Review

Forbidden to Touch by JC Harroway

Forbidden to Touch coverSummary

Forbidden to Touch is an erotic romance by JC Harroway. The blurb per the back of the book:

One contract for work… Another contract for play.

Confident, controlled, and thigh-clenchingly hot, Reid Faulkner was the object of my naughtiest teenaged desires. Now I have a contract to redesign his family’s flagship hotel. Only I want more. Like a second contract – one that allows Reid to fulfil my filthiest fantasies. But lust at first touch quickly turns into something much more…might Reid protect his heart at all costs – even if it means breaking mine?

 

The good

Forbidden to Touch was really steamy. I don’t actually like first person present tense narrative, as I usually find it very jarring. However, the story gripped me and pulled me in so that I didn’t really notice the point of view and tense anymore.

I loved the chemistry between Reid and Blair. I also loved that Blair was a strong, independent woman and remained so throughout the whole book. That doesn’t mean she didn’t have feelings, or that she didn’t fall for Reid, but she knew what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to go after it.

Reid was very hot as well, I really liked his character. He was a bit controlling in places, and definitely had anger issues, but his love for his father and brothers was really great. I liked the subplot of Reid’s father having dementia; dementia is so devastating and I thought it was handled really well in the book.

The not-so-good

There weren’t many not-so-good things in Forbidden to Touch. Overall it was well-written. I didn’t like how Reid had severe anger issues, which came out when Blair told him about her ex. This is not the first romance novel I’ve read where the hero wants to beat up the heroine’s ex, and for me that’s a red flag rather than an endearing – or hot – quality.

As I said at the beginning, I tend to not like first person present tense narrative. While it stopped bothering me after a while, it was still a bit jarring that both Reid and Blair sounded the same in their POVs. They didn’t each have their distinct voices which was a bit disappointing, as that’s usually the benefit of writing first person narrative. Especially in Blair’s POV this was jarring and for a while I even thought that this book was written by a man.

I also thought it was hilarious (not especially good or bad) that there was SO much focus on the fact that Blair wore high heels. I wonder if the author themselves never wears high heels. It’s not that difficult or special.

In conclusion

Forbidden to Touch was an enjoyable book. I practically read it in one sitting, which is saying something as I don’t usually have enough time to read books in one sitting. I wouldn’t read it again, and I’m not sure if I’d read other books by the same author, but it was definitely enjoyable, although I am still a bit hazy why the title was Forbidden to Touch.

Forbidden to Touch is a Mills and Boon publication.

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