ONCE TOUCHED – Laura Moore
A Silver Creek Novel , Book 3
A Perfect 10
Ballantine Books
ISBN: 978-0-345-53702-7
eBook ISBN: 978-0-345-53703-4
December 2015
Contemporary Romance

TheSilver Creek Guest Ranch in Northern California

When Quinn Knowles is upset, she talks to her animals. These days she tells her nanny goats: It seems everywhere she goes, she runs into couples in love; sometimes it's her two brothers and their fiancées; sometimes it's guests. She's happy for them all, of course, but they just remind her of her many failures. She's twenty-four and never been able to give away her virginity; she's always pulled back.Is her mother matchmaking again by hiring a new hand, the hot and handsome Josh Yates?

Good friends of the Knowles family sent their son to Silver Creek where they once lived. Ethan Saunders has made a name for himself as a talented photojournalist and was in Afghanistan shootinga documentary for a show and book.He was wounded when a bomb blew up the armored vehicle in which he was riding. His companions were not so lucky; none survived. Ethan's shoulder and arm will heal, but he expects to carry the heavy burden of guilt forever. He blames himself for the deaths of his friends, as well as that of an innocent little boy.

When his family lived in the area, Ethan was good to Quinn; she was four and he used to lead her around on her pony. However, when she picked him up at the airport after not seeing him for years, the meeting did not go well. Her heart went out to him, but Ethan was touchy; the last thing he wants is pity. The long ride to Silver Creek was uncomfortable to say the least.

What makes Quinn such a wonderful heroine is that she is so caring and compassionate. She has taken in many abandoned and abused animals, even a noisy parrot. She hopes one day to open her own sanctuary. Can she help Ethan whether he likes it or not? What about Josh?

The cast of characters in ONCE TOUCHED is comprised of unique, realistic, and likable people. As the third book in the series, others have had their stories told. Books one and two, ONCE TEMPTED and ONCE TASTED, starred Quinn's brothers, Ward and Reid, and their now fiancées. And as always in a Laura Moore work, animals have personalities, too. That is one of the many reasons Laura Moore is a favorite of mine. This great read deservesa Perfect 10.

Jane Bowers