A Soft Touch

An Age-Gap MM Romance

By: Laura Lascarso

Narrated by: James C. Jones

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Roman Reynolds needs a housekeeper and Ezra Powell is arguably the best. Despite their rocky start, Ezra is determined to set Roman’s house to rights without any distractions, if only the man would keep his shirt on and stop looking so damn handsome all the time.

An ex-NFL player and confirmed bachelor, Roman has been on a long losing streak when it comes to men. When his best friend (and notorious prankster) says he’s got someone who’s perfect for him, Roman knows it’s too good to be true. But then Ezra comes along with his shy smiles and thoughtful gestures and Roman’s hardened heart finally begins to thaw. Both men have been hurt before, both are a little shy when it comes to love, but when the opportunity to form a deep and lasting connection arises, will they be bold enough to take it?

A Soft Touch is a sweet and steamy 73K MM romance novel with low angst, lots of cuddles, and a bona fide happy ending. Content warning for ableism.

©2021 Laura Lascarso (P)2021 Laura Lascarso

MM Sweet Romance

Sweet, fun read! Everyone should have an Ezra in their lives. He is so refreshing. He was just such an endearing character. I loved that Roman loved Ezra as much as he did, because if I felt like he didn't, I would not have liked this book as much. Roman was such a great character as well. And Jay was hilarious. I just so much enjoyed Roman and Ezra together and how Roman was quick to work through any issues that Ezra had and was able to work through those with Ezra having enough time to process everything and make his decisions on his timeline. This was just such a great read and we got to see in the future a bit. No angst, just a sweet love story. James C. Jones on the narration was new to me, and I thought he did well.

Received Audio ARC and this is my honest review.

Fantastic story

I adored this one. I loved how respectful and patient Roman was with Ezra. It was so well written and just as touching the second time around. This was my first book with the narrator and he did a fantastic job. Loved this!

Loved it!

I enjoyed the book and was so excited to learn it was going to audio. I had to get it as soon as it came out. Roman and Ezra are wonderful and the narrator did an amazing job.

Honest Review

I won a free download for this book through a Facebook authors group. The preview for the story said older/ younger, and it was but not quite the focus. I'm all for stories of those who are Neuro divergent, however I believe a bit more research could have been done for the character. Some parts were spot on, and others very iffy. I have raised two sons on the spectrum so it was hard to figure out the dynamics a bit. if you didn't take that into account the relationship and progression were well thought out. Narration was very well done. overall a cute story. worth a credit.

good listen

I enjoyed this story. The charters were wonderful. The storyline was fantastic. It kept me excited about the book and what was coming next. James did a good job with the narration of the story.

Nice listen

I really enjoyed the ebook version of this and the audio was no exception! The narrator was a new one for me and did a nice job at bringing this story to life. Nice job!

A sweet, low angst romance with diversity

I previously read this book (I read 99% of books before listening to them), so I already knew I enjoyed the story. It's cute, light hearted, funny and has some good diverse representation with a black main character. as well as a neurodivergent character. I don't have personal experience with neurodivergency in any way, but as far as I can tell, the subject was handled respectfully, and it wasn't made into a gimmick, and the author didn't fall into the trap of making a diverse trait into the characters entire personality, which is a huge plus. Both Ezra and Roman had complex personalities, and weren't defined by just one part of them.

The only part of the book I'm on the fence about, and I really mean that, is the dirty talk. It's somehow both very cute and very awkward to listen to. Some of it makes sense for the characters, but at other times it was a little cringe-worthy. That's just my personal opinion though. It didn't detract fom my enjoyment.

It was the first time I've listened to this narrator, and I liked it a lot. I will definitely listen to him again, and I'm sure I'll listen to this book again, too.

I didn't feel the emotion

This was a nice story about finding love between an ex-NFL player and a very intelligent young man with autism. I loved Roman and his patience and caring toward Ezra, but I just didn't feel the emotion from Ezra. He seemed like a child to me in many conversations and the way he freaked out over things (like the blue cheese incident). That made the sex stuff feel odd. It seemed like he was a child who maybe didn't really understand the significance of everything. Maybe it's just me, but this one was just okay for me.

The narration was okay, but sometimes felt a bit stiff and unemotional. Most of the time it was fine.

I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

A sleeping giant of a story!

When I first started listening, I thought I would dislike this story because I just didn't understand why Ezra Powell was being so difficult and weird. His behavior just didn't seem "normal" to me. And then Roman Reynolds educated me. Ezra is autistic, or "neurodivergent"...yes, I learned a new word, too. Do I need to say anymore? From the moment I understood the reason I didn't understand his behavior at first, my whole concept of this story changed, and it's definitely one I'll listen to again. I absolutely fell in love with Ezra, and Roman and Jay added to my appreciation of the plot. I love how sweet Roman is, how tender and caring, and how strong Ezra is. I love that it is low-angst, that the moments of tension are authentic and well-handled, instead of sugar-coated or dismissed. Kudos to the author for writing a story with an unexpected and unusual main character who is eminently engaging. It doesn't hurt that this story is also inter-racial (so few MM stories are) and an age-gap romance.

The narration was just okay, though, because Ezra's was the only "voice" that was consistently performed. Roman's voice went from a normal cadence to something deeper for no apparent reason. Additionally, whoever was responsible for editing the recording was very careless. Extraneous sounds, such as the narrator swallowing, or his hesitations, or places that were edited and then not seamlessly added back into the sequence, as well as repetitions and omissions had a negative impact on my enjoyment of the story.

Great characters

I loved Ezra and Roman! Ezra is one of the best characters I've read lately. He is totally open and out there, no filters and you always know exactly where you stand with him. He is just what Roman needs to organize his home and his heart. Roman is definitely not your stereotypical ex-NFL player. He's been hurt in relationships before, but is so smitten with Ezra and so able to deal with everything Ezra says and does. James C. Jones does both of these men justice in his performance. We get all their differences and all the love.