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Touchable Love: An Untraditional Love Story
Christy's secret is forcing her to avoid love and relationships. If only she had made better choices, respected her body and slowed down enough to realize what she truly wanted... Love. Will Christy face her past so she can look forward to her future? Can she open her heart and let somebody in? Will Christy let somebody love her?
- GenresRomance
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 8, 2008
1 person is currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Becky Due
11 books69 followersBecky Due is an award-winning author, abstract artist, fitness enthusiast, and introvert who loves people.
Becky has been a guest on national TV and radio programs, and the subject of numerous newspaper and magazine articles for empowering women. She has served as a guest speaker at women’s resource centers, shelters, colleges and high schools throughout the United States and worked as a victim’s advocate where she offered assistance and support to rape victims. In 2007, she started Women Going Forward, the first national women’s telephone support group, which ran for two years. After receiving much recognition and awards for her books, Becky’s focus turned back to writing.
Becky has been a guest on national TV and radio programs, and the subject of numerous newspaper and magazine articles for empowering women. She has served as a guest speaker at women’s resource centers, shelters, colleges and high schools throughout the United States and worked as a victim’s advocate where she offered assistance and support to rape victims. In 2007, she started Women Going Forward, the first national women’s telephone support group, which ran for two years. After receiving much recognition and awards for her books, Becky’s focus turned back to writing.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 31, 2012
I received a copy of Touchable Love in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Christy has dreams of becoming a successful photographer, but she has lived fast and wild, and fears she has contracted HIV. In an attempt to get her life back on track, she starts working for Paul, a successful, gay photographer who is dying of AIDS. He wants her to photograph his journey to death for a book to help others avoid his mistakes and encourage them to get tested.
And so begins the untraditional love story of Christy and Paul. Experiencing real love for the first time in her life, she secretly fights to keep him alive against his unflinching decision to refuse treatment for his condition. As Paul’s health deteriorates, Brian, Paul's nurse, enters their lives—and falls in love with Christy.
Christy becomes deeply depressed and isolates herself from everyone, including Brian. The months pass until one day she sees Paul’s publisher and lawyer on TV promoting Paul’s book. She realizes that she wants to make a difference—she wants to finish what Paul and she started.
So Christy begins the work of taking her life back. She reconnects with Brian, connects with other women, and searches for the courage to face her past and get tested. HIV positive or not, she wants to begin her new life.
My Review:
I have previously reviewed another novel by Becky Due, The Dumpster, and it was not for me. I did really appreciate the author emailing me thanking me for giving her a try, and she did offer to send me another title for my thoughts. I thought this was great, because I have been blasted by authors for more favorable reviews, which is really disheartening as a book blogger. So I did appreciate Due and even though I was a bit apprehensive, I gave Touchable Love a go. I again just couldn’t get into the book. It took me almost to the end to connect with the characters, and even though there was a nice little twist ending that I caught, it was hard for me to really get into it because I struggled throughout the majority of the book. I’m bummed that it didn’t work out for me, but again, I commend Becky Due for her professionalism in this industry.
Summary:
Christy has dreams of becoming a successful photographer, but she has lived fast and wild, and fears she has contracted HIV. In an attempt to get her life back on track, she starts working for Paul, a successful, gay photographer who is dying of AIDS. He wants her to photograph his journey to death for a book to help others avoid his mistakes and encourage them to get tested.
And so begins the untraditional love story of Christy and Paul. Experiencing real love for the first time in her life, she secretly fights to keep him alive against his unflinching decision to refuse treatment for his condition. As Paul’s health deteriorates, Brian, Paul's nurse, enters their lives—and falls in love with Christy.
Christy becomes deeply depressed and isolates herself from everyone, including Brian. The months pass until one day she sees Paul’s publisher and lawyer on TV promoting Paul’s book. She realizes that she wants to make a difference—she wants to finish what Paul and she started.
So Christy begins the work of taking her life back. She reconnects with Brian, connects with other women, and searches for the courage to face her past and get tested. HIV positive or not, she wants to begin her new life.
My Review:
I have previously reviewed another novel by Becky Due, The Dumpster, and it was not for me. I did really appreciate the author emailing me thanking me for giving her a try, and she did offer to send me another title for my thoughts. I thought this was great, because I have been blasted by authors for more favorable reviews, which is really disheartening as a book blogger. So I did appreciate Due and even though I was a bit apprehensive, I gave Touchable Love a go. I again just couldn’t get into the book. It took me almost to the end to connect with the characters, and even though there was a nice little twist ending that I caught, it was hard for me to really get into it because I struggled throughout the majority of the book. I’m bummed that it didn’t work out for me, but again, I commend Becky Due for her professionalism in this industry.
September 7, 2011
Originally reviewed at Book of Secrets
2.5 Stars
Twenty-eight year Christy has had a rough life. She has been raped multiple times, worked as a prostitute and struggled with bulimia. She has had numerous one-night stands and has never been in a real relationship. Plagued with low self-esteem all her life she doesn’t know how to love anyone. How can she when she doesn’t even like herself? Fed up with her life in Minnesota she moves to Florida to accept a position as an assistant for a famous photographer named Paul. Her job assignment is to shoot photos of Paul while he is dying of AIDS. Paul lost his partner to the disease three years prior and has given up on life because he wants desperately to join Jim on the other side. But before he dies, Paul wants the last days of his life documented through photos that will be published as a book about AIDS. He hopes the book will help other people to understand the affects of the disease and the need for protection against the HIV virus.
Paul and Christy become extremely close during their months working and living together. Christy finally realizes what it is like to have someone to love. Even though she doesn’t love Paul in the traditional sense she starts to open up her heart to the possibilities of falling in love with a man. Then Brian, Paul’s nurse, enters her life. He knows right away that Christy is the one for him. But it takes Christy awhile longer to recognize that her feelings for Brian are true love.
I went into this book expecting a very emotional read. Unfortunately I was disappointed. Even though the heroine, Christy was a very sympathetic character, I felt her voice was very detached. The scene where Paul passed away should have had me in tears but my eyeballs stayed dry. This book had a touching storyline and I expected to be sucked in except the emotional element was lacking throughout the book. The story idea was good and I completely empathized with both Christy’s and Paul’s struggles but the flow of the book seemed very disjointed and lacked feeling. Touchable Love gets 2.5 stars.
2.5 Stars
Twenty-eight year Christy has had a rough life. She has been raped multiple times, worked as a prostitute and struggled with bulimia. She has had numerous one-night stands and has never been in a real relationship. Plagued with low self-esteem all her life she doesn’t know how to love anyone. How can she when she doesn’t even like herself? Fed up with her life in Minnesota she moves to Florida to accept a position as an assistant for a famous photographer named Paul. Her job assignment is to shoot photos of Paul while he is dying of AIDS. Paul lost his partner to the disease three years prior and has given up on life because he wants desperately to join Jim on the other side. But before he dies, Paul wants the last days of his life documented through photos that will be published as a book about AIDS. He hopes the book will help other people to understand the affects of the disease and the need for protection against the HIV virus.
Paul and Christy become extremely close during their months working and living together. Christy finally realizes what it is like to have someone to love. Even though she doesn’t love Paul in the traditional sense she starts to open up her heart to the possibilities of falling in love with a man. Then Brian, Paul’s nurse, enters her life. He knows right away that Christy is the one for him. But it takes Christy awhile longer to recognize that her feelings for Brian are true love.
I went into this book expecting a very emotional read. Unfortunately I was disappointed. Even though the heroine, Christy was a very sympathetic character, I felt her voice was very detached. The scene where Paul passed away should have had me in tears but my eyeballs stayed dry. This book had a touching storyline and I expected to be sucked in except the emotional element was lacking throughout the book. The story idea was good and I completely empathized with both Christy’s and Paul’s struggles but the flow of the book seemed very disjointed and lacked feeling. Touchable Love gets 2.5 stars.
June 14, 2011
This is a very different book from my every day reading. Christy is a woman who is struggling with herself as a person. She doesn't have a lot of self worth about herself and just kind of floats along in life. She really hasn't found her place yet. She puts a lot of her self worth into her body. After quitting a job as a nude model she finds herself wanting to be on the other side of the camera. She gets an offer from a man named Paul who happens to be dieing from aids. He wants her to photograph his life and after he is gone, finish his book and distribute the book for free. She won't make money off this deal, but her name will be known. She does this, but as she takes the time photographing Paul, she falls in love with him and doesn't understand how she will ever gets past losing him. Another man in Paul and Christy's life is Brian. Christy and Brian bond as the end of Paul's days come.
I was captivated by this book. The writing style is unique and different. The story itself is different from what the average reader is used too. It isn't every day we sit down and read a love story that involves aids and other diseases and how real these diseases really are. That there are people out there everyday dieing. This book leaves you with mixed emotions.
I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend this to a friend. I recommend this to readers who like a story that will leave them thinking and don't mind seeing the other side of life that might be ugly.
I was captivated by this book. The writing style is unique and different. The story itself is different from what the average reader is used too. It isn't every day we sit down and read a love story that involves aids and other diseases and how real these diseases really are. That there are people out there everyday dieing. This book leaves you with mixed emotions.
I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend this to a friend. I recommend this to readers who like a story that will leave them thinking and don't mind seeing the other side of life that might be ugly.
