Book: Touching Lace by Anne Rainey

Rating: 6/10

I decided to try a new author and randomly decided to pick Anne Rainy since I found more than one of her ebook titles interesting (others being What She Craves and What She Needs). I decided to try Touching Lace and see how I like her writing.

The story seems interesting enough. It is about a guy who has always wanted his best friend, but is worried about scaring her away if he tells/shows her his intentions. The main girl has just dumped another loser boyfriend and he gets his chance. Since she is worried that the reason she can't seem to get a guy to stick around for more than a few months is because of her lack of talent in the bedroom, he plots to be her sex instructor. I would probably put this book in the erotica genre since there seemed to not be much depth in the characters or the story. I was quite disappointed. Even the "sex instruction" was hardly even formulated - just throwing in the words "lesson 1... lesson 2" does not make it an actual learning experience. But there are some redeeming parts to reading this story and I have listed those below.

Pros: I enjoyed the beginning - the teasing and the sexy talk were stimulating and exciting. It was adorable and the underlying problem between the main characters, the fear that the friendship will fail if they got intimate, is very real and an audience can relate to that.

Cons: While the plot was interesting, the book's ending leaves me unsatisfied. It felt rushed and there are even some parts that didn't feel like it fit. I understand it is difficult to write a book and leave a little tid-bit for the next book to connect to the first one, however, it is weird to have a random character introduced and not develop it a bit more. For example, her family, her two friends, and another girl mentioned in a phone call by her brother could hardly be considered supporting characters since they barely leave an impression. I would have enjoyed a bit more character development. Even the main characters seemed pretty superficial and weak (in a development sense).

All in all, I am left unsure if I want to bother trying out her other books.