4 STARS ✮ VERONICA LARSEN ✮ RECKLESS TOUCH

Reckless Touch

by

Veronica Larsen

This is my first book by Veronica Larsen and I have to say it was from beginning to end a pleasant experience. It started with me opening the book and finding the following page:

Ms. Larsen definitely knows how to make us bloggers feel appreciated. After this I was hoping that the story wouldn't disappoint. And I have to say overall I was pretty impressed. But let me start at the beginning. Now, watch this:

Reed's a professional bullshit detector. And me? I'm a professional bullshitter.

Amelia is a reporter. She loves what she does - uncovering the truth and showing their facets with her byline under it is something she gets off on. When she starts to dig into the town's mayor's more than shady deeds she  also starts to receive gifts - fresh coffee in the morning, flowers. She connects the dots and suspects the mayor. Once night on the way to her car after leaving the office she is being attacked and barely gets away. She ends up in hospital where she is being interviewed by police.




Detective Reed despises reporters. They don't tell the truth, they take it and turn it into something that is barely recognizable from the original story. He of all people has to work Amelia's case but he sees something in her - while she is obviously scared there is also a fighter in her. He offers self defense lessons but tries to stay entirely professional. But lines get blurred and at some point they can't resist the pull they both feel towards each other.

There's a battle behind his eyes, between wanting to help me and wanting to keep his distance.

Amelia is an interesting female main protagonist. She is strong, a loner, and deeply suspicious of people She has only two friends she is really close to. Amelia usually doesn't mind lying, it's part of her job but it's nice to see that she does have a conscience.

The voice is the remnants of ll the doubt, insecurities and suspicions ingrained in me from childhood.

I wouldn't describe her as nice, she is too edgy for that but she is a good person and has a professional code of honor, however, that doesn't mean that she won't use people to her advantage. When she lets her guards down she can be downright lovely.

"You work in journalism long enough, you come to realize there's no limit to the angles you can write a story from while still technically telling the truth. The truth is a prism, reflecting back on itself. We can only handle one facet at a time."

Sebastian Reed is delicious. He has a calm and almost quiet strength. When he meets Amelia he sees the strong person who'd rather takes action than to have somebody protect her. He tries to remain distant but it is inevitable that they get closer when he starts teaching her how to defend herself. But above all he is a sensual man who craves Amelia's touch.

Fire burned in her eyes and made me wish circumstances were different. Because, this woman? It took everything in me to keep from begging her to let me take her hard and fast, right against that column. 

I love his charisma, the way he is with Amelia. He isn't a brooder but he is this calm presence you can't forget.

The development of their relationship puzzled me a little bit. I can't even say it's a slow burn because they don't have real interaction until they start to train together and that is already quite a bit into the book. From there I can't see a lot of real bonding moments until they first kiss except maybe a handful of moments when they flirted. And then it goes really fast. Having said that, I loved their chemistry once they gave into their attraction.

"What's wrong?" she asks.
"What's wrong is the part of me that wants you, doesn't just crave to be inside of you, it wants to fuck you senseless. Hard. Rough. Mercilessly."

The mystery was really well done and it had me guessing way past the 75% of the story who Amelia's stalker was. I loved that we got to know both characters properly and that you could actually say after closing the book who these two were.
The story is written in dual POV but the weight is on Amelia's thoughts. I loved it whenever it was Reed's turn! This author's writing style is compelling and captivating and I can say without a doubt that I will read Veronica Larsen's back list.