Leaning Into Touch

Leaning Into, Book 4

De: Lane Hayes

Narrado por: Nick J. Russo

Josh Sheehan is unlucky in love and now...newly unemployed. He's not sure what to do next, but he's sure he should give up on romance. Especially after last time. His friends warned him that falling for the hunky Irishman was a bad idea. Josh can't help feeling torn even though he knows it's best to move on. But when an unexpected dose of family drama blindsides him, Josh finds himself leaning on the one man he's supposed to forget.

Finn Gallagher is driven by success. He makes no secret that building a name for his tech company is his number one goal. Finn left home a decade ago with a ton of regret, a heavy heart, and a vow to never repeat the same mistake twice. However, there is something undeniably appealing about the self-deprecating man with the silly sense of humor that makes it difficult for Finn to remember why falling for Josh is a bad idea.

It soon becomes clear they're both in deeper than they intended. There is no way to remain untouched. And there is so much to gain, if they're brave enough to lean in.

©2017 Lane Hayes (P)2018 Lane Hayes

Great story, good narration

Leaning Into Touch is the story of the Californian and the Irishman, thirty-two-year-old Joshua Sheehan and thirty-five-year-old Finn Gallagher, respectively. Their paths originally crossed in Leaning Into the Fall, and it was a meeting that led to a six-month-long affair between the two. They go their separate ways, only to meet once again a year later. The attraction hasn't waned, but Josh is wary and insists that they keep things platonic. However, even with his own hesitation and the constant reminder from his friends to not pursue anything with the wily Finn, Josh can't seem to help himself. However, both Josh and Finn are dealing with particular complications in their respective lives, and now isn't the time for either of them to fall in love...with each other.

I enjoyed the book when I read it in October of last year, and I enjoyed it again while listening to it six months later. Josh and Finn are multi-layered main characters whose romance is both sexy and sweet, giving it that perfect combination that makes it swoon-worthy, something which the author has proven to be more than adept at throughout five series. As far as the narration goes, Nick J. Russo did a fantastic job giving voice to the story in general and to Josh in particular. In terms of Finn and his Irish accent, however, I confess that I was a wee bit iffy, mainly because, more often than not, Finn sounded more British with a Scouse accent. I went back and forth when it came time to rate the Leaning Into Touch audiobook, but in the end, I'm going with 4.5 stars. ♥

Loved this book!

Story: 4.5 Stars!
Narration: 5 Stars!
Overall: 4.75 Stars!!!

Leaning into Touch is book 4 in the Leaning Into series by Lane Hayes and it can be read as a standalone, but the series is really good, so you don't want to miss out on the previous books. I suggest reading at least book 2, since Finn is introduced there and we get to see the start of the relationship between him and Josh.

I loved Josh, he was such a fun, easygoing character. He was as passive-aggressive as his mother, trying not to let things bring him down or affect him. Still, it was obvious he felt things deeply, like the situation with his father that threw him off-kilter and his conflicting feelings for Finn, since he couldn't stop being attracted to him even if things didn't look all that great for them.

This book starts 6 months after Josh stops seeing Finn and I was a bit confused at first, I think we might have benefitted from a flashback or a prologue to show how and when things went wrong back then. Other than that, I wish we could've gotten to know Finn a bit earlier, he was all secretive and because he wasn't all that forthcoming with the information and we didn't get his POV, it took me a while to warm up to him. However, even if Finn made me want to strangle him with some of his actions and how he treated Josh, I warmed up to him and my heart broke for him when he finally shared his story with Josh. He carried a lot of guilt and while it didn't excuse him, at least it provided some answers for his behavior.

The chemistry between Josh and Finn was out of this world and the sex scenes were scorching (really, the scene at Finn's office nearly made me and my Kindle self-combust *fans self*)

As always, it was awesome that the rest of the gang is such an integral part of the story. They're the kind of friends that are there for each other and I just love them all.

While there were some things that didn't quite work for me, Ms. Hayes didn't disappoint with Josh and Finn's story, it was engaging, well-written and kept my interest. I just couldn't put it down until I was done listening to it, wanting to find out how it would play out.

Nick J. Russo did an outstanding job with the book's narration. Combining US and Irish accents in one book can't be an easy task and I think he captured Finn's accent perfectly. His tone of voice is very pleasant and smooth, giving different 'voices' to the different characters so they could be easily distinguishable. And above all, he managed to imprint the emotions that the book required and make it as awesome as the book.

Highly recommendable!

Another great installment in this series!

I have come to love this little group of friends.... Josh, Grant, Nick, Eric, and Zane. I was really looking forward to this story because Finn intrigued me. I wanted to know more about the sexy Irishman that Nick and Eric thought was up to no good.

I loved Josh and his big heart. I loved that he was patient with Finn and all his demons. And Josh's dad was a hoot! Would love to know more about him and Lars. I will definitely continue on with this series, especially in audiobook. Nick Russo knocked it out of the park with this one. I've never heard him do an Irish accent before, but it was swoonworthy. <3 <3 <3

Honesty

This book is technically the 4th book in the series, though it is labeled as book #3 in the Leaning Into Stories series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. To avoid spoilers and have a greater understanding of the series, I recommend reading these books in order.

Josh is unsure what he wants to do with his future, now that his current job is complete. He is trying to work this out as he runs into an ex that he has never really gotten over. Can he trust his feelings to try again with Finn, even though he is a mess about the rest of his life?

Finn never wanted to say goodbye in the past to Josh. Running into him repeatedly lately feels like fate taking a hand. Can he convince the skittish man to give him another chance?

This story just stole my heart. These characters so obviously belong together. I loved the very real heartache they expressed. I also felt the heat with the sexy times. Really good read and addition to the series. The narrator did an amazing job on the different voices, where you can tell each character apart. Was a great experience, as the different accents, and inflections were very heartfelt. This audiobook was a great 3/5 Kitty's Paws UP!



***This copy was given in exchange for an honest review only.

4 solid stars for Leaning Into Touch!

I love second chance romance stories. There’s just something about having a chance at “the one that got away” that is just really appealing to me, and Leaning Into Touch is a great example of this trope.

I love the characters not just in this particular book, but in this series as a whole, and how they all fit together as a group. I did get a little frustrated with the others when they kept having a negative outlook towards Finn and his intentions with Josh, because just like Josh I wanted to believe in Finn too. Finn just checked off all sorts of boxes for me, including the hot Irish accent box ;-)

The additional plot point of Josh’s father’s new relationship adds a nice twist of tension to things, and I got a kick out of Josh’s mother’s baking issues. I really enjoyed getting to see Zane, Eric, Nick and Wes again…even if Josh kept getting warned off of Finn when the group was around.

Leaning Into Touch fits really well into the series, and while you don’t have to read the other books before starting this one, I personally would recommend that you do just to have the background on the other characters and get the taste of Josh and Finn that you’ll find in those books. This story was a very solid 4-star read for me…leaning towards a 4.5 (no pun intended). Fans of the series will be very happy with this book, and like the others it is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.

The narration: Nick J. Russo again does a great job with the narration, capturing the emotions of the characters quite well while delivering a perfectly paced story. My only issue is with Finn’s accent—as i mentioned in my review for one of the previous books in this series, it was inconsistent and didn’t come across as Irish to me. Since Finn was one of the main characters, that led me to knock off a star on the narration making it 4 stars.