk. Carmela is "pudgy" (her words) and Theo loves it. Acknowledges it. Kisses it. Plus he finishes all over her, rubs it in, licks it off. Oh baby. New kink unlocked.

Great short little tid bit about our Steel Bones hero.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked what we got to see of Roosevelt in Story and Nickel's book, hated how he was hurt. With this book we get more of Roosevelt's back story. I loved how confident Theo was about Carmela, knew he needed to bide his time for his chance at something real with her. I'm glad that Theo did what he could to keep track of Carmela when her life went to hell and that Carmela took a chance and reached out to Theo when he missed a call to her. Carmela might have had her eyes opened to the MC life, but so worth it for a good man like Theo.

[Izzie d · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age difference.
Hero is 22, heroine is 30 I think.
No intimate scenes other than the Hero and heroine.
Hero and heroine have been friends for a while.
He was interested in her from the time they met but she doesn't take him seriously.
He says he hasn't been a monk while he waited for her.
During separation, she moves away, due to circumstances not to do with the Hero, neither are with others.
HEA.
Epilogue.

[Sibel Gandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 / 5

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[Shirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick novela about how Theo "Roosevelt" came to join the Steel Bones MC. Really it's more about Carmela who is nine years older than Theo and his boss. He wants her and he is just biding his time. She is over worked and stressed out and he doesn't know what to do to help her besides working even when he is supposed to be off. After everything is lost she takes off to stay with family and avoid him. He goes to prospect for the MC but he keeps calling her even though she doesn't answer. See what happens when she accidentally answers.

[ToriLovesHea’s · Rating 4 out of 5]

This works best as a companion novella to Nickel’s Story and should probably be read after reading it for a small chunk fo make sense!

Older woman/younger man (she’s 31 and he’s 22), workplace romance, curvy heroine, and MMC that’s obsessed with his girl.

Dammit if I’m not on a series binge. This series just works for me. It’s gritty and endearing at the same time.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theo was soo swoony!

[Rachael*Caribbean*girl*bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoilers ahead



Awwwwww this was cute as heck and I'm not a fan of this trope at all 😂



We met Roosevelt as a prospect for the Steel Bones in the previous book. Here we go back a ways and see him working in the restaurant with Carmela. With her brother being a dickhead Carmela quits and leaves town just as things finally get heated between her and Roosevelt. He goes to work with Wall and eventually ends up as a prospect. He finds where she is and slowly rebuilds their relationship never once giving up on her
Carmela loses her beloved grandparents restaurant to her despicable brother just as she finally gets close to Roosevelt. He's 9 years younger than she is so she writes it off as a crush. Months later he hasn't given up, when he's hurt Carmela rushes to his side and they finally get together


***
From the beginning Roosevelt wanted Carmela but at 18 he knew she wouldn't go there
He's had girls in between and finally years later he gets his shot with Carmela
In the months long separation he isn't with anyone else
Carmela is 9 years older but very shy and not much experience
She's also described as pudgy with a tummy.... It's absolutely clear Roosevelt doesn't mind 😂

[hea booktubes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely my least favorite by this author that I’ve gotten to. They were basically not together for the entire thing. She was very insecure. OW/YM CW for domestic abuse.

[vee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.23✨

’Carmela Mazza has my heart in her apron pocket, and I ain’t fixin’ to go off without it.’

not rlly sold for the relationship / carmella as an individual but theo🥰

’I’ve got irons in the fire as my Pops used to say. That’s the only reason I’m not going crazy, waiting for Carmela.
The longer we’re apart, the more fixated she gets on food. She wants to talk all night long about cheese and herbs. I lay in my bunk at the Steel Bones MC clubhouse, slowly stroking my cock, as she asks me whether or not I think people—theoretically—wanna eat calamari standing up.
I don’t say I wanna eat her pussy standing up, but only ‘cause she gets skittish when I talk dirty, and I live for Sunday nights.’

‘The fat guy’s trying to knock me down, but the convict’s going for my neck, my kidneys. He wants to kill me.
I’m not dyin’ today.
I don’t know how many rounds I’ve gone, but I only need to do a few more. Back up is coming. All I need to do is slow these motherfuckers down enough for my brothers to arrive.
They think I’m gonna break?
There’s no way. It’s Sunday. I gotta call Carmela tonight.’

[Boo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just re-read and loved even more. Wish you could buy a paperback :(

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, albeit underdeveloped, novella! It was refreshing to have an age gap romance that was an older woman and younger man. I tend to struggle with doormat characters like Carmela and I couldn’t understand how on earth she had anything to do with her abusive brother, much less why she’d signed everything over to him, no matter how grief-stricken she was when their grandfather died. I’m glad she had someone like Theo on her side. I really admired his patience and ability to play the long game with her.

It's odd p-in-v sex is so idealized in this world and that they didn't have penetrative sex until the epilogue. It's such a heteronormative mindset and it takes away from how hot their first sex scene was just because it's "only" oral sex. Obviously, characters don't need to rush to have sex or have it on any certain timeframe but I've noticed that this author tends to make her female main characters wait much longer before they have sex (with their love interest or in general), whereas the male characters don't.

