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Every Friday night, Alex goes to the infamous sex club, Kink World, to perform. He goes in, takes his money, and gets out. No complications and definitely no touching. It’s in the contract. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned, and one night’s incident pushes him into a chance encounter with a man who is the very epitome of the word ‘safe.’
After years of focusing on being a single dad to his adorable baby daughter, Sigh is venturing out into the world of dating, starting at his brother’s club on Friday night. He’s not too excited about any of it until a chance encounter with a man covered with vine tattoos reminds him of the needs he has ignored for far too long.
Will Alex be able to let someone touch him? Will Sigh break through Alex’s defenses and learn what exactly happened to him? Will the two men be able to start again?
Title: To Trust and To Touch
Author: Vivi Anne Hunt
Genre: MM romance, gay romance, bisexual, LGBT, contemporary romance
Tropes: age gap, hurt comfort, single parent
Page count: 225 (52,000 words)
Content warnings: mature language, content, and violence
Trigger warnings: SA (off page), PTSD, unaliving, mental health, therapy
Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions
Goodreads
It’s Wednesday, my night at Kink World, and I’m running late. I have to speed my bike through a couple of intersections, but I come out unscathed. I could die about a dozen ways riding like this. I know it won’t be that easy, though. When I go, it won’t be soon and it won’t be easy. It’s someone else, who is lucky. I’ve never been lucky in my fucking life.
I almost crash into the building’s entrance, regain my balance, and tie the bike to a nearby rack. Quick as lightning, I sprint to the entrance and knock three times. A small window opens. “Pass?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s me, Frank, open up.”
The window closes and the big gate opens, revealing a smirking individual. “Oh, you’re still with us, are you, Shade?”
Shade is my pseudonym at Kink World. My stage name, if you will.
“As long as there are greedy, horny fuckers in the world, I’ll always be employed, my friend.”
I struggled with this book initially. Alex was kind of an ass at the beginning, as you can see by the quote right above this. But I pushed past it, because it felt like there had to be more. I am so happy I continued to give it chance though because To Trust and To Touch did end up living up to my hopes, even if it was hurt/comfort (which is mostly not my jam).
You have two MC’s that were quite different. Alex with the tragic event of his past (it takes a long while to learn what it is, but man…), and so he ends up working at Kinkworld as a side job, by allowing others to watch him, but they cannot touch him. If they do…well, the guy could put them down to the ground in moments, after years of practicing martial arts.
Meanwhile, Sigh seemed a bit too good to be true. Not that I didn’t enjoy their cute milkshake dates, or the love of Sigh’s daughter towards Alex, but it was a bit too easy at times. There were just areas that gave me pause, feeling that the characters wouldn’t act that way in that circumstance. Although when they met was hilarious as Sigh is talking to his daughter, while Alex thinks he’s a Daddy talking to his boy/girl.
This was a lot of hurt/comfort for me which I struggle with it at times. However, the characters drew me in and it allowed me to ignore some of the little things I saw. Those small issues didn’t pull me out of the story. Reading the description of Alex’s assault was…rough for me. I had to stop for a bit.
Overall, there were a lot of very strong issues that were tough for me as a reader, but some heartwarming things as well to create a good balance. A good book if you are in the mood for all that.
3.5 pieces of eye candy
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