When She's Handy by Ruby Dixon [Review]

When She's Handy (Risdaverse) by Ruby Dixon
Format: paperback
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: September 14, 2024

Risdaverse
When She's Ready
When She's Married
When She Purrs
When She Belongs
When She Dances
When She's Bold
The Alien's Mail-Order Bride
Pretty Human
When She's Lonely
Prison Planet Barbarian
When She's Pregnant
When She's Merry
When She's Fearless
When She's Wary
When She's Common
When She's Handy - Paperback | Kindle
When She Wishes

Related Novellas:
Bad Guy
Worse Guy

Ruby Dixon
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Five years ago, an alien saved me from a cruel master. He rescued me and I fell in love instantly, only for him to turn around and dump me on Risda III.

I both love and hate him for that choice.

I've moved on and created a life for myself on this strange alien planet amongst the other refugee humans. I create things for them out of scrap, things from home, things that humans want and aliens don't understand. I'm happy enough.

But then the alien I can't forget...returns.

Thoughts on When She's Handy: Oh my goodness. Brux and Melody were ADORABLE. He's an alien who has some serious self esteem issues and a cargo-hold sized bucket of guilt for the things that happened between him and Melody five years ago. She's a spunky human dropped on a farming planet who's figuring out how to make things work for her even though she's VERY MUCH not a farmer.

Brux had no intention of seeking Melody out when he scored a job on Risda III (because of that aforementioned guilt), but she's THRILLED when their paths cross. Thrilled. In fact, she's so happy about it that she's determined to make the most of their time together and show Brux exactly how much she missed him. EXCEPT...Brux has all those self-esteem issues and all that guilt and he can't understand why someone as bubbly and wonderful as Melody would be interested in station trash like him.

No lie, Brux is a sweetheart and the way he couldn't wrap his head around Melody liking him was rough. Fortunately for him, Melody didn't care about family names or bloodlines. She cared about the male who treated her with compassion when everyone else treated her like a dog. She cared about how gentle he was with her and how he made her feel safe. It took time and a lot of getting to know one another before these two got where they needed to be. (Honestly, that was adorable in its own right. Brux didn't want to just hit the sheets. For him, he needed to get to know Melody before he was comfortable taking things to the next level.)

On Melody's end, she's a scrapper living on a farming planet. She tinkers and makes things the other human refugees want (like toasters and bicycles!) and she's found a place for herself. Brux showing up on her planet just makes everything better and she throws everything she has at getting him to see they would be great together.

A lady who's good with her hands and a male who needs to get to know his special someone before they can crank up the heat. MAN, I like spending time on Risda III.