Touch Me (Solveig, Alaska, #1)

by Madame Baldridge

[Eve1972]

I have to start out this review by saying this whole trying a "new" or "new to me" author challenge I set for myself this year is working out a treat. I enjoyed this book a lot. It had a couple issues which I will talk about in a bit that stopped it from getting 5-Stars, but overall I was super impressed by this author's storytelling ability. 

 
So onto the deets...I found the writing in this one to be excellent. It is a LONG book (400 pages), which was both a plus and a minus. On the positive side it gave the author ample time to build the backdrop, and flesh out both the plot and the characters. The setting of this story had SO much depth, that you will feel you are living in Solveig, Alaska right along with these characters. The same goes for the characters themselves who all have distinctive personalities of their own. Now, unfortunately the length also had a downside. This is very much a meandering tale, and a slow burn romance which made it slow going in places. However, the plot itself remained very engaging, and I never felt the need to skim. That said, even though the romance itself was slow it was also insta-love on steroids for the hero. He was ALL in two minutes after seeing the heroine. (lol) There is also a mystery element that weaves its way through the plot adding an extra bit of intrigue to the story, and which isn't 100% resolved by the end of this book. So I assume that aspect will carry over to book two.

 
I wouldn't say this one was overly angsty. The heroine pushes away quite a lot, but the hero is an extremely over the top caveman, so her reaction was probably normal. (lol) There wasn't any OW or OM drama. The sex scenes were smokin' hot. I ADORED Ivan. A 6´5 hairy beast of an alpha. SIDE NOTE: It is not too often you read about a hero that doesn't do manscaping and in uncircumcised. So bonus points for originality in that regard. Holland and I had a love/hate relationship. Overall, I liked her, but sometimes I think she came across like a bitchy shrew. There was also a fantastic group of secondary characters in this book. I loved Ivan's brothers. Holly's grandmother and Grandfather. Her friends. The dogs, who were characters all unto themselves. There was a diverse community of people that made up this town and I can't wait to read more about everyone. Last, the final 50 pages of this one were CRAZY. However, I was not a fan of the descriptive sexual assault on the heroine. I don't think it was necessary to the story, and since it happens so late in the book, the aftermath was just swept under the rug.

Overall, this was a fantastic read and I can't wait to dive into book two.