REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Touch
AUTHOR: Remmy Duchene
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 137 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2018
BLURB:
One can’t walk the path of darkness and expect to escape unscathed.
At eighteen, Foster Erickson stepped out of the closet into a world of homelessness, prostitution, and drugs. Years later, he’s pulled it together and is ready to rebuild.
Determined not to let the demons win, Foster starts university with a plan to keep others from making the same mistakes he did. The last thing he expects is Sylvester Roberts.
After years of working with his father, Sylvester decides to step out on his own. University at his age is strange, but for him, failure isn’t an option. After flunking a few tests, Sylvester’s professor assigns him a tutor—Foster Erickson. The moment they meet, Sylvester knows Foster isn’t like other guys.
As the darkness hovers and Sylvester begins falling, he will have to decide if helping Foster fight his demons will be worth it in the end.
I love stories about guys with phobias or disorders who are managing just fine, but who meet someone who is able to be a positive force in their life enabling them to fully conquer their issues. This one looked to be a perfect example with Foster having his fear of being touched.
These guys meet in class, but it isn’t until Foster is assigned as Sylvester’s tutor that they are forced to interact on a more personal level. It isn’t all smooth sailing, however, as they do hit a few stumbling blocks along the way. But as their relationship/friendship grows, they each look at things a bit differently as the important things in their lives change and evolve.
I loved how Sylvester was able to find ways to make baby steps with Foster gaining ground each time with being able to do more yet not ever really pushing too much. Unfortunately, I didn’t really connect with these guys for some reason. I was surprised that Foster’s past didn’t really play a part, aside from the main incident that seemed to really spark his phobia. In the same turn, I was not very clear about Sylvester’s life before college. His backstory didn’t make it very easy to match up with the guy we were reading about. Also, I never really got a warm feeling about either of them perhaps due to not really feeling like we got to know them very well. But, there were enough things to make this an enjoyable read, and I was glad I gave it a chance.
