By Gideon Scanlon
Toronto, Ontario — June 21, 2019 – Titillating titles like Jennifer Foor’s Repair Me, Victoria Dahl’s Start Me Up and Ainslie Paton’s Grease Monkey Jive are flying off the shelves as readers young and old embrace a literary trend.
Yes, like cowpokes, depraved millionaires and fighter pilots before them, collision repairers have become the latest sexy professionals found within the pages of salacious romance novels. While some repairers may welcome this development, others have expressed concern that the objectification of repair professionals may be dehumanizing — it is, after all, difficult to perform paintless dent repairs while being pictured, well, paintless.
At Collision Repair, however, it is our purview to report on trends of importance to the industry — and we leave judgments to the reader. To that end, our team felt it appropriate to include some information on some of the bestselling bodice-rippers set in bodyshops.
Repair Me
Sky’s whole world is turned upside down when she catches her longtime boyfriend cheating and dumps him. Depressed over the breakup, she decides to drive to the beach to spend time with her friends and drown her sorrows in hot guys and fruity drinks. The only problem with her plan is her piece-of-junk car. It breaks down halfway into her trip, in the middle of nowhere (naturally) in a place where cellphone towers don’t even exist. Ford’s life has changed drastically in the past year, and he spends his days working in his family’s rundown auto repair shop. When his father tells him to go rescue a stranded traveller, he soon finds himself with a hot opportunity to forget about what ruined his life, even if it’s only for one night. When chemistry causes sparks to fly, Sky and Ford agree to a one-night stand; to let go of what each of them are running from and enjoy each other with no strings attached. But as their heated night progresses, they both know that one night is never going to be enough. What happens when one night turns into two? And two turns into three? Can two people who know nothing about each other really fall in love?
What readers say: “Nothing says “contrived” like “a place where cellphone towers don’t even exist.” — name & titleTK “I cannot even express how much I loved this book. Hmmm… Ford. What can I say? I even said to my husband, “I want Ford.” He asked what was wrong with my truck (a Chevy). lol. If he only knew what I was really talking about.” — Alissa Evanson, her titleTK
What we say: Mr. Ford’s detailers will resent him for what he did to the upholstery.
Grease Monkey Jive
When ballroom-dancing teacher Alex Gibson dances with Dan Maddox, she’s reminded of the time she stuck a knife in the toaster, gave herself an electric shock and saw stars. He’s precisely the type of man Alex’s mother warned her about – a player, just like the father who abandoned Alex and her mother. Dan Maddox comes from a long line of men who hid under the hood of a beat-up old car when the “successful relationship” gene was being handed out, but he was first in the queue for an extra jolt of chick pulling power. The chicks in Dan’s life are universally gorgeous, random and disposable, and answer to the name Baby until one drunken night, when he picks up the wrong girl, hurts a good friend and realizes that unless he does something to change, he’ll end up like his violent, unstable father. It’s Pimp My Ride meets Dancing With The Stars as Alex and Dan come together to compete in a ballroom-dancing competition that changes the way they both feel about relationships and love.
What readers say: “A really nice read featuring a mechanic and student/ballroom dancer. Very good characterization for both hero and heroine, and the secondary characters.” — Shelly, Goodreads reviewer
What we say: Anyone who has put a fork in a toaster is dangerously unsuitable to be a repair pro … after all, EVs are arriving.
Start Me Up
Lori had always planned to get out of tiny Tumble Creek, Colo., but when her late dad left his beloved autobody shop to her, she’d stayed. Now, according to her crazy best friend, Molly, what Lori needs is some excitement — in the form of hot, no strings attached sex … and lots of it.
What readers say: “The sex is pretty scorching hot … if you’re not a fan of mildly explicit sex, then this is a book to avoid. It’s definitely more graphic than the typical contemporary romance.” — JenJen79, Goodreads reviewer
What we say: Another successful auto repair facility run into the ground by the entitled second generation…
To take a peek at some more tantalizing tales, keep an eye out for our next edition of Bodyworx Professional.
