Review: A Touch of Lust by Michelle Horst (A Feather's Touch #1)

Note: This ARC was provided by the author via Give Me Books Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Michelle Horst is a new author to me and my first read is A Touch of Lust, the A Feather's Touch series starter. This is the tale of two young people who left their respective cults when they were just teenagers, hoping to live better and freer lives away from the confines of the communes. Mila Jameson was fourteen when she ran, desperate to not be tied to a faith she didn't believe in, more so a man she didn't love and was old enough to be her father. She had no other choice but to leave her ten-year-old sister behind but vows to return when Claire was finally sixteen.

At twenty, Mila looks just like every other regular college student on campus...except she still deals with the panic attacks connected to her time within the Order of the Promised Land. She has her best friend by her side as well as the woman who took her in and kept her hidden after she escaped, but other than them, she keeps her distance from almost everyone else. But twenty-two-year-old Liam Wright is done loving Mila from afar. When she gives in to her feelings for Liam, it should have been a beginning for them...but it soon proves to be the very shocking end.

Liam has had his eye on Mila Jameson from the moment she entered their classroom, and he's bode his time with her. Continuing his law studies in another university have him finally making his move, but when he learns that she's a former cult member who has plans of returning to said cult, anger takes over. They part ways and it takes three years before they see each other again. Liam hates that he still loves Mila, but can he overcome it when he learns why Mila has to go back? Will she ever be free or is she held captive by both the cult and her love for Liam?

I was feeling torn throughout the novel. There's a basic lack of communication between Liam and Mila (whose names are anagrams). They wasted years while in college and after their fallout because Liam hesitated approaching Mila and admitting his attraction to her, and then Mila refused to give him the one reason why she needed to go back to the Order of the Promised Land. Liam's own reaction to Mila telling him she was going back was overboard. Instead of spending the next three years getting answers, he spends them stewing in frustration. 

Oh, and then he buys a house...that he sees himself living with her in because, hello, hello, they're meant to be. What? Really? After you turned your back on the woman you claim to love? Seriously? Ugh. It was sad really, because Liam seemed like such a great guy in the first few chapters and then the whole scene with them after they had just had sex for the first time turned me off. Yes, he makes up for it later on, but I wasn't a fan of Mila apologizing first since it was Liam who acted like a jerk and only apologized AFTER she did so not once, but twice.

As far as the story about the cult is concerned, I actually liked how that played out because it wasn't what I was expecting. I appreciated that the author went in a direction that some may not agree with, but kudos to Michelle Horst for wanting to take that risk and persevering. I'm looking forward to reading more from the series, which I'm guessing will continue on about the rest of Liam's circle of friends: Mickey, Blake, and Hunter, two of whom seem to be paired up already. Overall, A Touch of Lust was hit and miss but still enough to keep me interested. 3.5 stars. ♥

Release Date: 02 February 2017

Date Read: 02 February 2017

Learn more about Michelle Horst.

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