Top 10 romance heroes who are GREAT with their hands (in more ways than one)

Who needs a soft-skinned, billionaire romance hero when you can have a guy who works with his hands every day? Those skills can translate to other areas of life, ladies. (Ahem) So, without further delay, here are our picks for 10 blue-collar romance hotties you’d let lay hands on you any day of the week (and twice on Sundays):

(And if you don’t have Bon Jovi’s Lay Your Hands on Me stuck in your head after reading that intro, you might be too young to check out this list. Consider yourself warned.) ​

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After We Fall
Melanie Harlow

Amazon blurb:
Jack Valentini isn’t my type.

Sexy, brooding cowboys are fine in the movies, but in real life, I prefer a suit and tie. Proper manners. A close shave.

Jack might be gorgeous, but he’s also scruffy, rugged, and rude. He wants nothing to do with a “rich city girl” like me, and he isn’t afraid to say so.

But I’ve got a PR job to do for his family’s farm, so he’s stuck with me and I’m stuck with him. His glares. His moods. His tight jeans. His muscles.

His huge, hard muscles.

Pretty soon there’s a whole different kind of tension between us, the kind that has me misbehaving in barns, trees, and pickup trucks. I’ve never done anything so out of character—but it feels too good to stop.

And the more I learn about the grieving ex-Army sergeant, the better I understand him. Losing his wife left him broken and bitter and blaming himself. He doesn’t think he deserves a second chance at happiness. 

But he’s wrong.

I don’t need to be his first love. If only he’d let me be his last.

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Exes with Benefits
Nicole Williams

Amazon blurb:
The only benefit I want from my ex is a divorce.

We got married for all the wrong reasons. The one thing we got right was our separation. I should have known better than to think I could bet on forever with a guy like Canaan Ford. Everything about him screamed impermanent, from his wild eyes to his restless soul.

When I left him and the small town I’d spent my whole life in, I swore I’d never go back. Never only turned out to be five years. Canaan claims he’s changed, but he hasn’t—same knowing smile, same rough demeanor, same body crafted from sin and sinew. And yet, something is different. He thinks this is his chance for redemption. My disagreement comes in the form of divorce papers dropped in his lap. He refuses to sign them. Unless . . .

He wants a month to prove himself to me—that’s his offer. One month to make me fall in love with him again and if I don’t, he’ll sign the papers. As much as I want to say no, I agree. I can suffer my ex for a short amount of time if that’s what it takes to be free of him once and for all. I fell for him once; I won’t make that same mistake twice. 

He says we’re not over. I say we were over before we got started. Only one of us can be right, and I can’t let it be him.

NOTE: Check out our 5-star review here!

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Man Hands
Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby
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Amazon blurb:
BRYNN
At thirty-four, I’m reeling from a divorce. I don’t want to party or try to move on. I just want to stay home and post a new recipe on my blog: Brynn’s Dips and Balls.
But my friends aren’t having it. Get out there again, they say. It will be fun, they say. I’m still taking a hard pass.

Free designer cocktails, they say. And that’s a game-changer.
Too bad my ex shows up with his new arm candy. That’s when I lose my mind. But when my besties dare me to leap on the first single man I see, they don't expect me to actually go through with it.

TOM
All I need right now is some peace and quiet while my home renovation TV show is on hiatus. 

But when a curvy woman in a red wrap dress charges me like she’s a gymnast about to mount my high bar, all I can do is brace myself and catch her. What follows is the hottest experience of my adult life. 

I want a repeat, but my flying Cinderella disappears immediately afterward. She doesn’t leave a glass slipper, either—just a pair of panties with chocolate bunnies printed on them. 
But I will find her.

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Under Her Skin
Adriana Anders

Amazon blurb:
This gentle giant's scarred hands may be the warmest touch she'll ever know.
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...if only life were a fairy tale where Beauty got to keep her Beast

Ivan thought the world was through giving him second chances.
Hell, who was he kidding—he wasn't good enough for them anyway. And he certainly wasn't good enough for her.

But the moment Uma walked into his life, Ivan knew he had to put all that crap aside and do everything he could to help. She was like nothing he'd ever known. Beautiful, lost, alone, she had the kind of sad eyes that were just begging for someone to save her...

...and despite his rough exterior, despite the nasty rumors, despite all the bad decisions following him around like the strays he couldn't help but rescue, Ivan was nothing but willing to be the kind of man she needed.

Yeah, he'd thought the world was through giving him second chances. 

Until she came into his life. Until she changed everything.

