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A review by booksafety
Touch of Love by Nicky James
5.0
Book safety, content warnings, and tropes & tags down below.
People assumed I didn’t want touch, but that wasn’t true. If I didn’t want it, I wouldn’t have spent years in therapy trying to achieve it.
I might actually love this one just as much as Cravings of the Heart from the same series, which I didn’t expect to happen, because that book still hasn’t left my mind. I read a review of this book with a quote that made me tear up, and I was immediately sold. This story is heartwarming, heartbreaking, and just really beautiful. I really enjoyed the organic feeling of how their relationship evolved. The slow build of trust to become friends, and then Ireland slowly letting himself be vulnerable again and let Raven in even further. They didn’t have a smooth ride by any means, but they both fought tooth and nail to make it work, and Raven especially was so patient and kind, even when he was hurting.
His shoulders shook as he wept. My hand twitched, itching to reach out. It was physically painful watching his heart break and knowing I couldn’t comfort him.
Nicky James is so freaking talented. She makes me connect with the characters within the first pages, and have me crying just as fast. Very highly recommend.
Also, I can’t even imagine the pain of wanting to touch, to feel comfort, to be touched by the people you love, and not being able to. To have people walk away eventually, because you inevitably have setbacks. My heart broke for Ireland.
He said he could touch when things were going well. I’d live for those moments if he gave me a chance.
⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Haphephobia (fear of touch)
Diabetic MC
Nurse MC
Tattoos and piercings
Slow burn
Strangers to friends to lovers
Hurt/comfort
Age gap
Musician MC
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Anxiety disorder
Past abuse (side character)
Brief mentions of rape (side character, not detailed)
Parent with Alzheimer’s
Death of a parent (present, not detailed)
Haphephobia (fear of touch)
Hyperglycemic episode
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM/OW drama: No
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 1st person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: N/A
[…] he removed his hoodie and placed it on the foot of my bed. “I know I can’t hold you right now, but if you need comfort, maybe this can bridge our gap. If you want.” He backed toward the door again, paused, blew me a kiss, and left. My heart lurched, and the moment he was gone, as stupid and juvenile as it was, I caught the kiss and pressed it to my lips with a choked sob.
Unobtainable. A dream that could never be. This was my life. Constantly striving for the impossible.
Yes, I enjoyed sex—a lot—but what I’d learned in all the years I’d dated was that an emotional bond and friendship were far more important than bumping uglies.
It had become an ever-growing, impossible standard of living he could never achieve. He set the stakes higher and higher, so no matter how many positive steps forward he took, he only saw failure.
People assumed I didn’t want touch, but that wasn’t true. If I didn’t want it, I wouldn’t have spent years in therapy trying to achieve it.
I might actually love this one just as much as Cravings of the Heart from the same series, which I didn’t expect to happen, because that book still hasn’t left my mind. I read a review of this book with a quote that made me tear up, and I was immediately sold. This story is heartwarming, heartbreaking, and just really beautiful. I really enjoyed the organic feeling of how their relationship evolved. The slow build of trust to become friends, and then Ireland slowly letting himself be vulnerable again and let Raven in even further. They didn’t have a smooth ride by any means, but they both fought tooth and nail to make it work, and Raven especially was so patient and kind, even when he was hurting.
His shoulders shook as he wept. My hand twitched, itching to reach out. It was physically painful watching his heart break and knowing I couldn’t comfort him.
Nicky James is so freaking talented. She makes me connect with the characters within the first pages, and have me crying just as fast. Very highly recommend.
Also, I can’t even imagine the pain of wanting to touch, to feel comfort, to be touched by the people you love, and not being able to. To have people walk away eventually, because you inevitably have setbacks. My heart broke for Ireland.
He said he could touch when things were going well. I’d live for those moments if he gave me a chance.
⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Haphephobia (fear of touch)
Diabetic MC
Nurse MC
Tattoos and piercings
Slow burn
Strangers to friends to lovers
Hurt/comfort
Age gap
Musician MC
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Anxiety disorder
Past abuse (side character)
Brief mentions of rape (side character, not detailed)
Parent with Alzheimer’s
Death of a parent (present, not detailed)
Haphephobia (fear of touch)
Hyperglycemic episode
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM/OW drama: No
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 1st person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: N/A
[…] he removed his hoodie and placed it on the foot of my bed. “I know I can’t hold you right now, but if you need comfort, maybe this can bridge our gap. If you want.” He backed toward the door again, paused, blew me a kiss, and left. My heart lurched, and the moment he was gone, as stupid and juvenile as it was, I caught the kiss and pressed it to my lips with a choked sob.
Unobtainable. A dream that could never be. This was my life. Constantly striving for the impossible.
Yes, I enjoyed sex—a lot—but what I’d learned in all the years I’d dated was that an emotional bond and friendship were far more important than bumping uglies.
It had become an ever-growing, impossible standard of living he could never achieve. He set the stakes higher and higher, so no matter how many positive steps forward he took, he only saw failure.