Review: Handcuffed in Housewares by Nikki Duncan

Handcuffed in Housewares
(Tulle and Tulips, #3)
By: Nikki Duncan
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Published: Aug. 20 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating:

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Some couples just click. Others require a hard hat and a stud finder.Monday mornings have a reputation for sucking, and today is no different for Burton Anderson. One year ago, his “perfect” life full of prestige, money, success and travel crumbled in the glaring light of betrayal.

This morning? This close to making his new construction business a success, a date gone awry has left him handcuffed to a toilet in a housewares store. Naked. And the first customer of the day is coming down his aisle.

Planning and shopping for other couples’ Big Day is about as wild and crazy as buttoned-up Leigh Schyuler gets. Until she gets an eyeful of Hearth and Home’s daily special. He’s definitely a “designer” temptation while she’s “off the rack”.

But there are risks, and then there are risks. Burton isn’t sure he can once again trust his heart to a woman who holds the power to ruin him. And Leigh discovers too late that indulging in a little no-strings sex is tying her dream of Devoted Love into hopeless knots…

This is a cute short story. Leigh is very conservative and isn’t looking for any crazy one night stands, which is exactly what she stumbles upon when she finds a guy naked and handcuffed to a toilet while in a hardware store. She’s kind enough to assist him in his escape but she never dreams that that first encounter will blossom into a romance. After all, she’s done the whole “bad boy” thing and it’s not something she wants to repeat.

This is a short story, so the romance flourishes at a rapid pace. This can be read as a stand alone but I think I would have enjoyed the story even more had I read the previous two books before diving into this one. You see, the previous main characters are in this story a lot. So I think there would have been more of a bond had I read the previous books. Considering after one night with her friends, Burton is envisioning playing poker with her male friends while her and her female friends go out and shop with their children. Like I said, everything moves at a fast pace since it’s a short story and sometimes for me, that’s just hard for me to wrap my head around.

I liked the way the author thought outside the box to bring these two characters together. There really isn’t any conflict in this story which is okay with me. I hate when there is unnecessary drama. This is just a cute short romantic story that involves a toilet and handcuffs. I will definitely be going back to read the previous books in the story and then I will re-read this to see how it all ties together.

“I wish I could have seen you facing down a naked man cuffed to a commode.”