Until We Touch
3.5 Stars

Due to a family tragedy, former NFL star, Jack McGarry, finds it difficult to become emotionally attached and the best he can manage is allowing his personal assistant, Larissa Owens, to organize his charitable contributions. Larissa never met a crusade she didn't love, but is well aware that Jack is averse to being one of her pet projects. However, outside forces soon encourage Larissa and Jack to confront both their physical attraction and emotional bonds. Will the shift lead to a happily ever after or destroy their friendship for good?

Jack and Larissa's friends-to-lovers romance is endearing right up until the end where Jack's friendship and loyalty are rewarded with judgment and disdain by those closest to him.

To begin with, Larissa is a lovely character who deserves a man who will love her unconditionally. She is also well aware of Jack's commitment phobia yet eagerly enters into a sexual relationship to "get over him". She, and everyone else, know that this will not end well and when it does fall apart they all blame Jack.

Seriously? Why is it his fault that Larissa changed the rules on him? I was very disappointed in the other characters, who professed to be his friend and for whom Jack had always been supportive, as instead of returning the favor, decide to turn against him.

Nevertheless, all's well that ends well, and Jack and Larissa get their well-deserved happy ending even if it is not as fulfilling as it could have been. Hopefully, Bailey and Kenny's story will be more satisfying. ( )

Don't get me wrong, I love the fools gold series, but this was not her best work. I suspect it may have been turned in close to deadline because it was not edited nearly as well as I have come to expect. I think FWM was explained at least two times, possibly 3. And it was not the only thing that happened with either, which made me want to kick things. It's not a bad book, but this did end up obvious enough that it cut into my enjoyment of the story--I'd rank it as more like a 3.5 ( )

Until We Touch, the newest addition to Susan Mallery's wildly popular Fool's Gold series, is a delightful friends to lovers romance between enigmatic Jack McGarry and his personal assistant Larissa Owens.

Larissa and Jack are more than co-workers-they are close friends who spend a lot of time together both in and out of the office. Their feelings for one another have always been platonic but after Larissa's mom has a heart to heart chat with Jack, he and Larissa become uncomfortably aware of one another in a more than friends capacity. Not wanting to ruin their friendship, Larissa and Jack try ignoring their unexpected passion, but their desire becomes impossible to resist.

In addition to working as Jack's personal assistant, Larissa is also a massage therapist for the owners of the PR firm. She is big-hearted and generous with her both her time and money when it comes to her numerous causes. Most of her friends have stepped in to help whenever she needs it, but Jack is the person who Larissa turns to most often.

Jack is a retired football player and co-owner of a PR firm that has recently moved to Fool's Gold. He is very indulgent with Larissa and her numerous causes but he never really becomes involved beyond donating money or a little time. Jack is quite charming and friendly, but he keeps everyone at arm's length.


The romance between Jack and Larissa is slow growing and it takes a while for either of them to figure out their feelings run deeper than friendship. They have some very awkward encounters and at different times throughout the novel, they spend a lot of time avoiding one another. Larissa and Jack decide to explore the attraction that is simmering between them, but when emotions enter the picture, a major conflict becomes a huge turning point for both of them personally and professionally.

Until We Touch is another marvelous addition to the Fool's Gold series. The storyline is fresh and unique and although the plot twist at the end was very unexpected, it is just the push both Larissa and Jack need to make some much need changes in their lives. Susan Mallery brilliantly works her magic and brings the novel to a lovely happily ever after ending (but I think one of those characters needed to grovel just a little bit more ;) ).

Another fun and emotion-filled stop in Fool's Gold that old and new fans are going to love! ( )

Think I might be over this series. EVERYONE ends up happily married and eventually pregnant. Being a woman and falling in love does not always have to end with "and baby makes three." ( )

This is one of my favorites of the Fool's Gold series. The emotion, especially in the last few chapters, had me reaching for the tissues multiple times. I have been looking forward to reading Jack and Larissa's story the more I saw of them in the previous books. They are best friends and coworkers. Jack is one of the owners of the PR firm, Larissa is his assistant and also the company masseuse. Larissa is heavily into charity work, helping sick kids and seemingly addicted to rescuing animals of all types. Jack helps her out by writing the checks that help her do it and occasionally doing other hands on events. Everything is going swimmingly until Larissa's mother comes to town. She's determined to get Larissa married off and producing kids and she doesn't see that happening as long as she's working for Jack. She asks Jack to fire her because that's the only way Larrissa would leave Jack who she's in love with. This starts a chain of events that is both funny and heartbreaking.

Larisa is horrified by what her mother has done. She insists that she is not in love with Jack, that they are just friends. But the seed has been planted, and she starts looking at him differently. It doesn't take long for her to realize mom is right. But she knows that Jack is a bad bet for a relationship, so if she's going to get the life she wants she's going to have to fall out of love with him. She figures the best way to do that is to have an affair with him and get him out of her system. Needless to say it doesn't go as planned and she ends up falling deeper for him.

Jack is flabbergasted and freaked out. He's never thought of Larissa that way before and doesn't want to now, but suddenly he can't help it. He doesn't want her to be in love with him. He doesn't do emotional commitments, preferring to date a woman for a little while, then move on. He has kept everyone at an emotional distance for years to protect his heart. He lost his twin brother to heart disease when he was seventeen, and his parents when, unable to cope with their grief, went off to help in Africa leaving him alone and hurting. He figures if he doesn't let himself care, he'll be safe. His friendship with Larissa has always been safe. She understands him and doesn't ask for more than he can give. Now he's looking at her as a woman too. He tries really hard to resist the attraction, but that doesn't last. Suddenly there are cracks appearing in his walls.

It's obvious from the beginning that Larissa and Jack are meant for each other. But each of them have their baggage to deal with. Larissa's causes give Jack a chance to be involved without getting too close. Larissa has spent her life feeling guilty because her parents had to get married. Her causes are her way of coping with the guilty feelings. Because she understands Jack so well his need to remain distant from the causes is just something she accepts. But as they get closer she gets him more deeply involved. The biggest thing is the homeless teen she takes under her wing that Jack and the other guys help because of her. I loved the way that Jack dealt with Percy and the way he starts to care. Then the mayor gets Jack onboard with helping the local college start a football team, and he finds people looking to him for more involvement. Suddenly it all gets to be too much for him and he completely freaks out. At this point he withdraws from everything and pushing people away as hard as he can. He really got into some self destruction. I wanted to hit him when he lit into Larissa and Taryn and was so horribly cruel to them. He earned everything he got from Kenny, Sam and Taryn. His misery was well deserved. It took him awhile to see the light, but once he did I was happy to see him suck it up and do the grovelling he needed to do.

As much as Larissa was hurt, I loved the way she deals with everything. It was great to see the support she got from her friends. I loved seeing her take a good look at her life and make the changes she saw as necessary to move on with her life. I was a little frustrated that she kept making excuses for Jack's attitude, but her love for him just wouldn't let her bash him. I'm looking forward to seeing them in later books.

It's always great to see new characters come to Fool's Gold. I thought Percy was a great addition. It showed the good that the camp does, which is what brought him back to town. I also loved the way he was shown as having been trying to live a better life because of the way he was raised. It was great to see Jack and his friends take a real and practical interest in helping him. His maturity really stood out when it came to dealing with Jack and his meltdown and I look forward to seeing more of him in later books.

As always, Mayor Marsha has her eye on the perfect person to advance whatever project she has in mind. As soon as the football thing came up, I had a feeling about what she wanted. The only question was how she was going to get Jack to cooperate. I loved the meetings Jack attended and his confrontations with the athletic director. Hope to see more of this project in future books. ( )