Touch (Pagano Family #2) by Susan Fanetti
Luca Pagano is a second son. The family rebel, he has always been a beat out of step with his father, who sees him as unserious and unsettled. But Luca is a man who knows his mind and follows his heart. He’s never met a woman with whom he wants to be serious or settled, and he is definitely not looking. Active and adventurous, he prefers an uncomplicated life, free of any attachments but those of his family.
Emmanuelle “Manny” Timko has recently moved to Quiet Cove. She, too, avoids attachments beyond her family, but her reasons go deeper than simple preference. To make her way in the world, she’s had to build a life of coping mechanisms and control.
The connection they make together is as intense as it is unlikely. To love Manny, Luca must learn to love in a new way. To love Luca, Manny must learn to love at all.
When Luca’s Uncles come to him to collect on a debt, what Luca and Manny have found together will be sorely tested. What happens next could change everything for them and for the whole Pagano family.
Note: explicit sex, violent scenes
My Review
5 ★★★★★
“You’re butterflies. Everybody else is spiders.”
What’s in a touch? It’s a simple thing right? It can provide comfort to those who give and receive it out of love. It can provide pain to those who receive it when given to them out of hate. But what if you couldn’t distinguish between the two? Touch no longer becomes simple, it’s complex like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Filling the brain daily with just that simply task. Ms. Fanetti brilliantly explores this concept. She delves into the psyche of two individuals who struggle to find the balance.
This is the second book in the Pagano Family series and I loved it just as much as the first (read my review for Footsteps (Pagano Family # 1)). Susan Fanetti developed two complex and complicated characters within a plot that was contrastingly beautiful. The vulnerability of these characters was a divergence from their hard edges and rough persona’s.
The ONE character that I (and most other readers) wanted to read about most after Footsteps was LUCA! Ms. Fanetti must have known she created a heart-throb, whom women would desire more of because she wrote her follow-up book about him! THANK YOU! XO Let me say now, that I declare my undying love for Luca Pagano! His unwavering love for Manny was so swoon-worthy, I couldn’t get enough! Again, I think the reason this worked so much for me was because we see a side of him that we don’t expect to see, his vulnerability.
“You can’t know how hard it is to love a girl who hates that love like poison.”
Luca first meets Manny at his brother’s wedding in Footsteps where she was the manager of the band that performed. The second time he meets her it is again at work, but under a different name, and a different job. Luca is intrigued by the girl with the fiery spirit and smart mouth. She’s very far away from his “normal type of girl”, blonde, boobs and calm dispositions… she’s tiny, 4’11 with dark hair and a fiery personality. He’s not the settling down type, one night stands are his specialty. He’s 34, works for his father and loves his life. Or so he thought. But as things change around him, his brother’s marriage, his father’s seeming relationship with the neighbor, and now this spit fire of a woman entered his life, he begins looking at his life.
“Two things I know can make any man rethink his life. Death or a woman.”
Manny is strong and sassy. In her late 20’s, she’s struggling to maneuver in a world that is still unknown to her. Her brain never built the connections that recognize love, complex speech, emotions etc. She has to constantly examine what’s going on around her to figure out what everything means. This reinforces her need to be in control of everything. Because when she’s in control, there are no questions, there is nothing that needs to be figured out. This leads to some funny scenes and steamy ones…just imagine Luca, not being in control.
“I want to touch you so bad it feels like my hands are going to come through my skin. But I can wait. I wish I understood it better, but I can wait.”
I have so much more I want to say, and yet I don’t want to say much more, because it would be so easy to spoil this book. There are many great quotes, that I think I will share instead:
“You’re not so easy to forget. I like being with you. I think about you when I’m not. I f*ckin’ dream about you, and that’s a first. So I’m with you. Unless you want me gone.”
another from Luca: ♥
“I don’t tap. I love Manny, and I don’t tap.”
Manny:
“I’m your manifest destiny.” ⟵ Love that
Rooted (The Pagano Family #3) is Carmen’s story and will be uploaded for pre-order on October 22, 2014 and released November 8th 2014. Cover reveal and blurb on October 22nd as well. For a teaser of Rooted, click here.
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