This story can only be described as epic. I was pulled in from the first page and it just kept getting better from there. The chemistry between Lily and Nikoli is amazing from the instant they meet, but that didn’t matter because she’s not interested in him at all. She’s in love with her best friend so Nikoli has no chance, even is he doesn’t want to accept it. I expected it would take time to warm up to him but despite his arrogance and brazen attitude about his reputation, he was completely likeable, even if he annoyed me at times.
Lily was so loveable from the beginning. She’s tough and smart but she has so many more layers, she just got more interesting as the story continued. The interaction between the two wasn’t just sizzling but also sweet and I loved watching them fall in love, especially since they were both sure feelings between them were impossible. Nikoli only wanted to help her for his own selfish reason, but quickly became attached to her before he even realized what was happening.
There’s a lot more to the plot than just the romance between Lily and Nik, but I can’t do it justice so I’ll only say this is an amazing story, a must-read. It’s long but I never noticed because I was so engrossed and just wanted more. I love this book and will definitely read it again. This is the first book in the Manwhore series but can be read as a standalone with no loose ends or cliffhanger.
Touch Me Not on Amazon
Touch Me Not
by Apryl Baker
The Manwhore series book 1
Published 2020
The Manwhore series book 1
A past tragedy has left Lily Holmes burdened with a devastating secret…
Since the death of her twin sister, Lily can’t bear to be touched. Not accidentally, not casually…and certainly not intimately. This makes it impossible for her to confess to her best friend Adam Roberts that she’s in love with him. She can’t give him the sort of relationship he needs, so she watches in silence while he plans his wedding with someone else.
Enter Nikoli Kinkaid, the campus manwhore…
Nikoli is a self-proclaimed connoisseur of women, and he wants to add Lily to his list of conquests, but she wants nothing to do with him—until he makes her an offer she can’t refuse. He’ll teach her to enjoy human contact again, giving her a chance to win over Adam, while Nikoli uses all his considerable charm to seduce her.
But Lily raises the stakes…
Lily loves cars. Her late father was a racer, and she grew up under the hood of a car and on the racetrack. Nikoli has a limited edition 1970 Plymouth Barracuda she covets, so she informs him the terms of their deal also require he not sleep with anyone for six months. If he does, she’ll win the car. If she surrenders and ends up in his bed, his beloved ’Cuda is his to keep.
In an intricate dance of control and surrender, a reluctant friendship becomes something more. Lily begins to crave things she never believed she could, and Nikoli realizes there is more at stake than his reputation. If Lily overcomes her phobia, will she crave Adam’s touch as she’s starting to crave Nikoli’s? Or will she only find pleasure from the touch of a semi-reformed manwhore?
