Touch Me by Lucy Monroe

Together, Thea Selwyn and Pierson Drake embark on an extraordinary voyage from a tropical paradise to the glittering ballrooms of London. But will Thea's dark secrets destroy their illicit passion?

Holly Says:

In 1797 England, angry aristocrat Geoffrey Selwyn believes his wife was unfaithful to him, though she swears she was not. When Anna gives birth to a boy, Geoffrey immediatly takes the baby away with him, determined to keep her away from her son. Heartbroken, Anna gives birth a few minutes later to a twin a girl she names Althea.

Anna makes several attempts to see her small son and keep her daughters presence a secret from her heartless husband, but, after almost being caught with her daughter, flees to the exotic West Indies to raise her daughter alone. And pine for her missing son.

Twenty-three years later, Thea is a partner in Merewether Shipping with her Uncle Ashby, a sweet man who helped Anna when she first arrived on the Island. Though her mother died ten years before, Thea is still haunted by her mother's continued heartbreak over her missing son and the promises she made to Anna on her deathbed.

Pierson Drake arrives on the Island in desperate need of a blacksmith to fix his steam engine, so that he can sail back to England in a timely manner and insure his investors make the money they invested on his behalf. He ignores Thea at first, refusing to deal with a "mere" woman regarding matters of business. He finally realizes it is she, not her Uncle, that can help him and she agrees, under the condition that he takes her to London with him, so she can investigate some discrepancies in the books from their London office. He is blackmailed into agreeing.

On the voyage, tempers ingnite, wills clash and a fierce attraction develops between the two. Though Pierson wants to marry Thea, she refuses, afraid of loving a man and ending up in the same position as her mother.

I generally dislike a stubborn heroine, because so many times she tends to be stupid as well as mule-headed. I'm happy to report, however, that Thea Selwyn didn't fall fall into this category. She was perhaps a bit too obsessed with staying unwed, but LM did an awesome job of explaining her reasons.

Pierson Drake is hot, tortured and a total Alpha-Male...my favorite combination. He has his own issues - illigetimate birth - but he doesn't let that stop him from making Thea his.

Overall, I give this one 5 out of 5. As with all of Lucy's books, I was touched, angered and in love by the time I finished reading it.

There are 2 books to follow this one:

Tempt Me ~ To be released 04/06
Take Me ~ To be released sometime at the end of 06

Needless to say, I'm breathless with anticipation...Lucy? Can't you release these just a little bit faster??

Isabel Says:

Again Holly told me I had to read this book. What I liked about this book is Drake knew he was going to marry Thea. He knew it and you could tell he had deep feelings for her. Thea on the other hand was not about to get married. She tried using her mother as an excuse to not get married. Which became very annoying. Woman! OPEN YOUR EYES!!

I did love how she told Drake he wasn't a bastard and how she stood up to him.

Grade: B-