September 1, 2010
Struggling to overcome her broken self-worth, beaten down self-esteem and her inner balance is what you will read as Becky Due shares with you a part of her life story. Her ability to share her feelings with her readers through the words in this book are exceptional and very effective. You will feel her emotional frustrations and inability to move forward as she lives in a world of confusion and loneliness as though they were your own. These are just a few issues that the author reveals to us, her readers in hopes to enlighten and educate us in regards to a loss of personal empowerment and self-love. She will share a love story that is untouchable in so many ways. As her title reads, "An untouchable Love Story, Touchable Love", is an inspiring unpredictable story of 3 people all brought together for reasons unknown to them. Through Becky Due's experiences, we gain a certain hind site in matters of body image, self-love, self-acceptance and inner peace.
Womensselfesteem.com highly recommends: TOUCHABLE LOVE as a truly inspirational read. You will see clearly that is it initially up to us as individuals to take the action and accept the responsibility necessary to move forward. To move forward is the only way toward making positive change work and to finding an inner balance and a healthy self-esteem!
http://www.womensselfesteem.com
Womensselfesteem.com highly recommends: TOUCHABLE LOVE as a truly inspirational read. You will see clearly that is it initially up to us as individuals to take the action and accept the responsibility necessary to move forward. To move forward is the only way toward making positive change work and to finding an inner balance and a healthy self-esteem!
http://www.womensselfesteem.com
August 9, 2016
Touchable Love by Becky Due was a surprisingly touching and introspective read for me! Honestly, I had expected a somewhat typical love story with run of the mill mishaps and hardships, but found out rather quickly that this book wouldn't be one of "those". The pain these characters go through is very real and very raw. Their ordeals are far more common than we'd like to admit, many of us having gone through these exact same situations ourselves, without fully understanding or dealing with them. Life isn't always peachy, and it's far from perfect! We all go through rough patches, we all make poor decisions at one time or another, and we all need to get over it and make peace with ourselves before the clock runs out!
I would certainly recommend Touchable Love to anyone looking for something genuine and at times, a bit taboo. Becky Due does a wonderful job bringing up topics we don't always care to talk about or even acknowledge, and will cause you to truly stop and think about where you've been and where you're going in this somewhat crazy life we're living. At times the story seems a tad rushed and rough around the edges, but I still say it's a great read!
Hazel O'Shea
Written for the Juniper Grove Blog
I would certainly recommend Touchable Love to anyone looking for something genuine and at times, a bit taboo. Becky Due does a wonderful job bringing up topics we don't always care to talk about or even acknowledge, and will cause you to truly stop and think about where you've been and where you're going in this somewhat crazy life we're living. At times the story seems a tad rushed and rough around the edges, but I still say it's a great read!
Hazel O'Shea
Written for the Juniper Grove Blog
October 16, 2011
Not quite what I was expecting, yet I must say that there was a nice little twist at the end. What I do love about Becky's books is that they are about women struggling to overcome their battles to achieve greatness!
When Christy was first asked to completely change her life in order to document Paul's life while battling the road that he lived with AIDS, she hesitated. She knew this would help her career though so it was for the best. Paul didn't have long to live. She wasn't there to help as an aide, he had made that quite clear to her. Her job was to document and take pictures in his weakest moments. So that's just what she did.
Christy had never let herself get close to anyone before, so when Paul passed, she was shocked and furious at how much he broke her heart for not taking his meds to stay healthier. The only person Christy had to turn to now was Paul's doctor, Brian. Brian was crazy over Christy but she just wouldn't let him in.
The question is:
Will she ever open up as she did with Paul?
Or will it be too late?
When Christy was first asked to completely change her life in order to document Paul's life while battling the road that he lived with AIDS, she hesitated. She knew this would help her career though so it was for the best. Paul didn't have long to live. She wasn't there to help as an aide, he had made that quite clear to her. Her job was to document and take pictures in his weakest moments. So that's just what she did.
Christy had never let herself get close to anyone before, so when Paul passed, she was shocked and furious at how much he broke her heart for not taking his meds to stay healthier. The only person Christy had to turn to now was Paul's doctor, Brian. Brian was crazy over Christy but she just wouldn't let him in.
The question is:
Will she ever open up as she did with Paul?
Or will it be too late?
July 18, 2014
Christy has a secret past – one that makes her question whether she will ever be worthy of being loved. We follow her as she progresses in her determination to lead her life differently. The lessons she learns along the way are universal lessons. She tackles big issues: prejudice, self-loathing but also shows us her compassionate, humanitarian side. And, of course, there is romance.
Structurally, this is a different kind of novel. It has the flavor of the traditional plot driven novel which Becky Due does quite well. But where she shines is in the parts that read like a spiritual/how-to guide. Any person who needs to take control of their lives, who needs tools for strength and self-confidence would do well to read this book, if only for the delightful scene between Christy and her therapist. Here, Becky Due takes of her novelist hat and puts on her therapist one as she instructs on the three ways to release unwanted baggage ,four keys to happiness and two rules in finding the love of your life. Delightful, entertaining and inspiring reading.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews