What happens in the backseat, STAYS in the backseat.
Shawn Cobb thought he'd found the perfect girl... until she fell in love with another woman. It could be worse: he did get a car out of the deal.
But now his job is at a standstill, he's running out of cash, and he's stuck with a 1954 Chevy Bel Air that refuses to stay running. With idle hands, all he can think about is his own misfortune... until a buxom bartender needs his help with a sticky situation.
Jess White is a mechanic by day, bartender by nightâ with a sexy athlete boyfriend to boot. And things are starting to get serious: so serious, that her boyfriend wants her to give up her day job at her dad's garage.
But when her dad kicks her out of the house and a heartbroken handyman leans on her expertise to get his vintage hot rod road-ready, she questions why she ever hung up the wrench in the first place. After all, he seems to like it when she gets her hands dirty...
Can the two of them get away with mixing work and pleasure? Or is this whole affair about to backfire?
What happens in the backseat, STAYS in the backseat.
Shawn Cobb thought he'd found the perfect girl... until she fell in love with another woman. It could be worse: he did get a car out of the deal.
But now his job is at a standstill, he's running out of cash, and he's stuck with a 1954 Chevy Bel Air that refuses to stay running. With idle hands, all he can think about is his own misfortune... until a buxom bartender needs his help with a sticky situation.
Jess White is a mechanic by day, bartender by nightâ with a sexy athlete boyfriend to boot. And things are starting to get serious: so serious, that her boyfriend wants her to give up her day job at her dad's garage.
But when her dad kicks her out of the house and a heartbroken handyman leans on her expertise to get his vintage hot rod road-ready, she questions why she ever hung up the wrench in the first place. After all, he seems to like it when she gets her hands dirty...
Can the two of them get away with mixing work and pleasure? Or is this whole affair about to backfire?
Shawn huffed in irritation.Â
Setting down his socket wrench, he shimmied out from under his 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air and pushed himself up to a seated position. Empty sockets stared at him from where the headlights should be. Last week, he had removed the lamps to buff and polish the lenses. Now, he studied the chipped chrome grill and the interior of the front side panels. His eyes traveled up the curved lines of the car to the open hood, wherein sat the current bane of his existence.
That engine. Heâd tried everything. Well, everything he knew to try.Â
Heâd rebuilt the carburetor. Heâd cleaned and replaced all the fuel lines. He and his granddad had even taken out the engine block and honed every cylinder until it sparkled, checking all the nooks and crannies for cracks, nicks, or stress fractures. It was immaculate.Â
Shawn and Walter Cobb had fixed a bunch of old cars together as a hobby, even taking a few down to the raceway when Shawn had first gotten his license. But as the old manâs health had gone downhill, there had been fewer excursions to the track. This car was the first one in five years to reignite that sparkle in his granddadâs eye, and Shawn wasnât about to let it get the better of them.
It wasnât as if he couldnât get the engine to turn over. It would start, but once it got warmed up, it would stop out of nowhere. Without fail, when it got to the fifteen minute mark, it would choke and sputter before coming to a complete standstill. And every time, heâd have to wait a day before it would start up again.Â
It was killing him.
âAnd here I thought I could have this done in time for me and gramps to actually enjoy it,â Shawn mumbled to himself.
âThat seems a little ambitious, donât you think? Itâs not even painted yet.â
Shawn craned his neck around the front bumper to see his sister, Melanie, standing in the doorway of their parentsâ garage.
âPainting is, like, the very last thing you do, Mel. I also canât do it here. I need to take it to the body shop for that, and unless I can get it running, Iâm not gonna be able to drive it there. Thatâs assuming I get a few payinâ gigs and can actually afford it.âÂ
Shawn tucked his knees up and leaned on his elbow, running his fingers through his hair before remembering all the grease on his hands.Â
Aw, shit.Â
âYouâre a mess, Shawn. Did you wake up with that cowlick?â
âThanks, Mel.â
Melanie walked around the car and leaned forward to look under the hood. Shawn slowly got up, grunting as his knees popped and his back ached, and took a minute to stretch. Then he stood beside her to examine the engine for the 3000th time since his friend Natalie had traded him the Bel Air.
âSo sheâs still not running, huh?âÂ
âNot for more than 15 minutes, nope.â Shawn tapped the hood with his fingers. âI canât figure it out, Mel. No one can. Iâve never even heard of this kind of problem before. Of course, it doesnât help that I canât bring it in to have someone look at it.â
Mel looked over at him. âI thought Granddad was helping you out?â
Shawn shook his head, âItâs dangerous for him to work on the engine with his oxygen. Heâll help me with the other stuff. Or, maybe once the weather is a little warmer, we can work on it outside.â He glanced toward the closed garage door. Even with the space heater running, it was barely above 60 degrees in the garage. It was freezing. Unseasonably so, even for February. Shawn hadnât been able to work outside in weeks because of the weather.
