**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 
 Touch Me Not is the first in a new, new adult contemporary romance series by Apryl Baker. It is called the manwhore series, named after the main character Nikoli. I had a hot and cold relationship with this book. The start was very, very bumpy for me. The book eventually picked up momentum and became more enjoyable for me, but the start had me wavering on just what I would say in my review. Let me try and explain. 
 Touch Me Not overall, is a fun and sexy new adult read. It has so many elements in it that I love- a bet, great chemistry, and a college setting. And the romance really did build up into something really great for me. I even ended up liking Nikoli, but not at the beginning. And not for the typical, oh he is a total pig reasons. I would have been fine with that. My main issue is that the characters seemed one dimensional to me. I don't know how to describe it other than they felt flat for me. The story picked up steam and the plot interested me enough to make me want to keep reading, but the characters still felt a bit lacking. That says a lot about the plot, because I am a character driven reader so for the plot to make me want to keep reading when other aspects of the story felt stilted is a strong positive in the plot column for Touch me Not. 
 The turning point in Touch Me Not came at about 30% into the story, that was when I put aside my frustrations with the characters and the kind of blunt narration and really dove into the storyline. When the agreement was upped to include the car is the scene where I found myself saying,"now this this getting interesting." I was also interested to see how the whole touching phobia was going to play out. And how it played out, ended up being a solid new adult romance. The first 1/3 of the book was a solid 2 star for me, but the second 2/3rds was more like a 3.5 star read, so it averaged out to right around 3. If you are die hard fans of new adult romances that feature bets, and you love a good reformed manwhore, then check out Touch Me Not. I think it will be right up your alley. And if you are like me, and the start has you cringing a bit, push through it- it really does get better! 
 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs