Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram
Published by Gallery Books on March 7th 2017
Genres: Romance, Womens Fiction
Purchase links: Amazon, iTunes, Audible
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Source: NetGalley, Simon & Schuster
From the author of Before I Go comes an unconventional love story perfect for fans of the emotional novels of Jodi Picoult and Jojo Moyes.
One time a boy kissed me and I almost died...
And so begins the story of Jubilee Jenkins, a young woman with a rare and debilitating medical condition: she’s allergic to other humans. After a humiliating near-death experience in high school, Jubilee has become a recluse, living the past nine years in the confines of the small town New Jersey house her unaffectionate mother left to her when she ran off with a Long Island businessman. But now, her mother is dead, and without her financial support, Jubilee is forced to leave home and face the world—and the people in it—that she’s been hiding from.
One of those people is Eric Keegan, a man who just moved into town for work. With a daughter from his failed marriage who is no longer speaking to him, and a brilliant, if psychologically troubled, adopted son, Eric’s struggling to figure out how his life got so off-course, and how to be the dad—and man—he wants so desperately to be. Then, one day, he meets a mysterious woman named Jubilee, with a unique condition...
Close Enough to Touch is an evocative, poignant, and heartrending exploration of the power and possibilities of the human heart.
We received this book/audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
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Book Review: 5 Stars
How a woman who is allergic to human touch can have her HEA??
From the moment I read the synopsis of Close Enough to Touch I was so intrigued, I ignored the beginning of it, “…an unconventional love story perfect for fans of the emotional novels of Jodi Picoult and Jojo Moyes….”, I mean, everyone who knows me, knows I don’t read this kind of books willingly, I don’t do angsty books, but I was so intrigued about Jubilee and her rare allergy. So, I decided to read and I LOVEEEEED IT!!!!
Everything about Close Enough to Touch is awesome. The writing, the development of the story the characters was exceptional, the originality of the plot. Literally E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G!! The ending was perfect!! I cried like a baby for hours while reading this book—sadly I didn’t have an audiobook to read for me while I was crying—and I had to take breaks between the chapters because this book was ripping my heart out, but I don’t regret a minute of it, because Close Enough to Touch is really an amazing book.
This is the story of Jubilee and Eric. Jubilee was diagnosed of a rare allergy when she was a little child. She didn’t have a normal childhood, she couldn’t play with other kids or get hugged by her mom and when she was 17, a boy at school kissed her and she almost died. After that, she spent 9 years hidden from the world in her house, doing it all from home and after so many years she became “almost” agoraphobic, and it became a real problem when she had no other choice but to get out of her house and look for a job. A few weeks after she was slowly getting a little comfortable of working at the local library, she had to make a double life or death decision, jump to the river and save a boy’s life by performing CPR—OMG yes, I’m getting anxious just by remembering it—but this time, this second near to death experience did the opposite of the first time, she started living, finally, after 27 years of hiding herself under a pair of gloves and her rare allergy.
The boy Jubilee saved was Aja, a smart and introvert little 10 year old boy, who was adopted by Eric when his parents died. Eric felt a great sense of gratitude for Jubilee, and from that moment he started trying to get closer to her, get to know her and despite it was a bit difficult, because of her anxiety and allergy, and also because of all the drama in Eric’s life. It was a beautiful journey for the three of them, not just for Jubilee. Getting to know each other helped to save old wounds from the past, helped them to grow stronger to face what would come for them in the future but most of all, to forgive and love themselves. In my opinion, a person is able to love other people and accept the love from them when they really love themselves and that’s what Jubilee and Eric needed. And of course, Aja too.
This was a beautiful story, full of meaningful lessons to life, about family, love and hope. I couldn’t love this book enough. Now, please, get your copy and read it. I assure you, it’s amazing and flawless and everything.
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