A past tragedy has left Lily Holmes burdened with a devastating secret…
Since the death of her twin sister, Lily can’t bear to be touched. Not accidentally, not casually…and certainly not intimately. This makes it impossible for her to confess to her best friend Adam Roberts that she’s in love with him. She can’t give him the sort of relationship he needs, so she watches in silence while he … while he plans his wedding with someone else.
Enter Nikoli Kinkaid, the campus manwhore…
Nikoli is a self-proclaimed connoisseur of women, and he wants to add Lily to his list of conquests, but she wants nothing to do with him—until he makes her an offer she can’t refuse. He’ll teach her to enjoy human contact again, giving her a chance to win over Adam, while Nikoli uses all his considerable charm to seduce her.
But Lily raises the stakes…
Lily loves cars. Her late father was a racer, and she grew up under the hood of a car and on the racetrack. Nikoli has a limited edition 1970 Plymouth Barracuda she covets, so she informs him the terms of their deal also require he not sleep with anyone for six months. If he does, she’ll win the car. If she surrenders and ends up in his bed, his beloved ’Cuda is his to keep.
In an intricate dance of control and surrender, a reluctant friendship becomes something more. Lily begins to crave things she never believed she could, and Nikoli realizes there is more at stake than his reputation.
If Lily overcomes her phobia, will she crave Adam’s touch as she’s starting to crave Nikoli’s? Or will she only find pleasure from the touch of a semi-reformed manwhore?
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4.5 stars
This is a first for me from this author and I really enjoyed the story. Both the hero and heroine had a troubling past that they had to overcome. With a little help and love, they both learned to trust each other and fell in love in the end.
Lily didn’t like for people to touch her. It didn’t matter if it was her BFF or a stranger. She didn’t want a hug or a hand on her shoulder. Who better to help her move past her fear of being touched than the campus manwhore. Nikoli didn’t date, had no girlfriends, and was only out for a little fun. He wanted one thing from Lily and in exchange, he would help her move past her fear of people touching her.
You knew that Nikoli was in trouble, he was making a deal with the sweetest girl on campus. She was loved by everyone, tutored most of the football team, and was house mom of the girl’s dorm.
As I said, this was a great story and I am looking forward to reading more of this series.
08/02/2021 “Touch Me Not” (nook) is well-written and a very emotional story. I was drawn in and could barely put down this remarkable book. Several times my tears streamed down my cheeks. Thank goodness for a HEA.
Loved Nikoli and lily. Their banter and back and forth was hilarious. They really balanced each other. She was a spitfire under all her fear and it just took a playboy like nik to help her. He had experience with ptsd and helped her learn to be able to not be afraid of touch. They were amazing together and the heat and steam they created with all their Cecilia chemistry and tension was off the charts. Loved the car scene and how they had that in common. Everything he learned about her made him want her more. I just wish there would have been a point where he explained better all that happened with ladies ex Jessica. His watered down version to her helped but I feel like it would have made things more clear for lily. The readers learned about it but not her. That we know of. Love all niks brothers. Lol hope Adam gets a book. Can’t wait for kades book next. Then apparently he has another one in Kincaid securities series that’s also about him an angel.
a lot of unforgettable moments
I absolutely loved this book. Lily and Nikoli were an amazing duo, not only in helping each other but just being genuine as well. I loved their back and forth together, and I loved how Nikoli knew what to do for Lily. My first Apryl Baker book, but about to go devour the rest of this series!
I read the 5-year-edition and apparently some things are different, I don’t know what but I love this book to pieces.
This confirms that I love stories where the H helps the h in a not very common way. I know they may not be realistic but there’s something about them that captivates me.
I loved seeing how the so-called manwhore wasn’t what everyone had expected, and how the girl that couldn’t be touched started craving him.
The couple’s chemistry was excellent. I loved them together. My heart was pounding so hard! I recommend this book if you’re a sucker for stories like this.
The last chapters were…. different from the rest (maybe they were added for this new edition). It felt like an introduction to the next books. It’s normal, but I just wanted more Lily and Nik together… but that ending…. was EVERYTHING!
Oh my gosh, I loved this book so much! First, let me tell you that my favorite thing is that it is a complete story. We get he intro, the backstories, the current and a glimpse at the future and I love it for that alone. The main characters are so great and share such a beautiful love story but the background characters are more than that, they are part of the story and the journey. There are a lot of ups and downs and I think that speaks to thenature of relationships in general. There is a great little twist that you almost expect and then you find out was just slightly off of what you were thinking. It’s touching and caring while also having funny moments and moments when you want to smack some people. I loved every single moment of it!!
This is the first contemporary romance that I have read by Apryl Baker and she did not disappoint. It seems no matter what genre she writes in, she rocks it. I fell in love with these characters straight from the start. Nikoli is the bad boy you’d love to hate but soon grow to love and Lily has a past and baggage, that doesn’t stop Nikoli from getting what he wants. This story was a roller coaster of sorts, you can’t help but to feel for Lily and what she’s gone through. Of course then we have Nikoli who is just hot and everyone knows how much of a manwhore he is, even Lily. Most girls want in his pants and he knows it and loves to use it to his advantage. Lily is not most girls, but soon learns she cant even resist his charm. This book had me swooning all over the place, I cant wait to read more of these characters, I can’t tell you with out going into spoilers how phenomenal this story is.
I don’t usually read “college” books but this one was fantastic! It is also hot with some steamy Dominant scenes. Sweet and innocent senior Lily catches the eye of a bored and looking for a new conquest senior Nikoli. When he shows interest her bff since childhood, Adam, and his football friends try to discourage her from any interaction. They make a bet he can get her in bed and if he doesn’t she gets his car. He has 3 months to do it and promises to help her with her aversion to being touched by anyone so she can be with her bff that she secretly loves. As the two spend time together she finds he’s more than the manwhore who only sleeps with a woman once and then he’s done with her and he finds someone who likes fast cars, racing and gaming. He’s a racer and a millionaire owner of a gaming company. Will these two survive this bet with their hearts intact?
Well, this one is definitely your classic NA romance with a tiiiiny twist.
A tiny twist that kind of excite me at first but in the end didn’t really kickin’ it. I enjoyed the classic ‘manwhore’ vs. good girl theme but one thing that kind of weirded me out; why in the world everybody seems to adore our heroine here? Why?? I mean sure she’s “nice” and smart and basically tutoring every boy in the uni, but it’s almost like reverse harem when every male goes all, “don’t hurt her or you’ll answer to me,” and “she’s more than one night stand, respect her.” I mean, phew thank goodness boys are getting more polite and protective, but why would they go all the way like that for Lily? What did I miss here? Should I read another book before I start this one so I can know the connection between Lils and all the boys?
So yeah other than that, the story went pretty well. Quite predictable but then again it’s nice to read comforting stories with comforting plots rather than plot twist all the time.
Will definitely read the sequel!