Tome Thursday: Untouched

Hello everyone!

It's time for the weekly book review, and this week I was once again lucky that one of my favourite authors released another novella from her Fairy Tale Wedding series.

Noelle Adams has quickly found her way back to my regular reading list, and as I've already done a review on Unguarded, I figured I might as well do myself (and my OCD) a favour and continue along the trend which would enable me to have the entire trilogy on here once it was out and about.

So like I've already mentioned elsewhere on this blog, Ms Adams is one of my go-tos when I'm feeling down or in need of some old-fashioned happily ever after with reasonable characters.

You know the feeling, right? When all you want to do is immerse yourself in someone else's life through a book but end up dissecting it instead because they come off as just SO unrealistic that it's impossible?

Yeah, that's usually me. Not so with Untouched, however.

As always with my serial blog posts, you'll find a link to the connected one down below.

But, to tell the short story shorter: three friends make a pact when they're all invited to a fairy tale-like wedding at a romantic mountain resort that they'll go after what they want. In Unguarded, this meant Charlie went - and got - the heart of the man she'd been in love with for a long time, Simon, although not without trials and tribulations stuffed into one weekend.

Now, in Untouched, it's Hannah's turn.

Hannah is the only one of the three friends (that we know so far) who's still a virgin at twenty-five. Not that it's some kind of problem, but she's feeling antsy and wants to finally DO IT, you know what I'm saying?

But as she comes home from yet another disappointing date where she didn't feel the 'spark' to invite a guy back inside, she and her best friend (and co-worker) Bruce, who also happens to live in the same apartment building too, have a little heart-to-heart.

Bruce tells her that she has a romantic view of the entire entreprise, and that there are no more princes on white horses.

And I mean, he should know, considering he'll go after anything and everything with a skirt!

That being said, Hannah does realize one thing: that she needs to at least trust the guy she'll do the deed with, at the very least, and the only one she feels that comfortable with is Bruce.

So how does she go about achieving her end without ruining their friendship?

Well, she cons him into being her date to the wedding, first thing. Then she savvily drops hints that she doesn't plan on being a virgin after the wedding weekend is over (which I have to say was probably my favourite scene in the entire book as she's like 'Oh yeah I'll lose my V-card this weekend' and Bruce at firsts responds with a 'Mh-hmh' right before it kicks him and he turns it into 'WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY'). And then of course it's the fact that she is quite attractive, even if she considers herself plain in comparison to her two best friends.

Being part of the wedding party and a bridesmaid, Hannah has to attend all the wedding activities and we get to see a slightly different, less catty side to Polly (the bride) that we did in Unguarded.

It also gives us the opportunity to see Hannah get all jealous when she thinks Bruce is flirting with another woman when he's supposed to play her boyfriend for the weekend. This all escalates into an argument, a reconciliation, and to her dropping her bathrobe after she takes a shower in the room with him when she enlightens the dummy that she wants him to be her first.

Which he obliges to, and they cuddle together afterwards until they fall asleep, but the day after is a little bit weird since Bruce pulls back, assuring her that she'll enjoy sex more when it's with someone she loves.

Hannah tries extremely hard to enjoy the rest of the wedding, not that she's successful, and only feels marginally better when she has a nice conversation with an old friend from school ... until Bruce cuts in, in all Neanderthal glory, annoyed she's flirting with another guy.

This escalates to yet another fight, her tripping and dropping into the snow and twisting her ankle, and finally to the pair of them cuddling up for sleep again until next morning when neither can deny their obvious need for one another.

Yep, they have sex again.

And again Bruce is trying REALLY hard to keep away afterwards - but he explains, to the shock of all shocks, that it's because he's in love with her and he doesn't want to screw with their friendship because he knows she's not in love with him.

Seeing as she IS, though, it's problem solved, pretty easily, and a few months later they're back at the resort for the thirtieth anniversary of Hannah's parents.

It's also time for Hannah's own happily ever after as Bruce proposes.

The end!

Unlike with Charlie and Simon, I didn't connect quite as well with either Hannar or Bruce for some reason - but that doesn't mean I didn't like the story. It's a fun, quick read, incredibly cute (even when you want to smack the big dummy a little bit to stop him being an adorable idiot), and enjoyable. I now can't wait to read the final one in this series, Unveiled!

If you've yet to read any Noelle Adams books, I suggest maybe starting with these novellas. I guarantee you'll love them!

xx

*image not mine

Unguarded