#Review #Giveaway Just One Touch by @maya_banks @TastyBookTours

A suspenseful and sizzling story of a young woman who 
escapes a terrifying past… into a more uncertain future.

JUST ONE TOUCH

Slow Burn #5

Maya Banks

Released May 9, 2017

Avon Books

Multiple #1 New York Times bestselling author Maya Banks continues her Slow Burn series with a suspenseful and sizzling story of a young woman who escapes a terrifying past… into a more uncertain future.

Raised in a strict religious cult since she was a young girl, Jenna has no connection to the outside world beyond vague flashes of memory that seem to be from another life. Memories she clings to when the cult leaders discover her extraordinary ability to heal-and punish her. Years held captive and forced to do the cult's bidding have turned Jenna into a meek, timid woman…or so they think. In truth, she is merely biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment to escape.

When a terrified young woman tries to steal the SUV of Devereaux Security's toughest recruit, Isaac's anger quickly turns into a strange sort of protectiveness for the beautiful, bruised stranger. But when they are caught in a firestorm of bullets and Isaac is hit, he's sure the end is near, until Jenna touches him and closes his wounds. As he tries to bring Jenna to safety, she refuses to tell him what danger haunts her or how she healed him, but Isaac vows to do whatever it takes to gain her trust…and her heart. Because with just one touch, Isaac knows he wants Jenna to be his--forever.

4 STARS

This is a great series. An interesting combination of a military/security series, while throwing in just a touch of the paranormal. I haven’t read every book in the series, but I’ve really enjoyed the ones I have. For the most part, they stand alone. However, I do recommend reading them in order. There were a few times in the books that I did read, where it was clear something that was said or done had been established in an earlier story. Still, it shouldn’t deter you from reading this one now!

Isaac is one of my favorite Maya Banks characters and in this book I fell for him even harder. Like all the guys in Deveraux Security, he comes with baggage, dark baggage. When Jenna heals him, I was elated to see Isaac receive peace from the demons that had been haunting him. He needed to in order to handle what he felt for Jenna and battle her demons. I loved that he succumbed to his obsession with her immediately, never fighting the gut knowledge that she was meant for him.

Jenna gave me a bit of whiplash. There were moments when I liked her character a lot, even when she was broken down and vulnerable. Her moments of strength were hit or miss for me. Sometimes, I admired her strength and other times, I wanted to smack her for using her momentary strength to do something stupid.

Having spent her whole life being sheltered and beaten, both mentally and physically, it was unsurprising that she had no self-worth. However, despite her naiveté, she was very intelligent, so it was frustrating when she couldn’t grasp certain concepts. She feels like if she runs away, the people helping her will be safe but, it’s incredibly obvious that just knowing about her has marked them for death. And though it’s explained to her, she continues to act as though she could save them by leaving them behind. At the end though, I was cheering for the woman she became.

Isaac and Jenna are a good fit for each other and I enjoyed their romance as it grew. Isaac was so patient with her and it made it so much more believable that someone so traumatized would venture into unknown areas. Particularly a physical relationship with Isaac. After being in a religious cult, one where there seemed to be no affection, it took a delicate touch to write a storyline where the romance could grow into something physical.

The overall concept of this story is excellent, there is a lot of action, some unexpected twists, and explosive chemistry. However, at times, it was very slow and it got extremely repetitive. Isaac kept having the same inner monologue over and over and over…and over. I got to a point where I skimmed them a little. He and Jenna had the same conversation several times too. While I understand the need for him to repeat his promises to her since it takes a lot to build trust in someone like Jenna, to help her realize that she is worthy of someone’s love and devotion. It would have been easier if she had glossed over them after a while.

Despite the slow sections, I really do recommend this book. Those moments are scattered between scenes with high emotion and a lot of action. Like I said, the story itself is very interesting and there were some twists I didn’t see coming.

I’ll definitely be going back to read the earlier books in the series and continuing on to see all of the guys get their HEAs.

Maya Banks is a multiple #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose chart toppers have included erotic romance, romantic suspense, contemporary romance, Scottish historical romances. She is the author of the Breathless Trilogy, the Surrender Trilogy, the KGI novels, the Sweet series, and the Colters Legacy novels. She lives in Southeast Texas.

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