4 Stars
Review by Elizabeth
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog

Handle with Care is the third book in the Veteran Movers series by Marie Harte. Every book in the series is interconnected but they can be read as standalone's.

Love. Love. Love!

Handle with Care is a great addition to the Veteran Movers family!! It contains all the good feels with a dash of angst and a side of an untrustworthy heroine. While I loved Evan, Kenzie is my girl! Yes, she did grate my nerves a tad with her insecurities but come on, that is to be expected with her past.

I also loved that Evan was not a “man-whore” which tends to be the trend with military background heros. Once he meets Kenzie it is like love at first sight but darn, does he have to work for it.

All in all, I found the book to be awesome and it did keep my attention, which is kinda hard. The reason I did not give it a full five stars is because the chemistry did feel a bit forced at times but it is what it is. I loved it anyway! Definitely worthy of a one-click!!

***ARC received in exchange for an honest review.***

I just finished reading Handle With Care and I have to say it was a fairly enjoyable read!

I did notice a handful of typos. This book probably could have used another proofread before being published.

I also thought it was a bit long. But that could be because the author elaborated on some events that weren’t very interesting and then glossed over some events that would have been fun to read.

I enjoyed the characters, specifically Kenzie and her friends. They were some scenes early where it was hard to keep track of who was who, especially with Evan and his cousins. There were so many male names to keep track of that are all one syllable. It took me a couple of read throughs of some conversations to get it.

BUT I was very excited to read about a character who was close to his cousins. My cousins are like my siblings and almost every work of fiction I’ve read treats cousins like distant acquaintances. I enjoyed seeing something I could really relate to in Evan and his cousins.

I also enjoyed where all these characters ended up. It was a satisfying ending for the amount of emotional strife the main couple went through.

All in all, the small criticism I have didn’t stop me from swooning, laughing, or fanning myself at various points. This books is definitely worth a read!

Certainly a fun premise. Lots of interesting characters. A little predictable at times but overall a fund read.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
This is a sweet, sexy, and often funny story about a graphic designer and the sexy man who helps her friend move house. While they both feel an immediate attraction, Kenzie has been burned too many times before and Evan has to show her that he’s worth taking a risk on.

The relationship that stops and starts between Kenzie and Evan is entertaining. Kenzie’s little brother brings charm and humour to the story. Kenzie’s friends are smart and funny – and I loved them.

My only reservations about the book lie with the two main characters. I understand why Kenzie is skittish about relationships, but the girl has serious baggage and her neurosis were a little bit much for me after a while. I loved everything about Kenzie in the rest of her life – her friends are wonderful, she’s great with her brother, she’s a fantastic businesswoman – but she’s infuriating when it comes to men. Her character is realistic, but I didn’t love the angst and meltdowns.

Evan is also a little bit infuriating because he is perfect. Kind, patient, thoughtful, successful – he’s a fantasy boyfriend from central casting. I’m not sure I’m even allowed to be irritated by perfection but my favourite men have a little edge, a few quirks, and they mess up sometimes.

Overall, this is a fun, easy read full of likeable characters and family drama. It’s the third book in a series but I read it as a standalone without any problems. It’s a well-paced read and I liked the writing style.

Handle with Care by Marie Harte is book three in her Veteran Movers Series. Every book is about another couple and could be read as standalones. Fot best reading experience I recommend to read the books in order.
The previous books are The Whole Package and Smooth Moves.
Evan is part owner of a moving company. Oh the things he could tell.
His last assignement leads him to three slighty excentric women, one of them is Kenzie. She's the guardian for her no good brother and she likes Evan just fine too.
Handle with Care is a sweet romance with some drama and a few twists and turns. I really liked the writing and the storyline, the characters and the beautifully thought out story.

I have been waiting for Evan's story and it is my absolute favorite out of the series so far.

Evan is the quiet one of the family. He's the silent partner with his cousins in Vets on the Move! And with his cousin Cash out with a broken limb - he's helping to fill in with some of the moves. This where he finds Kenzie - the woman who took his breath away the minute he sees her.

Evan and Kenzie hit it off from the start. And I loved these two together. But both have some underlying feelings about past relationships that are keeping them from being fully engaged with their relationship.

Daniel, Kenzie's little brother, is a great icebreaker in the storyline and I loved his interaction with Evan. The Bromance is fun and heartwarming.

Kenzie's cast of friends also play a huge part in the story and had me laughing to the point of crying at moments. They were a great addition to the storyline too.

Evan melted my heart. Kenzie was cute and vulnerable and the perfect fit for the ever-patient Evan.
My heart definitely was won over by Evan. Each book in the series gets better and better and I can't wait for more in the series!

Marie Harte is a master at conversation. This book had me riveted with the back and forth between the characters! I so enjoy reading about the people she has in her stories. I come to care for them and have to see what they are up to now. This one is the CPA cousin of the moving company. I'm hoping for more stories about these oh so capable retired military movers.

Evan Griffith has finally left the CPA firm that has been overworking him and he is now filling in at the moving company for his cousin Cash who has broken his arm. Evan is enjoying doing physical labor, meeting clients and getting to know the crew. He meets Kenzie Sykes when she is in a wild tantrum as the next door neighbor of Rachel Kim, the lady he's moving across town. For some nutty reason he's attracted to her and she is too. When she comes over to apologize for her brother Daniel's prank they interact more. Kenzie's life is stressed with too much to handle and a tech savant smart 13 year old brother whose starting to get in trouble.

Later in the book they make a deal, he'll help her with her company's tax problem and repairs at her house if she'll design a logo for the moving company. She's partners in a graphic design company with her next door neighbors Rachel Kim and Lila. Both she and Evan are keeping their hearts shielded against love. He lost his fiance to cancer. Her fiance abandoned her and brother Daniel abruptly. Both keep busy to avoid romantic entanglements in their lives. Rachel is protective of Daniel as she raised him since she was 18 and he 2. They come at a set in her mind. Evan is an only child and his mother is showing same of the same cancer signs as his fiance showed before she was diagnosed in an advanced stage. Their lives come together in a mutually helping each other out and fall in love.

Marie's stories have a strong community of close knit characters, even set in Seattle it has a small town vibe to it. She has a great feel for relationships and dialogue and I always fall into her world and want to learn all the secrets.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Fizzy, bubbly, sensational and sexy are just some of the words I can use to describe how I felt about some of the characters while reading this novel. I laughed, giggled, snickered and face-palmed; I grinned, gasped and fanned myself from the heat. All this from one book that was so good, I stayed up to almost 2 a.m. to finish it. Why is it so awesome? Because Ms. Harte made me feel like I was right there, walking alongside Evan and Kenzie, Daniel and Smith, Lila and Rachel and the whole cast that made up the families of both the hero and heroine. I felt part of the inner circle because of the third person POV from both Evan and Kenzie’s side of things. And yet, there was so much to discover about everyone that could only be done by watching what happened, listening in on other’s conversations and seeing the emotion and craziness falling in love brought into all their lives. Never mind the resulting entertainment as they stumbled, goofed, gaffed and made goo-goo eyes at each other on and off during their budding relationship. There were such strong feelings of warmth, welcoming and family, warts and all, that appealed to me on so many levels, I couldn’t help but adore this book. Handle with Care is an excellent feel-good, happy-inducing read that left me feeling 100% satisfied. This is romance done right.

The dialogue alone is a giggle-kicker. What comes out of the mouths of Lila and Rachel are blushingly hysterical and they make no apologies for their colorful views on sex. The resulting word war between Evan and Daniel, Kenzie’s brother, was unconventional to say the least, but I have to admit laughing out loud at some of the more creative ideas for swearwords. It’s how and when they were used that made it seem real, relatable and effective comic relief. Overall, the strength of this novel is its dialogue between the characters, both first and secondary.

Emotion. Oh, there is a lot of that going around. Here’s where I find the author did a solid. Everyone always follows a heroine when there’s some kind of breakup or misunderstanding in the process of falling in love. So many books use that trope to fill scenes up with angst. Not many look at it from the guy’s perspective. What does he do when he’s hurt? I know that Chunky Monkey seems to be popular for hurting heroines but what do guys do? Ms. Harte shares her vision of Evan in a funk and I’m not sorry to say, I found it hilarious. Genius and hilarious. In my mind’s eye, I could picture it so clearly. I liked the hero even more because of it.

I understand that this is book 3 in the series, and based on how I feel after finishing Handle with Care, I know I missed out in not reading the first two. But, I did not feel left out. That’s a huge difference. This can be read as a standalone because the focus is exactly where it should be, on Evan and Kenzie’s rocky, quirky, unconventional, romantic, sexy and wonderful romance.

Of all the subplots with a secondary character, Ms. Harte picked the right person to highlight, Smith. Evan and Smith’s relationship is important on a few levels. It’s sometime comical, but there is a depth of emotion, a well of untapped seriousness that gave the novel solid footing. These are people who’ve been dealt some seriously bad hands in life and yet manage to rise above it. Or are trying to. Through the hero, I came to understand that there is a lot more to Smith than what the story initially presented. The last chapter in the novel, where the HEA is revealed in all its fun and romantic glory also included a well worded, intriguing sentence that insured the obvious. I HAVE to read the next story. Consider me obsessed with the thought of Smith’s HEA – now that I have been given a hint of his teddy bear side, I want him to have something he never had. Evan discovered it, now I want Smith to have it. The big question is, how long do I have to wait to find out? That’s the mark of a well written book – the yearning for more of the good stuff. Handle with Care is definitely good stuff and if that’s the quality Ms. Harte is known to write, which I believe she is, then wanting more is a no-brainer. I’m in.

Handle with Care might center around Evan and Kenzies beginning romance but it also has a strong theme of family and friendship on both sides. This was a fun and lighthearted read about getting back into the dating game after suffering heartache and it involves two of the nicest characters in romancedom. Both Evan and Kenzie will make you go smile and giggle when they both navigate dating again!

After reading the first two books in this series, I was excited for Evan's story. And the teaser at the end of Smooth Moves was hilarious. However, the book fell a little flat to me. I adore the new cast of characters in Kenzie's friends. I adored Evan and Kenzie's brothers relationship. The growing relationship between Smith and Evan captivated me. The romance between Evan and Kenzie was ok. Yes, they had chemistry, but I really felt like Kenzie was overdramatic? I wished their story played out a little differently. For sure read the book to continue the series, but don't have too high of expectations.

A really sweet funny romance full of family drama. I loved reading this funny book. Loved all the characters and everything that was happening in their lives. Together they make a beautiful love story and show us that the family is not necessary is blood-related but is the persons who touch your hart. It was enjoyable funny, hot read.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley

✦Spotlight, Review & Giveaway: HANDLE WITH CARE by Marie Harte https://wp.me/p3d0RZ-beX
Publication Date: August 27, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Reviewed by: Reading in Pajamas/ Donna
Rated 5 Stars

I enjoyed this installment in the Veteran Movers series. Evan’s story lived up to my expectations and then some. Kenzie and her crew were as funny and crazy as Evan’s, fitting both of their lives together like a puzzle. That opening scene was a hoot! Granted Evan could sometimes come across as too good to be true – and Kenzie edged close to my “she’s fighting the relationship too much” line, but neither circumstances made me groan. Another thing I liked about this story, is Kenzie’s younger brother was a part of the budding romance. I loved how Evan not only fell in love with Kenzie but grew to love her brother too. It was natural and never seemed forced. This is a sexy hot romance full of laughter and warm-fuzzies.

*Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Kindle https://amzn.to/2znUCPr

Handle with Care is the 3rd book in the Veteran Movers series and my favorite so far! Evan Griffith may be strong and determined, but he's finally found the woman that'll bring him to his knees. Kenzie Sykes has enough on her over-worked plate, let alone having to wrangle her younger brother and keep him out of the constant trouble he finds himself in. There's plenty of characters to enjoy in this story that'll keep you highly entertained and wanting to find a good moving service of your own!

Could not put down. I started this and sat and read the whole book. Evan had been in the Marines and now worked for his family's moving company. He was also an accountant but left his big paying job because of the amount of hours he put in. He spends time with his mom and they talk about anything and he drives her to where she needs to go. His father had passed away several years ago. He also had a fiance that had died of cancer a couple of years ago and is ready to move on with his life.
Kenzie is raising her teenage brother and has been since he was a toddler, when their parents were killed in a car accident. She had a fiance who left her months ago because he said he couldn't deal anymore with raising someone else's kid. So her and her brother have trust issues. Kenzie runs a business with her 2 best friends,
Evan and Kenzie meet up when he is helping move her friend. Things go funny after that. Watching the sparks between them, everyone is rooting for them. As they start seeing each other Evan starts falling for her but she pushes him away because she doesn't want someone to hurt her or her brother again.
I laughed so hard with the bantering between Evan and his friends and family and then with Kenzie and her friends and brother. Then when you mix them all together I had quite a few laugh out moments.
I received this book from Inkslinger and NetGalley for review.

I really enjoyed this book. It had great characters and I liked the storyline. This book stayed with me a few days after I finished because it touched me.

Handle with Care is the new contemporary romance by author Marie Harte. It's the third book in her Veteran Movers series but can be read as a stand alone.

Handle with Care brings us the love story of Evan and Kenzie. Evan is a handsome, kind, and caring gentleman. He is a bit on the sensitive side and when he cares about someone he makes them a priority. I enjoyed his character, but he was a bit too sweet for me, and cried one to many times for my comfort level lol . Kenzie is headstrong, she has been the sole care taker of her younger brother since he was two. She has her wall up from being hurt in the past but eventually her protesting gets old in my opinion has Evan has a track record that shows he is in the relationship for the long haul. Kenzie's brother Daniel may have been my favorite character of the book. He was cheeky and charming for a teen. He genuinely cared for his sister and I looked forward to chapters in his point of view.


Overall, Handle with Care was a sweet addition to the Veteran Movers series. IT was a little anti climatic for me but still entertaining. I think the next book is going to be about a character I'm dying to get to know more, so I'm excited for the series to continue.

