Claire Thompson - Handyman

Handsome, sexy and gay, Will Spencer used and discarded lovers as easily as he made his Wall Street stock trades. He was used to taking whatand whohe wanted. Jack Crawford, a recently widowed handyman, never thought of himself as gay. Frightened by an erotic encounter years before, Jack had never embraced his deepest sexual longings. In an unlikely pairing, Will and Jack explore an incendiary relationship, sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, always scintillatingly erotic. Jack is forced to confront feelings hes hidden for a lifetime. Will is faced with something he isn't sure he can handle: love.

Comment: I've had this book to read for a long time. As most books in my shelves are, but anyway...I don't remember why I got it, probably because so many people loved it and I guess I was curious to know what got their attention. But time and other boos got in the way, and so on and on...but now I went for it at last.

This is the story of Will and Jack. Will is a young gay man, very successful but needing a break from his fast life. He gets a new house in need of repairs and he calls Jack to do some work, as he was referred to him by another person. Will immediatly feels attracted to Jack's looks and air but he realizes Jack's too straight...or is he?
Jack is a 44 old year widow with two grown up sons. He only wants to get by in his life but in the back of his mind is a gay encounter he had in his teens. Now Will is in his like and slowly they start to talk, to share things until attraction is just the beginning.

What I liked the best about this book was its pace. It was slow, it took time, they didn't just had sex right away. I liked how things were slow to happen because it seems they had more time to think and to wonder even when it says only a short amount of time passed. In this case, the writing style helped.

I liked Jack. I think he was the one who had the biggest trouble coming to terms of what he was feeling. He thought himself in a place in his life where things were done, where he just had to go through the motions, but when he least expected, someone comes up and changes his look at things. I believed him when he was having doubts, when he had issues, insecurities and I guess part of beauty in this story is how someone used to one way of living suddenly finds not only the courage but the will to change his path for someone he never thought he could like much less care for. Jack was brave and his problems were convincing.
Will, on the other hand, wasn't as endearing because he admits he wasn't looking for the one, and he played around a lot. However, the way he talked to Jack, how he seemed to encourage but guide him as well was something he did out of true feelings and not a secret agenda. Still, I thought he was a bit cocky in some of this thoughts about Jake. I liked how they got together but not all the little details, especially concerning Will's.

The story line was believable enough. But it did have a thing here and there not that convincing according to the "feel" of the story namely the coincidences. But that's fine.
The age difference was always on my mind though. I try to keep an open mind but May-December story lines don't always win me over, it's hard to believe people from different generations have that much in common to last, but hey I'm not in a relationship, what do I know. But this, despite not bothering me that much, was always in the back of my mind nonetheless.
Overall, a good story, many good elements and, like other books by the author I've read, interesting to see developing.