A Touch of Lust
3.5 "you were meant for me" stars Touch of Lust is a only seemingly simple story of two young people, who experienced the life in a Cult - deprived and twisted words, deeds, belief and conduct, filled with constant punishment and degradation, from where they both ran in one crucial moment of ticking time. Liam Wright, lost his baby sister to the ways of a Cult and he never forgave himself for not being able to save her. His hatered for cult in general never falters, it hybernates within him under the impression of "moving on" with his life... Mila Jameson, was born into the Culte BUT when she became aware that her mind can not accept the preachings of the Cult and their ways of treatment, torture and unreasonable punishment, menal and emotional abuse as being her fate...with a help of one woman's kindness, she manages to escape from the clutches of being married to one of the "brothers" at the age 14, unfortunately leaving her younger sister behind.... their path will unite in the outside world, their connection is visible yet Mila is holding back, having subcouncious flashbacks from her upbringing and her panic attacks are the only manifestations noticable to others but not as easy explainable...she has a close friend Harper but she's reluctant to spread the circle of friendship, until Liam steps up and ends his own two yeard long abstinance from contacting Mila. There's smth different about her, she's more than she lets on and Liam is pulled towards her in the most primal way. For some unexplainable reason, and beyond the words that could describe it - he feels the need to protect her besides being physically attracted to her. As they develop friendship, Mila can't hide much nor she can leave it alone with out further explanation as Liam's proximity and his touch stir not only the fluttering emotions but they also trigger the buried memories...
For the longest time I've wanted to hold you, to touch you. I want to make her fall in love with me as much as I am in love with her.
and then Liam presses the issue that will reveal the utter truth and Mila's plans to go back there BUT she won't tell him the reason why...
and that will tear them apart...
only to bring them back together, as Liam proves to Mila that this is it, she can't deny it any longer to him nor to herself...
"Just a touch of lust, that's all it takes to prove to you that you belong to me."
more stronger, more resilient to fight against not only the flashbacks and the memories but for the light in their future together inspite of it all.
This time I'll fight harder. I'll be there for Mila. I'll be whatever she needs me to be. I won't fail again.
cause after all, it was inevitable...
We've always belonged together. I knew it the first time i laid eyes on her. She was mine that day.
She'll be mine for all eternity
I have to admit that I had a hard time rating this book. I am familiar with Michelle Horst's work and I loved her previous books. What I love about it, is that she always brings in a deeper message to her readers, a thought, a feeling, an emotion that lifts us up, revive us and make us remember of what's important. And this book is no different. It brings a message of strength to move on, to let go of the bad by accepting the aftermath and own it, making yourself stronger from the negative experience and making that fact a constant pillar of growth and power. Moving on means to learn to trust yourself in instinct and the lived experience that would guide you through the turmoils of unknown in life. I loved that, i loved the way Liam and Mila were together, their expressiveness in motion and words filled with wide emotions were the spotlight of the story. and then you probably ask yourself what went wrong? *sigh* In general the initial concept of storytelling was detached, there was not enough supplement to make the transition from one action/moment/sequence to another without some kind of gap, i could not explain it but I noticed it and it made me not fully invested in the follow up of the further action. And the pacing was on the slower side, which works excellent when Liam and Mila are together but is doesn't work at all, when they are not together in a scene. And then the unraveling of the culmination that was supposed to be the peek of Mila's liberation from her guilt and a way to retaliate for all the wrongful deed done to her, left me expecting for more. By that I don't mean that i needed a full bloody physical retribution BUT i did expect smth that will leave me at least satisfied. And by that I m reffering to the actions that led to the awkward and rushed therefore abrupt resolve of the matter. But evil sometimes wins inspite the efforts, so i guess that one strike just didn't pass in my book. Nevertheless, i think Michelle's stories are deeply intertwined with meaningful substance we all need in one way or the other and I'm sure this book will find its faithful followers as I will quite sure eagerly expect next material from Ms. Horst's magical writing shop!!! ***ARC graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review***