He looked over at his sister and shrugged. She frowned at him sympathetically and tugged at a loose curl of hair hanging in front of her shoulder.
âYou look nice. What are you all dressed up for?âÂ
Melanie rolled her eyes, âAre you serious, Shawn? Itâs Valentineâs Day.â
Oh. Right.
âAh. Is Christopher taking you someplace special?â Shawn nudged the longboard he was using as a creeper back under the car and made his way over to the tool bench to grab some wipes for his hands.
âYes, actually!â Mel followed him to the bench. âItâs a surprise. Heâs not telling me where exactly, but he said itâs in Martinsburg and to dress up really nice for it. Do I look extra special?â
Shawn groaned as he worked a towelette in between his fingers. âReally Melanie? You know Iâm not good with this stuff.â
âYouâre a guy, Shawn. Pleeeease! How do I look? From a guyâs perspective?â
Mel held her arms out to her sides and did an awkward little turn. Shawn held back a snort as he took in her outfit.
She looked nice, like he had said earlier. She was wearing a longer, dark gray skirt and a red sweater with lace around her neck and shoulders. She had on pearl earrings, and she had curled her long, light brown hair so it hung in ringlets down her back. When she turned, he saw a black satin bow at the crown of her head where she had pulled back some of her hair, and he noticed the rest of her accessories were also blackâa wide belt and some short heels that didnât look particularly appropriate for walking around in the middle of a cold snap in West Virginia.
âYou look⌠nice. But your feet are going to get cold.â
Melanie pouted. âShould I do boots? I thought about boots. Would they be cuter?â
âTheyâd be warmer.â Shawn shrugged. âYour hair is pretty. I like the bow.â
âItâs not too much?â Mel touched daintily at the back of her head and grimaced. Shawn chuckled.
âMel. Christopher likes you, okay? If he didnât, heâd have stopped dating you by now. Havenât yâall been going out for like, two years?â
âTwenty-one months,â Mel corrected. âSo⌠cuter with boots?âÂ
She stuck her right foot out and pointed her toes, swishing her skirt around her calves as she did so. Shawn chuckled and shook his head.
âAgain, Mel, not really my thing. Ask mom.â
Mel sighed. âFine. Iâll ask mom. What are your plans for tonight? Do you have a date? What about that Natalie girl you keep talking about? When are we finally going to meet her?â
Shawnâs shoulders stiffened. He tried to hide his reaction to Natalieâs name by cracking his neck and packing up his wrenches.
âSheâs got plans already tonight, Iâm sure,â he muttered into his tool box.
âI thought she barely knew anybody around here?â
Shawn winced. âYou know? I might just go to the bar tonight. With all the other pathetic, single guys in the eastern panhandle.â
Mel scrunched her face. âGross. You spend too much time there.â
Shawn shrugged, happy for the change of subject, âI like it there. Itâs fun. Bet there arenât darts and pool tables wherever Christopher is taking you tonight.â
Mel laughed. âI hope not!â
He smiled at his sister and closed up his toolbox, taking one last look at the Bel Air before gently closing the hood. âWell, Iâm not going anywhere before I clean up a bit. You all done in the upstairs bathroom?â
âYou mean my bathroom?â Mel crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.
Shawn leveled a look at her. âI believe it was our bathroom for a good seventeen years before you went to college and I moved out, Mel.â
âWorst seventeen years of my life,â she said, and then winked at him. âJust donât get it all gross! I swear, if you leave grease marks all over the sink againâŚ!â
She walked back up the couple of stairs and through the door into the house, and Shawn glanced back at the car.Â
Guess Iâll have more time tomorrow, he thought, as he packed the last of his tools away.
One of my favorite things about reading a book is not knowing all the ways you, as the reader, might relate with the characters on the page. Not only did I relate to Jess having a father who runs his own business as a mechanic, but I also related to Shawn who grew up surrounded by religious based purity culture.Â
Hot Rod Hookups is book 2 in a series, which I didnât realize until after I had started reading. Thankfully the characters and their relationship to one another was self explanatory, and I truly didnât feel like I was diving in mid series. This novel is a contemporary romance that focuses on family bonds, small town vibes, manual labor, and learning to trust in your own strengths and capabilities.Â
I enjoyed that while our main characters were clearly end game, they seemingly had no idea. Jess starts off the novel with a college boyfriend, and Shawn is still pining over a main character from book 1 in the series. Itâs up to happenstance that these two begin to hit it off, and the relationship develops as they morph steadily into their true selves.Â
Both Jess and Shawn struggle with the self confidence to fully explore who they are, and what goals they have for their futures. Each character has a very unique support system including family members, friends, and coworkers who push them to realize their full potential.Â
This romance sizzles on the page in a slow burn that finally ignites in a grand finale. Their eventual union is well worth the wait, and made even sweeter by watching them overcome their struggles in order to discover their true selves.Â
Trigger Warning: car accident fatality/death of a mom - there are scenes alluding to the accident and it is not in any way described in graphic detail