Bound by Your Touch

Bound by Your Touch

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89  ·  rating details  ·  1,438 ratings  ·  120 reviews
Beauty is as beauty does...

Silver-tongued Viscount Sanburne is London's favorite scapegrace. Alas, Lydia Boyce has no interest in being charmed. When his latest escapade exposes a plot to ruin her family, she vows to handle it herself, as she always has done. Certainly she requires no help from a too-handsome dilettante whose main achievement is being scandalous. But Sanb...more
Mass Market Paperback, 346 pages
Published June 30th 2009 by Pocket Books
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Dina
AMAZING! That's the word that came to my mind when I finished this book. I'm always a bit wary when I start reading a book that's been highly praised by "everyone", as sky-high expectations can turn an otherwise excellent read into a "somewhat disappointingly good" read, so I didn't know what to expect from Bound by Your Touch when I picked it up. Well, I'm glad to say that "everyone" was right and I'm joining the chorus. I loved everything about this book: James, Lydia, the secondary characters...more
♡KarLynP♡
Hands down one of the best historicals I've read this year. I am a sucker for a good historical romance read, and I couldn't ask for more with this book. Wonderful writing, interesting characters, a good dose of sexual tension and steamy sex, and a captivating plot. There was some cute funny moments, but mostly it is a tender and intellengent story of two opposites finding they have more in common than they first realized. This book is much better than her debut book from last year (Duke of Shad...more
Fani
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Kinga
Girly porn time!!

I was slightly disappointed with this one. It didn't do what I wanted it to do.

And Mariel gave it 4 stars, and she is like my Bible, so I thought I couldn't go wrong.

Anyway, it started off nicely. The premise was almost realistic and the characters acted almost like normal people. We had a bookish, no nonsense heroine who still does like a good shag (well, that's totally me), and this libertine, self-destructive hero who is not a complete idiot (just has issues with his father)....more
Katie(babs)
Lydia Boyce is a spinster and firmly on the shelf at twenty-six. She loved a man once, but he married her sister instead. With Lydia’s father in Egypt finding priceless artifacts, she is the matriarch of her family. She wishes she could be in Egypt with her father, but has much responsibility in England. Lydia will try to find funding for the Egypt Exploration Fund which will enable her father to continue his excavations. But things go badly when her father is accused of trading fraudulent piece...more
KatLynne
Wow, what can I say about this book that hasn’t already been written. This was my first novel by Duran and I admit that at first I could not seem to get into the story. There are times when, whether due to being too tired, too rushed, or too something, I just need a light read. Maybe this is what I thought this book would be. For whatever my reason, I had put this one aside for a better day.

I'm so glad I picked it up again, for this is a wonderful story, full of emotion that will draw you in un...more
Mitzi
Lydia Boyce is a spinster. Her father is an archaeologist (always away from home) and she is in charge of relating his newest findings and securing financial support so he can continue with his projects. She considers herself smart, but not beautiful like her 2 sisters. She's already been burned once (thinking herself in love, but the man choose to marry her younger sister)and now has no desire to get involved with any man.

Viscount Sanburne (very handsome and a rebel) hates his father and is al...more
Kate
Many people have raved about this book, I am merely one of them. This was probably the most anticipated book - for me - of the summer.


***SOME SPOILERS POSSIBLE - read at your own risk***

Lydia is a bookish spinster, a "bluestocking", who assists her father in raising funds for his archaeological expeditions. Society alternately pities and scorns her. But James, Viscount Sandburne, is intrigued by what lays beyond her stiff exterior - because he finds himself very very attracted to Lydia, even tho...more
Cam
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Tina
I did not enjoy this one as much as Duran's first romance novel. The characters didn't seem as developed. However, Duran is an amazing storyteller and the plot develops well. Duran is somewhat unconventional when it comes to personalities, attitudes, and events in her historical tales. I think that is what I enjoy most. I can't wait to crack open the next one.
Eggletina
Now I see that I should have read Duran’s books in the order they were written. WoYS and BBYT share some common characters (most notably Phin, James and Elizabeth who grew up together and share the same social circle). BBYT was Duran’s 2nd novel, WoYS came directly after it, and they do seem to play off one another, though can stand alone. When I was reading WoYS, I wondered about the chronology and now discover that they actually happen concurrently, but reading BBYT first might make reading Wo...more
D
Feb 20, 2013 D rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of duran, ne'er do well heirs, and bookish heroines
Shelves: erotica, romance, regency
2.5 -- 3+ for elements of characterization and protagonist chemistry; low 2s for elements of characterization

lots of good stuff in this duran read, but a lot of the success of the novel rests on the shoulders of the heroine, lydia, who fights likability by being a serially horrific judge of character.

EXAMPLE: the prologue is supposed to establish lydia as a sympathetic character when she's humiliated after the man she loves -- who's carefully courted her throughout the season and gently won her...more
RomReader
Daughter of archeologist heroine is trying to prove to the popular Earl's son Hero that the fake Egyptian artifact he bought from 1 of her father's shipment was not intentional on her father's part. She thinks that someone else involved with her father is to blame. Hero believes she's in denial & trying to cover up for her father just like his sister did with her abusive husband. As the search goes on, they realize that the truth will affect more than just their family members.

All in all, I...more
Azhureheart
I think it might be my favorite Meredith Duran to date. And I loved all the others, but this one, this one was just brilliant.
Lydia is an amazing, strong, character. And despite his devil-may-care attitude, James feels very deeply and it's shown almost from the start.
Both Lydia and James wore deep emotional scars, and both had issues with their families and they both need help, they both equally need the other. They really are better together. The relationship is really one of equals, it's not...more
Rose Lerner
I have had such good luck with romances lately! This was just as good as everyone said it was, too. I loved the family stuff, its complexity and ambiguity, and I loved that there were no easy resolutions. I'm not sure how I feel about the end of the storyline with the hero's sister, but I'm hoping she'll get her own book eventually. The romance was brilliant and the reckless attraction between the protagonists was amazingly hot. This bit:

"She swallowed an animal urge: she wanted to press her fac...more
Jocelyn Zombie
Everything I loved about "Duke of Shadows" with the pacing and the emotional connection problems solved. Still has a terrible cover, though. I'll be re-reading this one for years to come.

Why did I like it? Why is it so much harder to pinpoint things that I like than things that annoy me?

The heroine was beautifully portrayed, her emotions and reactions lined up perfectly. The hero's motivations unfolded slowly over the course of the book, and you could see different echoes and versions of the un...more
Liv
I was recommended this book as a classic rake-meets-bluestocking (in other words, handsome ladykiller meets plain intellectual spinster) which is a common and enjoyable enough formula in regency romance. What made 'Bound by Your Touch' so memorable for me was that, whilst it hit a lot of the beats expected from this kind of story (behind her glasses, she's actually a hottie! etc), it was more than just a retread of a tried-and-tested plot. A lot of writers wouldn't done more than a shallow explo...more
Katyana
This one was a lot of fun! Though strangely, I kept envisioning the heroine as Evie, the heroine from The Mummy. But whatever, it worked for me.

The odd thing is, despite the fact that I'd guess 65% or so of the book was told from the heroine's POV, I felt more involved in the hero. His life just seemed to have so much more depth. Hers was... I don't know. Dutiful. She really had never strayed outside of her role. And I know that's not atypical of HR, but usually the heroine has some thing - a qu...more
Sara ♥
3.5 stars. I had the same issue with her dialogue or something that I had last time, only worse. There wasn't enough explanation to back up the character's words and actions, and so I found myself getting lost. I'd go back and be like, "Did I skip something?" But no, I hadn't. Some parts were just kinda confusing. And some of the dialogue sounded too modern... and I did NOT appreciate the f-bomb (or was it 2?). Is that necessary in the 1880s? Really?

Anyway, this book was about Lydia Boyce, who i...more
Claudia
this book was a fantastic, enjoyable and beautifully written read - especially in regard to conversations between the two main characters and how they develop and learn from each other.

Lydia is a special character because she shows all the problems which Spinsters in this time had. there is no favourable description of the dependency to your relations and the pity society shows you. but she is nevertheless a strong woman who tries to live her life within the laws of society and who, without rea...more
Willow Brook
There is a lot to like in this book, starting with the hero. It is fun to watch the decadent Viscount Sanburne respond, often with delight, to the proper and often disapproving spinster Lydia Boyce. The two team up to address Ancient Egyptian forgeries and jewel smuggling that Lydia's father seems to somehow be caught up in.

For some reason, I thought there was going to be more action in the book but the forgery subplot moves at a fairly leisurely pace. The real story is Sanburne and Lydia falli...more
Stevie
I really like Meredith's writing style. I would say she is going to be added to my favorite author list. She develops her character very well with intelligence and depth. I loved how she managed inner dialogue for her main characters. Normally, I grow tired of that style quickly and in most books it becomes redundant, but not so in Bound By Your Touch. MD illustrated the character's complete thought process in an almost poetic manner but with complexity of intellect, from concept to epiphany. I...more
Sandy Williams
I have a new favorite author. This book was brilliant. The writing, the characters, the plot, everything was damn near perfect. Meredith Duran is the reason I will never, ever try my hand at writing historical romance. There's no way in hell I could even come close to writing a book as well as she does.

I loved James. He was a complete scoundrel. I loved the scenes where he was inebriated (or high or whatever?). I loved and mostly understood the reasons for his behavior. I loved his banter with L...more
Amanda Westmont
This book was so well crafted and beautifully written that it will go down as one of my all-time favorites. The writing was just... exquisite. For example:

"She pursed her lips. The movement exposed a hit of dimple. In conjunction with her starchy manner, it seemed wholly incongruous. A mere anatomical fluke, he told himself, just a trick of her tightened lips. Nevertheless, he found himself staring at it, wondering what he might do to make it deepen. Breathy gasps, flashing dimples: the idea cam...more
Andy
This book was really quite good once I got into it, however I had to read a quarter of it to do so. The beginning is too slow and the characters were hard to like at the start. They grew on me later on... . The end was too short, I would have loved a scene where Lydia's sisters found out she was marrying a really "pretty" and popular man. Duran totally skipped that which irritated me to no end since Lydia's sisters spend the entire story making remarks as too how ordinary, plain, bookish and bor...more
Kim H
An emotionally powerful & engrossing effort by Meredith Duran, but it lacks some of the punch, and much of the originality, of Duke of Shadows. Duran is a brilliant, gifted writer, but this book felt somewhat like watching an immensely talented aerialist opt to use a safety net. Where DOS was daring & innovative, Bound by Your Touch felt all too familiar. However, it's almost petty to quibble about something so clearly exceptional, simply because it wasn't what I expected, and this story...more
Isalys
Lydia Boyce is the eldest daughter of Henry Boyce, an archeologist who has spent a large part of his life digging in Egypt in search of rare artifacts. Lydia lost the man she loved to her sister and by 26 years old, accepted her fate as spinster and head of the family. One of her responsibilities was securing funds for her father's expedition(s). She was attempting to do this during a meeting with some very important and wealthy gentlemen when she was rudely interrupted by James Durham, Viscount...more
Kalynn
I stayed up late into the night reading this book, and in the end, I did enjoy it. I like Meredith Duran's writing and her attention to character development. The one problem I had with this was that I felt distanced from the story. I'm not sure if this was due to to the occasionally over lush language or something else. Even with the beautiful writing and the well structured scenes, the book occasionally felt like an ethnography rather than a romance novel.

My problems, however, are minor, and I...more
Donna
I really don't know what to say about this book. It took me over 200 pages to start really liking it and then I just loved the ending. There were a lot of things I didn't like about the beginning; James' sister's situation, James' and friends' drug use, Lydia's treatment by Sophie, and so on. James certainly wasn't a very empathetic character at the beginning and even though I liked Lydia, my lack of empathy for James tended to put me off of the entire book. But by the end, everything just fit t...more
Mey Buentipo
This is the first book I read from this author. From all the good reviews I say I am a bit disappointed. For it didn't start good. The paced of the story is a rumble. I don't know what is climax of the story. It kept going to a different pace. There are parts that both the h/h are frustrating. They are unresolved matters about the heroine's family. I can't see, where is the story really focused. Although not all part is bad, some part went good when the story had direction. I am debating if I wi...more
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Bound by Your Touch (Kindle Edition)
Bound by Your Touch (ebook)
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MEREDITH DURAN grew up enamored of British history. At thirteen years old, she made a list of life goals that included writing romance novels, trying sushi, and going to London to see Holbein’s portrait of Anne Boleyn. Now a doctoral student in anthropology, she is happy to report that all three goals have become her favorite things to do. When not studying, doing fieldwork in India, or working on...more
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