Book Review: Touch Me Gently by J.R. Loveless

Title: Touch Me Gently
Author: J.R. Loveless
Genre: M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy from publisher
Published: September 2010 by Dreamspinner Press

Always hiding his tormented past along with his scarred body, Kaden James finds it difficult to keep a job. Luck finally turns his way when he finds a job as a cook on a Montana ranch, where he meets terrifyingly handsome Logan Michaels. Logan is different from any man Kaden's ever met, and before long, he finds himself falling in love with the big cowboy.But Kaden's nightmares won't let go of him so easily, and he's not just jumping at shadows. He has nearly a lifetime of abuse, horrifying memories, and pain addiction to overcome. Can Logan's gentle touch help Kaden heal inside?

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: Slow and gentle MM romance with two good leads but the continual stressing of one lead’s age drove me crazy and even creeped me out a bit.

The Set Up: Kaden is scared inside and out from his tough childhood. He lands a temporary job on a Montana cattle ranch. He’s initially scared of the ranch owner, Logan but slowly begins to open to Logan’s love.

Why I Read this Book: I loved this author’s last book, Chasing Seth, which was a great MM shifter romance so thought I’d give her earlier book a try.

What I Liked: I like the slow, gentle romance between Kaden and Logan. Given Kaden’s traumatic past, the sexual intimacy is postponed and this allows for a lot of emotional relationship building and I liked that. Logan and Kaden spend a lot of time together doing household and ranch chores and create an emotional intimacy that I thought fit the characters well and was enjoyable to read. I loved watching Kaden open to the loving, but insistent, Logan. Readers would have to have hearts of stone not to root for Kaden to find love and acceptance in the arms of gentle Logan.

What I Also Liked: I’m a city girl so to me the ranch setting was very exotic. I think the author did a good job of writing the setting with the animals, ranch hands and weird food (could have gone my entire life without knowing people eat “calf fries”!) I also liked the secondary characters, especially Logan’s sister Shea, who acts as opinionated matchmaker.

What I Didn’t Like: I detested the constant reminders of how young Kaden is. He’s referred to as “boy” through-out the entire novel. If it wasn’t “boy” then it was “teenager”. Given his past, Kaden was certainly an old soul and I think the constant reference to his age diminished his strength and accomplishments. Plus, it was borderline creepy to read the term “boy” in erotic sex scenes.

IMO: This is a gentle heartwarming love story if readers can get past the constant age references. This is likely the closest to an inspirational/Christian MM romance readers could find.

J9’s Rating: