Fresh Fridays: On Friday, I review a brand new series (ie. only has one book released so far) to see if the series is worth keeping up with. Here is this week’s offering:

Manwhore Series

Other books in the series:

Synopsis for Touch Me Not (from Goodreads):
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?

Series: Manwhore
Author: Apryl Baker
# of Books: 1+ (Touch Me Not)
Book Order: Unsure
Complete?: No, this is the first of a series
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Heat Rating: warm
Point of View: Third Person, Alternating
Publication Date: September 2015 – ongoing
Source & Format: Author–eARC (Read It, Review It Program)

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I told myself I wasn’t going to pick up anymore review copies for the month of January but I couldn’t resist the temptation of reading this one when I read the synopsis for Touch Me Not. It has some of my favourite New Adult tropes like:

• Taming a playboy
• A dating/learning to love arrangement
• A bet
• An interesting character tick

Needless to say, I was SO IN!

What I Liked:

–The Characters–

I was worried that Lily would be some goody-two-shoes virgin who would be nothing but an airhead (ie lacks personality or substance). Harsh, but a combination that is A) boring and B) slightly over-done. So I was SO HAPPY when Lily turned out to be nothing like I had worried she would be. She had a great back story and seemed to have a solid head on her shoulders. It was great to watch her develop as a character and person as the novel progressed.

The same can be said for Nikoli. He too had a lot of substance to his character. I liked their complexity as people and it added to the story in a fantastic way.

–The Romance–

It’s been a long time (ok, only a few books ago) since I’ve found a couple that I truly felt were a fantastic match for each other. Not only do Lily and Nikoli have a lot in common in terms of interests and hobbies but even their personalities complimented each other so well. In other words: their emotional connection to each other was just as strong as their physical, if not stronger. It was so easy to fall in love with them as they fell in love with each other–an absolute pleasure to watch!

What I Didn’t Like:

–The Inevitable “Communication Assumption”–

Perhaps a bit of a spoiler but one that is definitely expected with this type of story. I had hoped that these two would escape that inevitable plot device–and for a while it looked promising–but alas, they too were susceptible.

–Trying too Hard to have a more Complex plotline–

I have a feeling that one of the particular plot lines is going to be the focus of a sequel book, so I can understand why it was added and I can overlook it.

However, at times, I felt like things were randomly thrown in for more drama. They seemed to come from nowhere and it really threw me off. I was THIS CLOSE to giving this book a 5/5 but the random bits deterred me from that. I’m sure that those devices worked for most readers but for me, I just wanted that little bit of polish or even some insinuation earlier in the story about what was to come. I’m all for a good surprise but I feel like some of these “twists” should have been alluded to earlier.

My Expectations for the Rest of the Series:

I really have no idea who the next book with be about though I have my suspicions. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for it regardless!

My Rating: 4.5/5

Touch Me Not 4/5 | Book 2 TBP

I was really impressed with Touch Me Not. It had great characters and a solid story! If you enjoy New Adult romances, this is a great new series to get into!

Read if You Like: New Adult romances, stories about playboys,
Avoid if You: dislike arrangement/bet storylines, want more spice

• Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (Beautiful Series #1)
• Crash Into Me by Katie McGarry (Pushing the Limits Series #1)
• Crushed by Lauren Layne (Redemption Series #1)

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