I received an e-ARC of Touch by Kris Bryant from NetGalley in return for review consideration. This lesbian romance novel will be published by Bold Strokes Books in the UK on 16th January 2018.

Please note that the below review contains some plot spoilers, and that the book itself contains scenes of an explicit, sexual nature between consenting adults of the same gender.

Touch tells the story of Hayley Sims, a paediatric physiotherapist who’s asked by her boss to take on an unusual client. Elizabeth Stone, who goes only by Stone, is a hockey player at the top of her game who injured her leg in a serious car accident. Her parents are friends with Hayley’s boss, and as Hayley used to work with athletes, Stone is her newest patient. It quickly becomes clear that Hayley and Stone have more chemistry than is appropriate between a doctor and patient. To make matters more complicated, Hayley also has a fiancée, Alison, a workaholic surgeon who gets on better with Hayley’s parents than Hayley herself. Hayley soon finds herself reassessing her relationship with Alison as her feelings for Stone start to grow.

I really enjoyed all the technical elements of the book, learning about physiotherapy as Hayley treated Stone and her other patients. I know very little about physiotherapy or injuries of the type Stone has suffered, so this was all fascinating to me. I also appreciated Hayley’s internal conflict between her role as Stone’s physician and her growing attraction towards the other woman. The parts of the book that dealt with Stone’s career as a professional hockey player were also interesting, particularly as ice hockey isn’t super popular over here so again, my pre-existing knowledge of the sport was very limited. As with many lesbian romance novels, the main characters are portrayed as skilled and competent within their chosen fields, and that’s always something I enjoy reading.

The whole book is written from Hayley’s POV, and I liked her character’s voice. Sticking with the POV of just one character allows Bryant to delve more deeply into Hayley’s thoughts, fears, and motivations. She was generally a likeable character, often more concerned about trying to keep others happy than going after her own desires, and very dedicated to her job. It was also interesting to see her work through her true feelings about her relationship with Alison, and I felt this was done in a very realistic way.

The downside of the book being from Hayley’s POV is that Stone’s motivations were sometimes less clear, particularly towards the end of the book, and I found her character harder to get to grips with. Part of her characterisation is also that she’s a little self-absorbed, at least at first, and isn’t always particularly sympathetic. Having chapters or sections from Stone’s POV might have endeared her character more to me. Bryant does show her character growing and developing though, and by the end of the book, it was clear to me that Stone had changed for the better, which I liked.

I also found the latter half of the book somewhat frustrating, as an spanner is thrown into the works of Stone and Hayley’s burgeoning relationship by a secondary character. I am often annoyed when ‘characters refuse to talk to each other about something important’ is a major plot driver, and that was partly the case towards the end of this book. To Bryant’s credit, she does deal with this plot point well, with Hayley being as frustrated as I was by Stone’s refusal to open up to her. And once Stone actually explains herself, the situation is quickly resolved. Nevertheless, this element of the story did somewhat reduce my enjoyment of the book.

All in all, this was a good lesbian romance novel. The POV character is engaging and realistic, and Bryant has a lovely way with sense of place and background characters, who really fleshed out the story for me. If you enjoy romance novels about women who are truly committed to their professions (this is a thing I love!) and who learn to take risks on other people, this one’s for you.

There were such beautiful feel-good moments, unbelievably hot sex and emotional intensity that took my breath away in ‘Touch’. Kris Bryant excels at making the reader feel warm and fuzzy. Hayley is a physical therapist whose newest patient is superstar hockey player Elizabeth Stone. After a bad accident Stone needs to get back to full fitness or her career is over. The problem is they are Dr and patient and that’s a no-no. As the attraction grows they have to decide how to deal with it. Hayley is getting her life back on keel and has to ask herself if the complication is worth it. Stone is used to getting what she wants but she might have met her match. I loved their story. Highly recommended 5 Star read!

I was given this ARC by Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books in return for an honest review.

Fun and sexy. This has the levels that one likes when reading romance but none of the anxiety that comes with that. easy read for a nice weekend.

I’ve finished the book....finally. I am really sorry to say that I found this book laborious to read, it just did not seem to have been written by a seasoned author. There was no flow to the book and the dialogue and narration seemed stilted. The story itself seemed fair, but it didn’t get much chance to shine because of the quality of the writing.

A nicely paced and well written romance. It was an enjoyable read and I liked the characters, but it was also a bit shallow. I think the story either needed to become a thriller (with definite scope for a menacing ex girlfriend), or the central characters needed more depth. It was too one-sided; leaving one half of the romance a bit sketchy ultimately made it hard to care about both women.

I liked this book. It's a simple romance novel with great chemistry between the main characters. The seemingly necessary break-up seemed forced and silly, but the rest of the book was nice and likable.
I'm looking forward to listen to the audiobook version of this - but I think the narrator is very important in this one as she can add an extra star or remove it too.

I like this author a lot. To be honest, this wasn't my favorite book of hers though. I thought the whole relationship went really quickly. Too quickly. Hayley is engaged and immediately can't stop thinking about Stone. I thought there would be more of a slow build with even the attraction when you're with someone else to that level. Even Hayley's friendship with Rachel was like they were bff's instantly. I don't want to spoil this book for anyone, so I'll also say non-specifically that I thought Stone was nuts in her actions with Hayley as well, since it all seemed, again, too quickly for me. 

Side note, I'm one of those people that can't handle not knowing what the characters look like in the beginning of the book. Some people I'm sure could care less, but it helps me visualize them right away. All you know is Hayley is 5'6 and Stone is taller for most of the book. I would have liked to know specifics in some roundabout way from the start.

This is my first lesbian romance fiction from anyone other than Melissa Brayden. I loved it as much as I loved reading her. The story of two passionate woman in love is really touching. I love happy ending stories. The narration is beautiful. The romantic ones are steamy as well. This is my first book by Kris Bryant. I'm planning to read more.

Hayley is a physiotherapist, she usually works with kids but at her boss's instance she takes on a Hockey player, Elizabeth Stone. The two struggle with their attraction which is only complicated by a doctor-patient relationship. Will love prevail over a hockey player's busy schedule and Hayley's complicated personal life?

This is not a cheating story, I nearly put it down several times because of this, but it's not like that. If you're like me and this turns you off a book, don't worry and keep reading, this story is well worth it.  I enjoyed this much more than the last book I read by this author. The POV worked really nicely and the story was well balanced and well paced. 

I loved Hayley's growth in this story, really really loved it. Her job was really fascinating as well, the kids are so cute. Nice love story and a very sexy one at that.  The ending was sooo sweet, I awwww-ed out loud! 

I received an ARC  via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The pacing was good, I love the characters.  Looking forward to this author's next book.

This is a romance between Physical therapist Hayley Sims and professional hockey player Elizabeth Stone. They first meet in Hayley's practice, Stone in need of therapy as a result of an injury. There is some initial chemistry but Hayley has a fiancée and there's the obvious doctor-patient relationship restriction. As time goes by their feelings start to run deeper, will they have their happily ever after?

'Touch' is written in first person in present tense, a style that might take some time to get used to. It's only Hayley's point of view so the reader doesn't have the chance to get much into Stone's headspace apart from a good deal of telling by the author. My main issue with this book is that some parts of the plot seem a bit rushed and others a bit unrealistic. These issues somehow stopped the natural flow of the story and weakened the main characters' chemistry. It's an ok read but I enjoyed Bryant's book 'Taste' much more. 3 stars.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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I have read nearly everything from this author, and I have enjoyed them all.   This one is my favorite, but it is close near tie to Forget Me Not.  I though the chemistry between Stone and Hayley was written very well.  They are a hot hot couple.  When I first began the book and realized Hayley was in a relationship already, I wondered how in the world Bryant would pull off a breakup, and a new forever love in one short novel.  She pulled it off.  I think she is better for dropping Alison and wonder why she didn’t do so sooner.  Both main characters were great, but I really enjoyed Hayley.  Bryant backed the mains up with good secondary characters and for me this book was a win.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

I’ve read a few of Kris Bryant’s novels now and I’ve enjoyed all of them, this one included. Dr Haley Sims is physical therapist in a practice which deals with children under 12 only. At the request of her boss she is asked to take on an adult professional hockey player who is difficult. At their first meeting Stone is angry and aggressive but with each subsequent session her mood improves and Haley finds herself becoming attracted to her. 

Haley is supposed to be sending out wedding invitations to her and Alison’s impending wedding but she’s dragging her feet but hasn’t quite found the words for the reason. Written from the first person point of view, Haley’s thoughts and actions are in the foreground. Some of the characters seemed quite incidental and I didn’t ever really understand Alison as a character. Rachel was also a little shallow in the storyline.

The chemistry Bryant creates between the characters is electric but there are some intimate moments where something is missing. That might be from my irritation at Stone rather than the writing. For the most part this is an easy read, it flows well and I’ll definitely be reading more by Kris Bryant.

Touch overall is an ok book but it could have been so much better, the premise for the book was intriguing but the actual book was a huge letdown, the main characters(Stone and Hayley)were not fully described so it was hard to connect with them, their chemistry was amazing but a book can only get so far on chemistry. The acatual conflict between the couple was utterly ridiculous and the makeup and eventual declaration of love was unbelievable because u were told they were in love and it wasn't actually felt or seen.

Dr. Haley Sims knows who she is and what is important to her, pediatric physical therapy. Elizabeth Stone, knows who she is and what is important to her, recovery and ice hockey. This is a romantic read about aging and coming to terms with what is important. What is important varies from person-to-person and both Haley and Stone discover people and relationships as important.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley.  I did like this book, it was a great read and romance.  The chemistry between Stone and Hayley was off the charts, and you could feel it come off the page. The reason this did not get five stars was because of Alison.  There seemed to be no problems between her and Hayley until she was ending it.  I was a bit blindsided, and then Stone appears, then the issue with Stone and Allision.  I felt as if Bryant was bringing in all of these problems for the characters to work through that didn't make much sense overall.  Even with these issues I did really like this book, you will enjoy.

This book was alright. I was not a fan of how the fallout happened and why they suddenly moved into a relationship however to each their own.
I keep hoping her books will be like some of her earlier work such as Forget me not. Read this on a scribd subscription when it becomes available

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35504420-touch" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Touch" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498245906m/35504420.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35504420-touch">Touch</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7813172.Kris_Bryant">Kris Bryant</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2226875625">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
An ARC rec'd from NetGalley/Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.<br />Doctors, sports, sex and romance are all nicely covered in the author's latest book with leads Hayley and Elizabeth. I am a fan of Ms. Bryant's work and "Touch" allowed me to forget life and reality while I read her book. <br />For that she gets 4 stars.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

It was a nice book to read but it didn’t leave me completely satisfied. The story and the characters felt flat throughout the story. I did not feel the “undeniable” chemistry between Stone and Hayley and I understood that she was not completely happy in her relationship but it seemed a bit unrealistic that she would leave her fiancé for Stone. 

I usually like the main character as the narrator of the story, but I didn’t really enjoy it here. 

Overall, it wasn’t bad but it will not become one of my favorites.