If you're a fan of romance novels that showcase perfect alpha males and equally perfect alpha/beta females, you should read this book. Love in Touch is nothing like those formula romances and by suggesting it I'm hoping you might realize that romance can happen to "normal", everyday people.
22 year-old Kassie lives in Seattle, working at a boring job while she struggles to return to the world of the living after watching her father slowly die after a debilitating stroke. She's hurting, but determined to regain a normal, friend-filled life that has purpose. She joins a yoga class, a running group that is training for a marathon and at the prompting of her housemate and friend Erik, she enrolls in ASL classes. Erik also invites her to join him at a weekly social gathering for the deaf, to practice her new skills.
At the gathering, Kassie notices a handsome guy sitting alone in the corner of the room. Erik confirms that the man in question is Jake, who is deaf and blind. Although the sign language for those both deaf and blind is different, and there's a possibility that Jake won't understand her, Kassie makes the effort to say hello.
Kassie isn't an Amazonian warrior woman, a Mother Teresa wanna-be, or a wilting violet. She has no grudges or causes. She's just...normal. She is gentle but can be tough when the situation calls for it. She's determined but doesn't demand. Sound boring? It isn't. She's real and warm and hopeful, but also rational--just like a normal person.
One of the things I find most irritating in romance novels is when poor communication between the protagonists is used as a plot device. Love in Touch has a fair amount of miscommunication (primarily because the protagonists don't speak the same "language") and it is used as a plot device but it isn't annoying. In fact, it's fascinating to watch the relationship develop in spite of the obstacle. Kassie and Jake know they face a steep communication learning curve if they're going to make the relationship work. Yet, despite their limited means, they communicate better than most couples in romance novels. They are in love and they aren't going to let that slip away due to a stupid misunderstanding.
The author, Lucy May Lennox, doesn't plop these two lovebirds into a magical world of sweetness, either. No one in the story is wealthy. Jake lives with his parents and although he's smart enough, they can't afford to send him to elite colleges for the handicapped or pay for a full-time interpreter. There are devices which could help Jake communicate more clearly but they're very expensive and Jake doesn't want to burden his parents anymore than necessary. Kassie helps him and offers alternatives but soon learns that Jake must find his own path to independence. When she pushes too hard, the results can be heartbreaking.
The first time a secondary character made a cruel remark about Jake's disability, I cringed. Then I wanted to reach through the pages and slap the little butthead. Unfortunately, Jake and Kassie must repeatedly face prejudice, cruelty, the over-protection of his parents and the worries of well-intentioned friends. Ms. Lennox doesn't sugarcoat it. You get the full brunt of what disabled people face on a daily basis. It hurts to read it. I mean it really hurts to read it. As the parent of a disabled son, I can vouch for the authenticity.
Kassie and Jake's romantic journey is so demanding that when they succeed, the rewards are that much more beautiful. And they succeed often enough. Ms. Lennox is a skillful writer in that she doesn't drag you through non-stop conflict only to plop down a rushed HEA in the final chapter. Like life, Kassie and Jake try and fail, and try again. The story flows with ups and downs and reads more like a memoir than a fictitious romance.
Yes, it's a HEA ending. Not sappy; happy.
My only problem with the book rests at the feet of the publisher, Dev Love Press, LLC. My Kindle version had numerous formatting mistakes and grammatical errors.