5th Anniversary EditionA past tragedy has left Lily Holmes burdened with a devastating secret… of relationship he needs, so she watches in silence 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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I really liked this book with the exception of Adam, Lily’s best friend since childhood. I was hoping by the end there would be a change of heart towards him, but no…just didn’t like him. Nik also had one exceptionally stupid guy moment that deserved a good smack, well actually two (*spoiler*) if you count the cruel way he broke up with Lily before he came to his senses. There were also a few snippets regarding a serial killer scattered throughout the read which really had nothing to do with anything in this story so I’m guessing it moves forward into the other books in the series. (*spoiler*) I guess it did actually help with the setup of Lily’s disappearance but that could have been handled without it. But overall, I did enjoy the characters and the storyline. Even though the overall goal by Nik was to have Lily as another notch in his bedpost, I like how it all played out in the end. And I really enjoyed the ending, it was fitting for them.
Lily was a sweet, caring girl loved by all and she was also in love with her best friend (Adam) and had been for a long time. Lily also had a phobia of being touched which came about in a tragic way – by the death of her sister, in which Lily blames herself. After that incident, she can’t stand to be touched in any way by anyone. Though no one knows the story behind her phobia, her friends know it exists so they keep their distance in that regard. Except for Nik. He sees her across the quad one day and decides she’ll be his next conquest. Unfortunately for him, Lily is well aware of his reputation with the ladies and upfront shuts him down. He doesn’t take no for an answer and after he realizes that she’s in love with Adam (and he is clueless), Nik offers her a kind of help she can’t refuse if she wants a shot with Adam, or actually anyone at all. There’s something about him she’s drawn to and the more time they spend together everything changes. She knows her heart will be crushed in the end but she just can’t resist him, especially when he makes her feel.
Nik – in his terms – was a connoisseur of women and never slept with the same woman twice. He didn’t do attachments, didn’t do relationships, and he had secrets. He was upfront with all his hook-ups before anything happened, but left a slew of broken hearts around the campus. Lily was the shiny new penny and he was determined to add her to his collection regardless of the warnings from her friends, and even his. He was not backing down, he’d make her an offer she couldn’t refuse and he’d get what he wanted along the way. Though his plan started to backfire the more he got to know Lily and discovered she had some of the same interests as him – cars and video games being two of them, which actually went along with his secrets. The more time he spent with her, the more he was falling under her spell and he knew she was going to change him, he would not come out of their arrangement unscathed.
I loved that Nik and Lily were upfront from the beginning and were honest with each other about their arrangement. And the emotions they evoked in each other. All the craziness, bets, meddling friends, etc. aside they made a great couple. I was annoyed and irritated beyond words at Adam, Lily’s best friend. (*spoiler*) He enjoyed stringing her along, got engaged to someone else (none of them could stand) because of Lily’s touch phobia then when she was getting better decided to hurt her more by saying he’s always been in love with her but because of her issues, chose someone else. Now he wants her again and she’s just supposed to forget everything. Ugh – huge slaps for him!
This is a new adult, college romance, enemies to lovers with a HEA. Humor, drama, angst, and romance with some twists and turns and suspense.
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.
Touch Me Not is a heart wrenching story that follows Lily and Nikoli. She’s the “sweet and innocent” student battling her own problems – her biggest one being a huge regret from her past that has lasting effect in her present. He is the university’s manwh*re, that has a left long strand of broken hearts in his wake. These two seem like total opposites at first glance, but as the story goes on these two prove that they couldn’t be more perfect for one another. This book is a fantastic story about trust, love, moving forward, self growth and more. It grips you early on and pulls at everyone of your heartstrings throughout. The author done an amazing job with these characters and details of Ally’s journey. Loved it and highly recommend it.
This was a great read the first time, now with the additions that Apryl has made it is still great but there is a lot more fun in it and not as serious in places. I really loved the changes made and love Nikoli and Lily’s story. Can’t wait for the next anniversary to see what she does with it.
I really liked this book, I couldn’t put it down. I hadn’t read the non-anniversary edition…so this was really good! Characters were identifiable and easy to relate to.
Definitely recommend
This book was one of my favorites the first time I read it. With the added content and the wedding scene, it’s even better! Love it!
I have always loved this series and Apryl Baker has made it even better than it already was with all the amazing added content I can’t wait for the rest!
AHHH IT WAS AMAZ-BALLS! LAUGH SO LOUD EVERYONE LOOKS AT YOU LIKE YOUR NUTS OR UGLY CRY AND TEARS DOWN YOUR FACE! I HAVE BEEN IN LOVE WITH THE KINCAID BROTHERS SINCE I READ THE FIRST LINES OF TOUCH ME NOT YEARS AGO. I LOOK FORWARD EVERY YEAR AND WAIT ON PINS AND NEEDLES FOR MORE OF THE BROTHERS AND THEIR WIVES. I would love a novella about Adam and where he ends up later on in life but more Kincaids I’m definitely down for that! Two things she tweaked I wish stayed the same but that’s blip on how much I adored this book. I can completely overlook it with and ending like that! NOPE,no spoilers for you! You have to read it to find out!
P.S. I love Janet and how fierce and loving she is all wrapped up into one! She shines in this version.
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!!
I fell in love with Nikolai and Lily the first time I read it so when Apryl Baker added to it I was excited to see even more of them. She did an amazing job integrating all the new details into the original book.
I absolutely adore Apryl’s books…. All of them! I fell in love with The Ghost Files and then the Crane Diaries. I was a little reluctant to read her romance books but I was pleasantly surprised. The Manwhore series is some seriously hot reading. And Nikoli is absolutely amazing!
I love this update and expansion of one of my favorite books. I love this series and the characters draw you into the story.
This book is so amazing it was amazing when it first came out and even better the second time around
A definite must read book of the year
This book has a little bit of everything! I am not a fan of romance books but the Nikoli changed my mind 🙂 You can definitely sense he and Lily are made for each other from the get go.
If you’ve read this story previously, pick it up and read it again. Apryl expanded the background and this is a complete book with history and purpose.
Definitely recommend!
this is a great extension of the characters & the whole story! What’s not to love? Can’t help but love the Kincaid Brothers!
This book was a pleasant surprise. I came from being an avid reader of Apryl Bakers Ghost Files and Crane Diaries series to her romance novels, at first I thought it was going to be a 50 shades knock of but the story line developed further and further and I was hooked. The only downfall to this story is the killer lurking in the background and the kidnapping storyline. I did not feel they fit in this book and could have faired better with a book of their own. Over all a solid read though and would definitely recommend.