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My Review:Title: Touchstone
Author: Karen Stivali
Series: Speakeasy Taproom #1
Published by: Heart Eyes Press
Release Date: June 29, 2021
Format: eARC
Pages: 242
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Source: Heart Eyes Press
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:
Blurb:Sam doesn't think love is in the cards. The cards disagree.
When Phoebe Stevens' life implodes in a spectacularly public fashion, she's desperate to escape Manhattan. So the offer of a job setting up a new Vermont gastropub couldn’t come at a better time. Driving a U-Haul on winding mountain roads is Phoebe's personal version of hell. But when the caretaker of her guesthouse answers the door tousled, shirtless, and baking cinnamon rolls, her first impression of Vermont dramatically improves.
Sam Trembley believes everyone gets one true love, but he’s already blown his chance. He's spent five years avoiding relationships. Now he’s back in Colebury where sunrise tarot draws and moonlit hikes soothe his soul. But why do the tarot cards keep showing him this nonsense about soulmates? Could it have anything to do with the jaded city girl on his doorstep?
Playing tour guide is fun, but taste-testing her culinary creations as she shimmies her luscious hips around his kitchen is downright irresistible. Soon their chemistry burns hotter than the pub's wood-fired oven.
Has fate brought them together for a summer of love...or a lifetime of happiness?
Touchstone contains craving-inducing menu planning, a sassy white witch grandma, seismic sexy times, and tarot cards on a mission to prove soulmates are real.
I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
3.5 stars — This was a pretty cute, light story with a good dose of woo-woo.
Normally, I am not a super big fan of woo-woo, but I found that the way it was presented in the book was just as an important aspect of who Sam and his family were…not in a holier than thou way. Can you tell I’ve been burned? *ROFL* So even though there’s lots of crystals and tarot cards and energy and all that good woo, it worked with the book.
Sam was kind of adorable. He was kind and sweet and caring, a good beta boy for sure. He definitely had his flaws, but it was satisfying to watch him work through his hangups.
Phoebe was also pretty easy to like. She got a bit of a raw deal, but it was kind of great watching her open up and flower in the weirdness of Vermont (their words, not mine).
And they were pretty fun together — pretty great chemistry, and ironically their hangups kind of matched without actually matching.
I think in the end, while I appreciated the low angst in this book, it was almost a little too low key for me. Saying that, if you’re looking for something light and happy, you’ve come to the right place.
Some standout secondary characters in this one — most especially Sam’s Grandma and Aunt Iris…they were hilarious and both sweet and sassy. My favourite, though, was Puck. That kitty was freaking hilarious, and a voyeur.
So yeah. I definitely enjoyed it, I think I just was looking for something…more.
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