Just One Touch

May 1, 2017
A traumatized woman heals a weather-beaten security agent with a combination of supernatural powers and ordinary human compassion, discovering her own identity in the process.Jenna has spent two decades in Texas as the isolated captive of a religious cult, exploited for her superhuman healing powers. She manages to flee the cult and is being pursued by a band of armed men when she encounters Isaac Washington, an employee of a private security firm, as she tries to steal his SUV during the course of her getaway. Isaac sympathizes with Jenna, who's obviously been beaten, and is just offering to buy her a meal when shots ring out and he's hit by gunfire. Jenna miraculously heals Isaac's sure-to-be-fatal wound with the touch of her hands, and he develops a fierce attachment to this at-risk woman. Moved by a strong sense of possessiveness, and deeply unsettled by how little Jenna knows about herself and the outside world, Isaac marshals the formidable clout of Devereaux Security Services to protect her from imminent danger. Since the cult has brainwashed Jenna into considering herself a satanic burden, she is initially wracked with guilt for putting Isaac and his friends in mortal danger but gradually begins to believe that she deserves his concern and affection. However, her journey toward self-discovery is threatened by the looming specter of a powerful man who desires sole command over Jenna's powerful gift. The fifth installment in Banks' Slow Burn series (With Every Breath, 2016, etc.) simmers with emotional tension and steamy sex but stops short of delivering a truly combustible climax. Jenna perfectly embodies the wounded bird archetype, and her plucky personality has just enough chutzpah to rescue her from blandness. Although Isaac's internal transformation seems abrupt because Banks doesn't spend much time unraveling the threads of his past, his tortured musings about Jenna's plight will tug at the heartstrings of romance readers. Strong secondary characters--and hints about their painful histories--enrich the novel's emotional palette. Paranormal elements blend with everyday experiences to add a dash of the unexpected to a traditional romance story.

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