Character notes: Theo “Roosevelt” is a 22 year old Italian Puerto Rican MC prospect and construction worker, as well as former restaurant employee. Carmela is a 31 year old fat Italian American restaurant owner. She has asthma. This is set in Pyle, Petty’s Mill, and Stonecut, PA.

Content notes: emotionally and physically abusive brother, physical assault by rival MC resulting in injuries, murder in self-defense, internalized fatphobia, past death of grandfather, past death of FMC’s parents (accident), past death of MMC’s father, on page sex, cigarettes, alcohol, gendered insults, gender essentialism, ableist language

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novella. I would have liked it even better had it been a full length novel.

[Chalice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The couple: Roosevelt (Theo) and Carmela

Romance trope: MC; reverse age gap
Series: Steel Bones Motorcycle Club
Length: 101 pages

Plot: Carmela does nothing but work, trying to save her beloved grandfather's restaurant. Theo works with her, not wanting to leave her, even if she tells him there can be nothing between them. He's a hot, younger man with so much potential, and she feels like she's already work out and she's not willing to drag him down. But while Theo is young, he's also patient and knows a good thing when he sees it.

Commentary: This one was pretty sweet, and I loved that they both spent their time apart becoming better and different people, but still people who were meant to be together.

Previous book in the series: Nickel's Story
Next book in the series: Scrap

[Ariel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Might have liked it better if it were longer. Didn't feel fleshed out enough for me to care about either of them.

[oitb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Cate C. Wells' books and I LOVE an older woman/younger man story, but the way she wrote the younger hero's POV was so cringe to me — does she think this is how 21 year-old men speak???? Oof.

[Vicious but Romantic · Rating 5 out of 5]

No surprise here. It's a reverse age gap novella with a curvy heroine. I love that shit.

[T Rojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read 12/30/24 ugh Roosevelt was so hot

Roosevelt is such a sweetheart! I wished it were longer and we got to see Carmela’s food truck dream happen.

[BiblioDarling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating System (as of 8/14/2025):
⭐: It was a struggle to read. I almost DNF
⭐⭐: This could have been so much better.
⭐⭐⭐: Good/Average
⭐⭐⭐⭐: Great book. I will probably reread it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: I absolutely loved this book.
***********************************************************************
Triggers:
🚩Death of Parents/Grandparents
🚩Abuse
🚩Violence

Tropes:
💕Curvy Girl
💕MC Romance
💕MF Romance
💕He Falls First
💕Workplace Romance
💕Age Gap Romance
💕HEA
💕Novella

Spice Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Spice Level Rating System (as of 9/4/25)
🔥: Clean. Handholding. Kissing.
🔥🔥: Non-Descriptive/Implied on Page Sex
🔥🔥🔥: Hot-Descriptive on Page Sex
🔥🔥🔥🔥: So Hot—Do Not Read in Public
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥: Oh My-BDSM. Blood Play. Smut.

************************************************************************
Summary:
This book is part of a series, and I suggest you read them in order.

FMC and MMC work at the FMCs family restaurant. Unknown to the FMC the MMC has had a crush on her for years. The FMC is going through several life changes including the selling of her family restaurant. The MMC is prospecting in a mc club and is coming into his own.

Review:
This novella was an amazing addition to the series. Just a short story about Roosevelt-the woman he loves and how he is prospecting for the club. I am enjoying this series more and more with each book. The characters overlap and are developed. The storylines sometimes run concurrently. This book fit right in and made me want more. Kudos to creating a story where the FMC has a muffin top and is still found sexy. Loved it.

MC Romance Author Recommendations:
Eve Black
Candice Wright
Samantha Cole
Penny Dee
Sandy Alvarez & Crystal Daniels
Audrey Bell

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Theo has been in love with Carmela since he was 18, but she’s always seen him as a sweet kid that works in her grandparents’ restaurant. After her grandfather died her brother pressured her to sell her half of their business and their house and now, two years later, the restaurant is about to go under. Theo has supported Carmela from afar as much as he can, but when things start to go from bad to worse, he decides to make his feelings clear.

This was short and sweet and really easy to read, it took me about half-an-hour to get through it. Theo is an absolutely adorable character, charming and sexy, and Carmela is really soft and sweet. I loved their romance and how he brought her out of her shell. It had some good steamy moments as well. I liked that the novella showed them spending time apart and getting to know one another as well, that made their relationship feel more solid to me.

I would have liked a little more of the MC club - whilst I’ve encountered Roosevelt in other books in this series I didn’t recognise his character in this so much from those books and his joining the club felt a bit forced in to this plotline, in my opinion. But I enjoyed reading it. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick age gap, older-woman-younger-man romance novella set around a motorcycle club.

Content Notes: Warnings: Death of a loved one (in-past), grief, violence, controlling behaviour.

Other: On-page sex, age gap He’s 22, she’s 31..

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally don’t super like older woman / younger man romances and this one certainly has a large age gap. I feel like the trope generally doesn’t work for me because I personally don’t like the idea of being with a younger dude. Also, for me it’s kind of like, how when someone is sexist I can forgive them because I am a woman so the slight was against me, but I find it much harder to forgive someone who has been racist because I’m not a person of colour. So like, as a woman I can accept the power imbalance when the female character doesn’t hold the position of power, but when it’s reversed so that the character I identify with holds the power it’s harder for me to get on board. That being said... I actually really enjoyed this book and the author wrote it in a way that I could get on board with. Wasn’t my favourite of this series, but it was short and nice. It was also cool getting the bar scene from Theo’s perspective.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters: Theo (Roosevelt) and Carmela

Carmela is 31 and has been working for her grandparents restaurant for years. When her grandmother dies, Carmela decides to rely on her brother to help run the business. That ultimately was a huge mistake on her part because her POS brother left all the work to her, while he reaped the benefits and taking money from the till. He also would get so mad that he would end up hitting her.

Theo has been working for the restaurant for years and has been in love with Carmela for probably that long as well. He’s 22 years old, and Carmela treats him like they are friends when Theo wants so much more with her

This was a cute novella. You could see how much Theo loved Carmela and it took Carmela some time to realize that Theo was the one for her. It wasn’t until Theo got hurt that Carmela came running to his side.

[Birdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while both delirious with a cold and extremely sleep-deprived, so feel free to take my word with a grain of salt, but from what I remember, I had a great time. Cate C. Wells has such a gift for creating characters that are both incredibly distinct and intuitively familiar in the ways that they act, present themselves, and move around the world. Theo plucks his eyebrows! Carmela has asthma! It just all feels so real. I had a bit of trouble keeping track of the plot, but I think that's probably just due to my previously-mentioned state. It's not super high-stakes, we know that the characters are super into each other, it's just more about them getting to a place in their lives where they can start a relationship. Anyway, really sweet, would love to re-read it at a time when I am actually clear-headed.

[Laura Reads Too Much · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet again, another excellent read

We meet Theo throughout the series as a prospect and there's been a few times an older woman mentioned, someone even let her name slip in one of the books!....
We get to meet Carmela in this one and for years, he's been sweet on her. She thought it was harmless flirting but soon realised he wanted more.
But when is anything straight forward??!
This is their story of making it through and following the heart...

Yet another excellent read, although I do think it could have been a full length novel....why is he having to look after so many? When did it start going wrong for her?? I suppose that just shows how much I like Cate's work? Because I definitely want more!!

[May Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book from the author, and while I find the premise and the plot of this book interesting, I feel that this does not deserve to be compressed into a novella. It has interesting characters with an equally interesting plot that I itch to know more about, especially how our MCs deal with their "villain." Plus, the steamy scenes are practically fade to black, with a make-out scene that is eyebrow-raising and icky all at the same time (I never read quite like it until this one, and I do not know what to think, really). Either way, if the rest of the books from the series have the same length as this, they might be a good respite from whatever I was reading or something to that effect.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

For 100 pages, this was fantastic!! I really really enjoyed this one. It’s always fun to see a good reverse age gap that really clicks. I love that Theo was so convinced that he would eventually make Carmela love him 🥹 his decision to overwork himself at Mazza’s so he could spend time with and help Carmela! Him defending her against her loser brother! Him calling her every week! Secretly making her brother pay her her fair share of the cut of Mazza’s! Him loving her at any and every weight!!! Gahhh so cute.

It was interesting to see how their fall out led to him prospecting Steel Bones and to get to see Stonecut County’s cameo in this too!! Carmela works with Carl and Denise at the diner Shay used to work at!! Super fun and the romance was just so super cute.

[KatjaA · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did I not notice before? He’s physically perfect. Maybe because really noticing would mean I’d have to take a look in the mirror and face the fact that it’s crazy to think that he sees me as special. He’s just a flirt.

Carmela Mazza has my heart in her apron pocket, and I ain’t fixin’ to go off without it.

This was such a sweet and low angst reverse agegap story. I think i've read lately too much storylines where my heartrate is too high cuz of the angst. While reading the book, I kept waiting for everything to collapse and go to hell, but luckily that moment never came. Sometimes you just need to read a book with a wholesome lovestory about two people who fell in love.

I just wished to read more of them, and that's why i can't give a 5 stars.

[K.G. White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of a bummer because it was so short and we didn't really learn anything new about Roosevelt. I guess it talks about his perspective from when the Rebel Raiders were at the same bar as him and Story and Dizzy's old lady, but I don't know anything about him except that he is young and the Italian woman he likes his about a decade older and really insecure because her brother is abusive. I mean, this was kind of a nothing book. Most of the book they weren't even together or trying to be together, they were just trying to make their own lives better (which is a great goal), but I am not sure this was necessary.

[☾⋆⁺ Nurse After Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little flutter of excitement tickles my belly. I’ve always had a thing for motorcycles.

This was a sweet little story - it was great seeing how Roosevelt patched into Steel Bones, and also seeing his POV from the bar scene from Nickel's Story! I did find this story a tiny bit slower than the rest of the series so far - I think it was the time jump. Necessary for Carmela and Theo's development, though!

Overall, I'll look forward to seeing them in the periphery of future books! Carmela needs that family connection and I'm sure SB will welcome her with open arms.