Emily Barnett arrives on the doorstep of Earl Michael
Farrow in the middle of the night for what she believes is
an interview for the position of governess. It's her first
attempt to get a job, so she doesn't question the unusual
time of the interview or the hostility of the earl's
butler. While waiting her turn, she helps herself to cup
after cup of spiked punch, so by the time she meets the
earl, she's well and truly drunk. Left to sleep it off,
Emily awakens to witness an attempted reconciliation
between the earl and his soon-to-be ex-mistress.
Horrified by what the innocent Miss Barnett has witnessed,
Michael offers her the job of governess to his soon-to-be-
arriving wards, Pamela and Margaret. While Emily longs to
decline his offer, when he offers board for her sister and
niece, she accepts the job and the three women move in with
Michael and his younger brother.
It isn't long before Michael offers the original job of
mistress to Emily, and she accepts. Each is reluctant to
admit the depth of their feelings, and their love is soon
tested by enemies from their past and present.
Holt's TOO HOT TO HANDLE is a spicy, hilarious battle of
the sexes, Regency style. Michael and his brother have met
their match in the delightful Barnett sisters. Neither
believes they're deserving of a woman's love and devotion,
and the sisters are determined to prove to them they're
worthy of that, and more. This is the first Holt novel I've
read, but it certainly won't be the last!
Emily Barnett is happy to be who she is: a country-bred old
maid at 26, with a blind sister and niece to care for. But
her pompous, stuffy cousin Reginald wants her to also be
his wife--he inherited her family home and needs her dowry
to run it properly. When Emily refuses to marry him, he
kicks the three women out. Emily goes to London, determined
to find work as a governess. At her first interview, in the
home of Michael Farrow, Earl of Winchester, she discovers
that working for a rake can be dangerous. Michael is
interviewing potential mistresses, and he mistakes Emily
for one of those candidates. After he realizes his error,
he insists that she take the job as governess to his wards--
an offer Emily can't refuse when he also allows her sister
and niece to move into his house. Emily's days are filled
with teaching, but her nights are full of teasing, as
Michael tries to convince her to take on a dual role as his
mistress. With scheming females waiting in the wings, can
Emily and Michael learn in time that only true love is too
hot to handle?
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