The Nearness of You

I appreciate when authors offer the first book in a series free of charge (thank you, Iris Morland!), which is how I read this one. It’s apparent to me that it’s a marketing strategy that often works well for both parties, being a beneficial variety of value exchange: I get a free book and if I really enjoy it, I will most likely go on to buy the others in the series. The question on reading this first in a series then becomes “Did I actually enjoy it that much to buy the next one?“

I liked many aspects of this book, including that there is a certain depth and complexity to the main and secondary characters portrayed, and their relationships with their own pasts and each other. Harrison and Sara, Caleb, Ruth and Megan, the elder and sibling Thorntons ... Most of it is believable enough to satisfy the need for some ‘real life’ credibility to follow along. Naturally, there is plenty of fantasy involved as well, after all, too much reality is not a lot of fun to read about ... just look around you and go to news and social sites if you prefer “reality!” A good romance uplifts, which I think means we want a certain mix of believable and fairy tale, to keep us engaged. That combo works in this book, IMO. Kudos!

My challenge though, came with the sex scenes ... the book should come with a warning that there is significant graphic content to skip over, if your preference is for less of that. I don’t mind brief graphic love scenes, they add a little ‘je ne sais quoi’ element usually as they definitely convey the romantic partners’ attraction and then commitment to each other. Here though, I didn’t enjoy the length/extent of some of the intimate descriptions included. It didn’t add to the story and in a couple of spots just moved into what felt to me like an unnatural voyeurism, so I turned the pages to get past that.

It is nice to see a child’s story, character and the part they play well rendered, as here in 6-year-old James, rather than its often being a means to an end, poorly developed and insignificant, except for nominally creating or underpinning some circumstance in the adults’ lives.

All of the above means that although I enjoyed the plot, characters, and would like to follow up to see Megan’s story developed next, and see some of this book’s characters re-appearing, it hasn’t succeeded in making me ready to pay the current full price for it. The book stands on its own fine though, fortunately, so I will still recommend the book with the above-noted cautions included (and thus grant my rating of 4 ⭐️).

An okay read.

I bought this book in April and read it in May and I also received a free copy of this book via Booksprout so I am voluntarily leaving a review.
While this book was a great idea and I did not dislike it, i felt that Harrison's love for Sara happened too unnaturally fast, there was never really a period where he was slowly falling in love with her and trying to decide if what he was feeling was love. Instead it felt like he met her, decided he liked her and then all of a sudden loved her out of nowhere. I still did enjoy the book, even if it was just for the concept.
I am going to leave a quick note about how I personally use star ratings and what a 3 1/2 review means to me.
1 stars means that I absolutely hated the book and would have left a 0 star review if I could have.
2 stars means it wasn't unbearable but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.
3 stars means that I did like it but that i probably wont re read it, I might still recommend it though.
3 1/2 stars meant the above but with a bonus 1/2 stars because I did love the idea of the plot and will still continue to read the series or more from the author if I got books for free or cheap. I also might re read my favorite scenes.
4 stars means that I loved it, would recommend it, buy more from the author, and re read the books multiple times in full. I was very happy with the way it ended but I might have wanted more closure with the characters, universe, or book.
5 stars means it is one of my favorite books ever, I will re read the books and the author and I was extremely happy and satisfied with the way it ended, I wouldn't change a thing.