When We Touch (A Whiskey Creek novella) [Kindle Edition]

Brenda Novak (Author)

Book Description

You're invited to a wedding in Whiskey Creek, Heart of the Gold Country

Unfortunately, it's the wrong wedding. Olivia Arnold is arranging the festivities—and it's the hardest thing she's ever done. Because she should be marrying Kyle Houseman. They were together for more than a year…. But her jealous sister, Noelle, stole him away—and now she's pregnant.

All their friends in Whiskey Creek know as well as Olivia does that Kyle's making a mistake. His stepbrother, Brandon, knows it, too. But Kyle's determined to go through with it, for his child's sake.

Olivia's devastated, but surprisingly Brandon—the black sheep of the family--is there to provide comfort and consolation. The intensity between them, both physical and emotional, shows Olivia that maybe Kyle wasn't the right man for her….

But is Brandon?

A novella from Brenda Novak's Whiskey Creek series.

Product Details

• File Size: 283 KB
• Print Length: 102 pages
• Publisher: Mira (August 1, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008JI9EHU
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,111 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I was touched! August 4, 2012

By ejaygirl

Format:Kindle Edition

Olivia Arnold returns home for the most difficult assignment of her life: serving as the wedding event manager for her sister's wedding to her ex-boyfriend, Kyle. She's doing this at her parents' request as her sister, Noelle, will never win an award for being the sibling of the year. Meanwhile, Kyle's stepbrother, Brandon, steps up to help Olivia make it through this awful week.

I'm not a fan of novellas but this one achieved what most do not, which is to tell a great story and create characters that you can relate to. What Olivia was asked to do was one the most painful things you can imagine. Even though her sister's behavior was abominable, Olivia rightly placed the most blame on Kyle, who deeply regretted getting involved with Noelle. I thought it was going to be sort of cheesy to pair Olivia with Kyle's stepbrother but it was done so skillfully it ended up making perfect sense. It was great to see both triumph out of this mess and the story of Noelle and Kyle is yet to be finished. Their parents left a lot to be desired, showing little empathy beyond their own selfish need to maintain family harmony. The friends of Olivia and Kyle were also introduced, just enough to whet my appetite and hope for more of them in future stories.

This is a fine start to a very promising series, leaving me satisfied but still wanting more. There's not much more you can ask for in a short story.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely don't miss this!!! August 7, 2012

By Robyn Clements

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Caught me from the very beginning! Brenda Novak's work has never let me down before and this short story was no exception! The characters are sharp and interesting and most importantly the two main characters (Brandon and Olivia) made me care about them and root for them to get together! Also this is not your typical short story, even though I didn't want it to end it was a very very long "short story" and a fantastic beginning to a new series! Don't miss it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Just so-so for me. September 8, 2012

By CINDY F.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've read many, many books written by this author and I loved them all, but I have to admit I was just a tad disappointed in this one. Usually when I've read her books before, they pull me in and wouldn't let go until the very end. With this one I got pulled in right from the beginning, but it sort of lost it's steam towards the middle, where IMO- it got a little boring.

I can understand why people would sympathize with Olivia & Brandon, but I just didn't get why people would feel any sympathy for Kyle. Yes, Noelle was a whack job, but that didn't stop Kyle from having an affair with her the minute Olivia was gone. He got exactly what he deserved, at least as far as I'm concerned. And it wasn't like he didn't know what Noelle was like either, after all... he'd known her for years and years. Heck, even his own step-brother was ready to put out a restraining order against her, in order to keep her from stalking him..

Would I recommend this book? Probably not. Some of her other written works, yes, but not this one.

More About the Author

Brenda Novak Bio

It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak's career as a bestselling author--she caught her day-care provider drugging her children with cough syrup to get them to sleep all day. That was when Brenda decided she needed to quit her job as a loan officer and help make a living from home.

"When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book," Brenda says. But she sold that book, and the rest is history. Her novels have made the New York Times, USA Today and Borders/Waldenbooks bestseller lists and won many awards, including three Rita nominations, the Book Buyer's Best, the Book Seller's Best and the National Reader's Choice Award.

Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are proud parents of five children--three girls and two boys. When she's not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually working on her annual fund-raiser for diabetes research--an online auction held on her Web site (www.brendanovak.com) every May. Brenda has raised over $1.6 million to date.