cover image First Touch

First Touch

Laurelin Paige. St. Martin’s/Griffin, $14.99 trade paper (400p) ISBN 978-1-250-07519-2

Paige (Find Me) treads the gothic side of contemporary erotic romance in this discomfiting series launch. TV actor Emily Wayborn is distressed when her former friend and mentor Amber goes missing after leaving her a strange voice mail message. Emily tracks down Amber’s ex-lover, the wealthy, domineering Reeve Sallis, and she seduces him for information, suspecting he’s behind Amber’s disappearance but willing to take the risk. Amber looms large in Emily’s mind even after a six-year separation; her possible fate and the suspicious death of Reeve’s lover Missy remain a dark undercurrent throughout. Emily revels in Reeve’s potential danger to her, both thrilled and tormented by her overwhelming desire for Reeve’s possessive actions and sexual forcefulness, while finding it difficult to accept his intense feelings for her. Paige connects these emotional agonies with Emily’s past experiences of violent abuse, which are depicted in disturbing detail. Amber’s fate is ultimately overshadowed by revelations from Reeve that propel Emily toward self-discovery, forging a new level of intimacy between them. Positive comparisons to E.L. James’s Fifty Shades trilogy are somewhat justified, but every unlikable aspect of those books is on display here as well. Agent: Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Friedman Literary. (Dec.)