Heart Untouched

Duncan's dream was smashed along with his body during an accident. But as this story unfolds his urge to help his friend Todd helps him to rebuild his own life. We get to see that each that each of these men are strong and determined. They are willing to work hard. I really enjoyed this story.

Once a Skeleton racer with Olympic aspirations, Duncan Masters’ life changed in the blink of an eye. After a racing accident that rendered his legs unusable, Duncan has adjusted to his new life and what the future holds. Yes, he struggles and yes he gets down, but ultimately he moves on, building a wonderful life.

Todd Hamilton, once Duncan’s Olympic competitor, looks at Duncan differently now. Not for his disability, but as a man, and a man he realizes could be his future. Todd is patient, understanding, and selfless. He is the rock that Duncan needs, and doesn’t let Duncan detract him from his heart’s goal.

Duncan’s new trajectory moves him to put his marketing education to good use; obtaining a client, Todd’s boss at the garage. Duncan builds a successful ad campaign, one that evolves Todd, and boosts both their morale. When outside forces interfere with the campaign, both Duncan and Todd discover they are surrounded by friendship, love and support.

Brought to life are the inequities shown by the USOC (United States Olympic Committee). With dramatic prose, Heart Untouched educates us to the plight that surrounds talented athletes who devote their life to their sport. Both Duncan and Todd suffer because of the USOC’s practices, but their actions play a huge part in Todd’s dilemma and his ultimate fate.

As always, Andrew pulls us into his story. We develop a kinship with the characters and can’t help but become interested in their outcome. Each shines as a strong and realistic individual with his own strengths and weaknesses. They come together whether it be romantically, friendly, antagonistically, or with sheer indifference, forming a community that envelops us.

Heart Untouched is third in this series, and we catch glimpses of those who have come before, but it can be read as a standalone. However, I encourage you to partake in all of these enchanting tales of friendship, love, courage and strength.

Heart Untouched is a touching tale about adapting your dreams, weathering storms, and being resilient in the face of significant loss. In this novel, we’re introduced to Duncan, a former star winter sports athlete who was injured and lost the use of his legs. The book opens a few months after the life-altering accident and Duncan is wallowing in the grief. He’s living at home with his mother again and has no direction in his life since he’s now differently-abled but also unable to pursue his passion for sledding. His mom helps him reconnect with old friend and training partner, Todd, and the sparks fly from there.

Todd was quite the likable character. Duncan, well he got better near the end (see my notes below).

While the book attempted to be emotional and sensitive, here’s why I give it 3 stars:
1 - In my opinion, Duncan’s loss focused less on being paralyzed and not being able to compete, but he seemed narrowly focused on his erectile dysfunction due to the injury. I’m a woman, so it may be an issue where I don’t understand the gravity of the problem, but there were paragraphs upon paragraphs devoted to this issue, to the point of being boring. I literally was like, welp, here we go again with this!
2 - I’ve read books with other newly paralyzed characters and there seemed to be a lot of aspects of his new life that were not addressed. Duncan’s new struggles weren’t at the forefront and, if they had been, it may have made him a more likable character. He just came off a little whiny in the beginning.
3 - Todd’s level of patience seemed unrealistic. While not explicitly stated, Duncan pushed Todd away with his negativity at almost every turn. Due to his injury, he simply could not accept Todd cared for him at face value. He didn’t want to be physical due to the potential erectile dysfunction. He questioned him and doubted him constantly. How this didn’t turn into some sort of tension plot point in the book is beyond me.
4 - The actual tension in the book, this stalker Corrina and her causing trouble for everyone was just trite. In no way was it believable and just seemed manufactured and nonsensical.

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by DreamSpinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.**

Heart Untouched is the third book in Andrew Grey’s Hearts Entwined series. This series has stories with a blind MC, a dead MC and now a MC who is paralyzed. Other than the first book, these books can be emotionally heavy as the main character is learning to accept the change in his life.

Duncan and Todd are Olympic skeleton racers and friends when an accident causes Duncan to be confined to a wheelchair with no feeling below his waist. Duncan is depressed and struggling with living at home with his mom again and being completely reliant on her. Todd comes back into Duncan’s life and forces him to see the things he can do instead of what he can’t do.

I liked Duncan and Todd. Duncan’s struggles were hard to read and were emotionally heavy but that is authentic to what he’s experiencing. And the story did a great job of showing Duncan at his low point, while slowly learning about what he can still have in life. The people in Duncan’s life were great supports.

As a person who loves the Olympics, it really gives a different viewpoint than I normally see. And anyone who has watched skeleton racers knows it’s a dangerous sport, those people are adrenaline junkies. I think the author did a terrific job in this book of showing that. I don’t know if the information about the Olympic committee is true, but it felt very authentic.

I loved seeing the couples from past stories! The one thing that never made sense to me in this story was the storyline with Corrina. All of it just felt awkward and out of place, to me. Otherwise, this was another great addition to the series!

Rating: 4 stars

Heart Untouched is book three in the Hearts Entwined series and works well as a stand-alone. There are recurring Characters that link it to the series and I loved seeing all the other guys!
Duncan and Todd are skeleton racers with the dreams of being in the winter Olympics. A terrible accident puts Duncan in a wheelchair with little to no feeling in his legs.
Duncan and Todd have been friends for a long time and Todd has come back into Duncan's life. Duncan is trying to start an advertising business and goes to talk to Todd's boss where he meets the other guys. Some are blind or deaf and still working and enjoying life.

Todd is working at the garage and loves it but his real dream is the Olympics. He wants Duncan and is determined to help him find his worth and et over his negativity.
I loved both Todd and Duncan. Especially Todd. I adored how he was so persistent and never gave up on Duncan. and how he took care of his mom as well. I like Duncan because I did feel sorry for him but a few times I wanted to shake him and tell him to get over himself and just love Todd.!
The storyline is good. I enjoyed it and was eager to see what happened next as we went along.
The end was satisfying there were a few questions left in my mind.
If you like a slow burn, friends to lovers, Olympic sports, physically challenged men and a sweet romance you will love this.