Review: Touch Starved by Samantha Lau

Recently removed from the life he knew, from his family, and from the land that saw his birth, Rajnish Nayar finds himself lonely. On this new country, on his birthday, what could have been a fatal accident helps him rediscover himself, and perhaps, find a second chance at love.

Erotica writer Stephen Kouris has trouble keeping friends. He has even more troubles keeping lovers, even though all he wants is someone to be by his side always. When he meets exotic Rajnish Nayar, his interest is immediately piqued. Could this shy man be the one? And could he get him to admit his feelings, despite the cultural differences?

I have to applaud the author for tackling a story that features real life characters and diversity. *claps* We need more characters like Rajnish. He's a 43 year old Indian man, divorced from his arranged marriage (to a woman) and has a teenage son. There are a good number of older hero MM but this one is closer to unique because the author chose to go outside the usual main character box.

And the other main character, Stephen is in his late thirties!

If you like older heroes, sweet romance, you might like this one.

Rajnish or Raj meets Stephen on a chance encounter - drunk Stephen nearly gets ran over by Raj. The men befriend each other over a length of time, taking a vacation together where the friends finally become lovers. Rajnish was interesting, a late in life bloomer of sorts - he always coasted along his life, did what was expected of him and finally at 43, takes the reins and lives his life for himself. He finally touches the doorknob of his closet. He has to first accept homosexuality in his son and then later himself.  Stephen was a patient, friend who took his time, didn't freak Raj out because he saw something special in his friend.

Why this wasn't a 5 star rating?

I'd love to rate this higher just for the different type of character used...but I can't. The story was good, not memorable. Even quiet main characters have the ability to remain on the brain if written to showcase the best characteristics. We sort of get this with Raj but I still don't feel like I got to fully know him and Stephen...I barely knew him. Both men were perfect for each other, I believe they will be partners for a very long time. But I wanted to know more of what made them special, what made them tic. Why was Stephen so rip roaring drunk in the first place? Other than the brief mention of Raj reading Stephen's work (MM romance BTW), why didn't we get to learn how Raj started reading this genre?

The pacing was sedate. For less than 19K, it felt like I read double that due to the slow pace. Don't get me wrong, for Rajnish - he could only have a believable late in life gay moment if the pacing is slow. There is something about this story that needed a little more to make it interesting. It didn't need to be over the top dramatics, I'd have rated this lower if it there was. But something. Raj is an immigrant in a new land, he barely touched on the cultural differences. There is sort of a parallel story with Raj's son, Arun, but he is only there for a few pages to showcase Raj's acceptance of his own sexuality. Also, there was a sense of formality between father and son that tarnished the validity of their closeness in my eyes. Loosen up fellas. :)

There were a few typos but it didn't detract from the story. There were images in the text that didn't really look great on my e-reader. I don't know if it was only a me thing but I just thought I'd mention it. Story didn't need them.

Overall, it was a sweet and slow, no angst, calm romance. Not as intense or deep as I imagined it could be. But I liked.

P.S. this story is set-your-own price on Smashwords, in case you're curious.

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