Only by Your Touch

by Catherine Anderson

Book Overview

New York Times bestselling author Catherine Anderson takes readers to a quaint wilderness town, where a man and a woman find a second chance at life--and love . . . Determined to give her son Jeremy... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451207947
• ISBN13: 9780451207944
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 4.2" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

My First Anderson book!

I picked this book up at a library fund-raiser sale ~~ and while taking care of two sick kids ~~ I picked this book expecting it to be a light fluffy read. Well, it is definitely not a fluffy read ~~ it is a light read but it is also intense. I have to admit that I loved every minute of this book! I know that it's fiction and I know that it's too good to be true, but when I read, I read to escape from reality and this book is definitely one of the better ones I've read in quite some time. Chloe moves to a small town with her son, Jeremy, to start over. Settled in a good job as a dispatcher for the local sheriff, she thinks that she would definitely find peace again. However, once she ran into Ben Longtree, the local outcast, her life was not going to be as tranquil as she had hoped. Pitted against a local deputy who was stalking her, and fighting her feelings for Ben, life just got to be interesting for Chloe. I have to say that Ben Longtree is probably my favorite hero lately ~~ able to tame wild animals, live in a secluded forest ~~ and big and gentle ~~ what is there NOT to love? And Chloe is a strong and determined woman ~~ fighting for what she believes in. What is there not to like? If you're looking for the perfect escape, this book would be it! It's entertaining and my favorite, it's very well-written ~~ I couldn't stop turning the pages! This is perfect reading for anytime of the year ~~ snuggling on the couch at night or sunbathing at the local pool. And since this is my first introduction to this author, I will definitely keep an eye out for her other books! 12-1-05

Unbelievable!!! 5 Stars! So Touching and Heartfelt!

So emotional and deep, this book is become one of my all time favs. I love how Ms. Anderson makes the situations so real and different from the typical. No one is rich and well off and their problems are very real and not simply well, not to be blunt, but trivial.Sometimes you read some romances and they make it seem as though the problems are so trivial and easily solved if the characters would just stop and pay attention. Not with Ms. Anderson and I am glad. Its a breath of fresh air. These are REAL problems we ALL face and even if we don't all face them they are serious enough to warrant the angst and worry in the story.The heroine is strong and the hero is not overbearing and dramatic. He is REAL. He is your own husband and your father, brother and someone you would really meet. Not a conjured character. She makes them so real, you feel as though you know them. In this book, Chloe Evans leaves a tough past behind to bring her child Jeremy to a new place to start fresh. A tiny place called Jack Pine, Oregon. But all is not well in Jack Pine, even though from the outside all seems quiet. A horrible past and poison is lurking in town and trying to keep Jeremy safe from her own past, Chloe goes to the only man she thinks can help her and her son, Ben Longtree. Ben is by far not to be befriended. Long a go he was rumored to have murdered a man and possibly murders people that step onto his wilderness property. He lives with his ill mother and in isolation with the injured animals that come to him mysteriously. Once a veterinarian, his past destroyed what was left of his practice. So when red-haired Chloe comes to him for help with her son, he is angry. They must be trying to turn him in for the animals on his property. As time goes by, Ben realizes that Chloe is just the balm for his battered and tortured soul. Fate threw them together and he just may be able to start anew. But that poison lurking is seeping into their lives already... Tracy Talley~@

Can't put it down!

I absolutely love Catherine Anderson and this is one of her best books. Rarely do I find a book now that keeps me up all night but this one did. I just had to finish it. The characters are wonderful. You will be hooked from the first page. Ben Longtree is the sensitive, rugged male we've all been looking for. Chloe has come from a bad marriage with a sickly son who has sworn to never trust men again. Sound familiar? But Catherine Anderson has chosen her male character well. Ben is part Shosone Indian who is also a vet who has a certain "magic" to him. I won't spoil it for you. The other reviews describe the contents well. If you read only one book this summer, this better be it!

Poignant, endearing and purely wonderful--another winner!

I love Ben Longtree! But then I always love Catherine's heroes. How can I not? Her men are rough around the edges hunks in Wranglers and scuffed boots and battered Stetsons, strong without being overbearing, sweet without being wimps, and--trust me--mouth-wateringly sexy. Ah, but Ben... He takes throbbing masculinity to a whole new level. Tormented, lonely, powerful, he is exactly the kind of hero I find the most compelling--and absolutely irresistible. Even though he is a healer of great sensitivity and caring, he is powerless to heal the deep wounds gouged into his own soul.Then he meets the new woman in town. Chloe Evans is a quintessential Catherine Anderson heroine: battered but not defeated; wary but not bitter; loving and funny and generous. Keeping her son Jeremy safe, creating a happy home (which comes to include Rowdy the rascally pup)--those are the priorities that bring her to Oregon mountains. Falling in love is the last thing she intends--or wants. Yes, she's intrigued by the town's pariah. Yes, she's attracted. Okay, extremely attracted. But she'd fallen for the wrong man once before--and he'd nearly destroyed her. On the other hand, Ben desperately needs a friend, one person in his life who is willing to believe in him unconditionally. I read this book in one sitting--in the car, in fact, on the way to our granddaughter's birthday party in Washington. Because it's 450 miles from Nana and Papa's house to Alyssa's, I had intended to help with the driving, but...well, what can I say? Once I was in Jack Pine with Ben and Chloe et al. I simply had to find out how Catherine finagled a happily-ever-after for these two terrific, admirable people. So, if you're looking for a feel good read, one that will make you laugh and cry and cheer, put this one on the top of your to-be-read pile, then clear your schedule, pour a glass of wine, and prepare to be enthralled.

A poignant tale that will hook you from page one....

Chloe Evans has been to hell and back and has relocated with her son, Jeremy, to Jack Pine, Oregon. Leaving her husband, whom, after an accident turned into an abusive man she didn't recognize, Chloe wanted the bring Jeremey the security of being safe. She felt that life in a small town would be exactly what Jeremey needed. When her son begs her for a puppy, Chloe doesn't have to heart to turn him down. When Jeremy's puppy gets sick and the vet it unwilling to treat him without the money up front, Jeremy takes Rowdy to the town outcast, Ben Longtree who is a vet, but unable to practice. Soon, Chloe finds herself entangled in Ben's enchanting world on Cinnamon Ridge. With a wolf and a mountain lion for pets, Chloe has never met anyone like Ben, and for a reason she can't begin to define, she feels safe in his presence and trust him with her son's safety.Ben Longtree loves the solitude of Cinnamon Ridge. When it is envaded by a six year old boy, Ben tries to turn him away. His annoyance quickly turns acceptance and he soon finds himself impressed by the young boy who would stand up to who people in town believe is a cold-blooded murderer. Ben's world shifts when Chloe and Jeremy start spending more time in the ridge and Ben experiences the magic of love. He is wary, however, for there is more than one person who would happily destroy his life. Always having a gift with animals, Ben can't turn away the wounded that turn up on his property. From owls to skunks to bears, Ben will not turn one animal away, even if it means spending the rest of his life in jail. The more he gets to know Chloe, and the more he feels himself falling in love, the more he wants to tell her all his secrets. There is evil lurking though, evil that both Ben and Chloe underestimated.Catherine Anderson weaves an emotional read in Only by Your Touch. Reading about Chloe learning to trust and letting go of her fear of men and Ben learning to trust in love again will almost have you in tears. Even Jermey's remarkable recovery will pull your heartstrings. You won't regret reading this book!