Review: Untouched

Kerry has never been able to have a normal relationship with anyone in her life.  That's because any touch causes her blinding mental pain and allows her to see the darkest corners inside other people's minds.  Her friend Samantha is the only one whose touch she can bear, because --unbeknownst to her-- Samantha isn't completely human.  She is a hybrid: a child of one human parent and one Amoveo, a race of shapeshifters.  Kerry, too, is a hybrid, though she has no idea that such a thing even exists.

Dante is Kerry's destined mate.  He knows exactly who and what she is and wants to help ease her into the truth.  Samantha and her husband hire him to be Kerry's bodyguard on a modeling shoot in New Orleans.  Not only will it give the two of them a chance to get to know each other, it will keep Kerry safe from the threat of those among the Amoveo who would use violence to keep the race pure.

At first, Kerry rebels against Dante's presence, but she quickly realizes there is something special about him when she can touch him without pain.  The story follows their path to one another as an evil Purist stalks Kerry and plans her destruction.

I didn't love the book.  I think the biggest reason was because I didn't really connect with any of the characters.  I'm not saying it was bad, because it wasn't.  It just didn't inspire emotion in me.  Perhaps it needed more sexual tension.  Or more believable tension of any kind between Kerry and Dante.  The tension they did have felt manufactured. Him calling her "princess" --while she called him "Neanderthal"-- felt trite.  The love happened superfast. And it all left me feeling rather tepid.

The villain is essentially a caricature, though I will grant that the identity was a surprise.  I felt like Kerry's reactions to the revelations about Dante and the Amoveo were understated. And it was all just... meh.  Not bad.  Just not great.

This is the second book in the Amoveo series and while the events of the first book are referenced, the author does a good job filling in the details and I never felt lost.  I think it would be fine for new readers to jump in, even if they haven't read the first book.  3 stars.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Untouched

by Sara Humphreys

Release Date: April 3, 2012

Publisher: Sourcebooks