I adored Evan and Kenzie’s journey through friendship, family and love. It was sweet and hot, emotional and funny at the same time.

Evan was definitely the guy. Caring, sexy and so damn charming. When he met Kenzie while helping moving out her best friend, Rachel, he wouldn’t have expected to feel this insta connection at first sight, even Kenzie’s crazy bunch of friends haven’t scared him off.

I appreciated reading about a sensitive man who had done so much for his family, who wore his heart on his sleeve. A mix of sexiness and sweetness, I was sold!

Kenzie didn’t have time for relationships, protecting her heart and family, trying to keep her company successful. She had to raise her little brother so young, with the help of her best friends; they were hilarious, straightforward and didn’t have any time to beat around the bush. Pretty lethal combination with men for sure. But still she failed to let her feelings shown and she felt unsecured. A lot. So stubborn to see what was in front of her. To break all the walls she has built.

These two characters who weren’t looking for love would definitely feel how it would be if they let their hearts go. A slow burn romance, a little something in the air that made their story so special, like you could feel the sparks. I was smiling all along, rooting for Evan to get the girl and all the package that coming with her. His relation with Kenzie’s little bro made me melt, giving him strength back and confidence that à teenagers needed. Taking him under his wing without ulterior motives.

The interaction between all the characters felt so natural and effortless, creating this big family from different horizons, who stood by when it was hard, knew how to push forward when needed.

I adored how Evan and Kenzie accepted the other entirely, listening to the other and supportive. It took some time to get to this point but I liked it.

This book would be a winner to me if Kenzie’s issues weren’t a bit repetitive. I felt like it was going in circles at times. Especially towards the ending, when I wanted some confrontation.

The Veteran movers series keeps growing on me and it gets better on each book.

I love the way Marie Harte ties her books together through the secondary characters, and Handle with Care is full of guest appearances from previous and future Harte books. This love story is cute and sexy with a lot of heart.

The 3rd book in the Veteran Movers series which this has Evan the cousin as the main character. He meets Kenzie and her friends and ends up falling for her. Their story is built around this and dealing with the fallout from his injury. So this isnt him saving her but more of just finding himself, finding her, family, friends and the chemistry between Evan and Kenzie. It's a sweet story. Low angst story that focuses on family and friends. I can't put my finger on what's missing but there is something missing from the story to give it that added kick. It's a sweet story but it could be better. Ms. Harte's stories are great, this story just needed a boost. The characters and the story is sweet and has lovely feels to them.


My Rating: 4.3 stars *******

Evan and his cousin owns a moving business called Vets On The Go and only veterans were hired. The last two weeks he had actually been moving furniture instead of his normal desk job. Evan was a CPA he quit his high paying eight hour week job to work with the moving company and he had side jobs doing accountant work. The reason he was moving furniture is his cousin Cash broke his arm fighting off a gang and the company had been started so Cash would have a job he could work after leaving the service life. Evan had willingly stepped in to cover cash until his arm was healed about another six weeks, sooner if Cash has his way. At first he considered being out from being a desk a blessing. Sure he was sore, but he considered the physical exertion to be just the thing he needed to kick start his new life. No one had mentioned what to do when a client got in a free for all in the middle of the living room. Evan had been hired to move Rachel’s things not get into her private life. Than an avenging angel stormed through the front door . She made everything around her pale in comparison.Evan found it difficult to breath. The sight of the woman frizzled him. Than a teenage boy came up to Evan and told him the avenging angel was actually crazy. The girl was Kenzie the teenage boy was her brother Daniel who she had been raising since she was eighteen and he was two. Kenzie had to figure out how to make him stop acting like a butt and turn him back into a responsible teenager he had once been. Kenzie had a graphic design business- Sykes Design that Lila and Rachel worked with her. Daniel had messed with Evan’s phone than left it on his truck. Daniel knew how kenzie acted when she liked a guy and she liked the moving guy. Kenzie hadn’t looked at anyone like that since her broken engagement from Bryce over a year ago. Not until Evan. Daniel’s only family was Kenzi. Kenzi felt that the way Evan made her feel certainly qualified as difficult, perplexing, and chaotic. She didn't need that right now.
I loved reading this book. I loved Evan and Kenzie together and how they interacted. I loved that Evan wanted to take care of those he cared about and was the peacemaker of his family and friends. I loved that Evan told Kenzi first that he loved her not expecting her to say it back, he just wanted her to know. I loved Daniel and felt he really added to this book and loved to see him grow as the book went on. I also loved the relationship Evan was forming with Smith. I loved the plot and the pace. I advise you to read the first two books of this series for a smoother and more knowledgeable read. I loved Kenzie’s friends Rachel and Lili and how they loved Kenzie and Daniel. I also loved hector and Lili together. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend it.