The two things I liked best in this book are Jae’s descriptions of how professional cuddlers can help people and how aphantasia impacts a person’s perspective on life. I didn’t have to think very hard to find an idea for the graphic accompanying this review, the t-shirt friends gave me a couple of years ago came to mind immediately. I’ve already written about her touch being the exception and feeling necessary to my skin. I very much dislike being touched by strangers – except in very specific circumstances (yoga instructors, physical therapists) – and by strangers I mean pretty much everyone who isn’t my wife. However, while I like to think I’m nicer than Winter, I share her need for physical distance. There’s more to that title than being cold and rude, which is how I saw her for most of the book, even if she has her tender moments. This book is marketed as an ice queen romance but to me, she isn’t an ice queen.

On the other hand, I’m sorry to say I never really warmed to Winter. That’s interesting to me because Hannah’s touchy-feely self should have annoyed me a lot more than it did, maybe because I don’t have to deal with her IRL but also, I believe, because she’s very respectful of others’ boundaries. I really liked Hannah, despite her being way too perfect. Both sides of him led to Winter and Hannah having to live in the same apartment for ninety-two days in order to jointly inherit the building. Winter’s late father has always made her life more difficult whereas to Hannah, he was simply an old man looking for some comfort. They couldn’t be more different and even their relationships with the one person they have in common were entirely opposite.

The former is a forty-one-year-old workaholic, the latter a professional cuddler in her early thirties.

Jae just a touch away