Until he realized he would do anything, fight anyone, tear the world apart if it only meant saving her.
 
Note: Check out our 5-star review here!

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Beard in Mind
Penny Reid

Amazon blurb:
All is fair in love and auto maintenance.

Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually.

Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever.
She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies.

She won’t shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words. Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life.

The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity—exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity—and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean losing what matters most.

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From One Night to Forever
Synithia Williams

Amazon blurb:
Trucker Aaron Henderson always loved his life of freedom on the open road, but a business opportunity from a friend finds him settling down in Resilient, Tennessee. On his first night there, he meets a singing beauty at a bar who stirs feelings he's long forgotten. He's all in for a night of fun...until the next day when he realizes his one-night stand is his new business partner's baby sister.

Kacey Randal just wanted to a quick fling to blow off steam before diving into her last semester of business school. When she learns that Aaron's working with her brother and has a list of female conquests as high as the mileage on his big rig, she's perfectly willing to pretend their night together never happened.

But the fire burns hot between these two, making their secret nearly impossible to keep. Yet even as their feelings blossom, Aaron's roaming ways make Kacey wonder if they can truly go from one night to forever.

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Worked Up
Tessa Bailey

Amazon blurb:
Factory mechanic Duke Crawford just wants to watch SportsCenter in peace. Unfortunately, living with four divorcee sisters doesn’t provide much silence, nor does it change his stance on relationships. But when a fellow commitment-phobe stumbles into his life, getting him good and worked up, he can’t deny his protective instincts.

Samantha Waverly’s brother just put her in an impossible situation. The only way out? Marry huge, gruff, gladiator look-alike Duke—for show, of course. She doesn’t make promises—she knows too well how easily they can be broken—and this is no exception.

As the blistering attraction between them grows, the lines around the no-strings relationship blur. But Duke and Samantha’s marriage is only for show…or is it?

Each book in the Made in Jersey series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order. 
Series Order:
Book #1 Crashed Out 
Book #2 Thrown Down 
Book #3 Worked Up

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Catch of the Day
Kristan Higgins

Amazon blurb:
What's the market price on a decent guy these days?

Maggie Beaumont's luck is about to change. Sure, she's known for her bad romantic choices—her former boyfriend broke up with her by bringing his new girlfriend home for a visit. And then there was the crush she had on a gorgeous young Irishman, who turned out to be Father Tim, the parish's new priest.

But romantic salvation has arrived in the form of handsome, if surly, fisherman Malone. It turns out there's a heart of gold underneath his barnacle-clad exterior. Will this catch of the day turn into the dish of a lifetime?

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Simply Irresistible
Jill Shalvis

Amazon blurb:
Maddie Moore's whole life needs a makeover.

In one fell swoop, Maddie loses her boyfriend (her decision) and her job (so not her decision). But rather than drowning her sorrows in bags of potato chips, Maddie leaves L.A. to claim the inheritance left by her free-spirited mother-a ramshackle inn nestled in the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington.

Starting over won't be easy. Yet Maddie sees the potential for a new home and a new career-if only she can convince her two half-sisters to join her in the adventure. But convincing Tara and Chloe will be difficult because the inn needs a big makeover too.

The contractor Maddie hires is a tall, dark-haired hottie whose eyes-and mouth-are making it hard for her to remember that she's sworn off men.

Even harder will be Maddie's struggles to overcome the past, though she's about to discover that there's no better place to call home than Lucky Harbor.

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Nice Girls Don’t Ride
Roni Loren

Amazon blurb:
Winner of the RITA® Award for Best Romance Novella!

In this erotically charged novella by the New York Times bestselling author of Call on Me, Nothing Between Us, and Not Until You two strangers take an asphalt-burning ride into the wildest night of their lives...

Natalie Bourne thinks she has the perfect night planned for her twenty-first birthday. But when her car breaks down and her boyfriend bails on her, she's left stranded in an auto shop dealing with a way too cocky, way too hot mechanic, who seems to be intent on pushing every button she has.

Monroe Hawkins knows he shouldn't be messing with a girl from the uppity private college. Especially when he can tell she sees him as the help.

But he's having trouble resisting the redhead with the smart mouth and the killer legs. So when Natalie's night goes from bad to worse, there's no way he's letting her spend her birthday alone. He makes her a deal--he'll take her home but not until the sun comes up.

Ten hours, one motorcycle, and the city of Austin at their fingertips...things are about to take a major detour. And soon, there may be no U-turn in sight.

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What about y’all? Which blue-collar hotties would you like to add to the list? We’d love to hear from you!