Loved all the Tolkien snark that was present in the first half of the novel.

4 Stars

Content: 2 kisses ( )

Oooooohhh! Wow, this looks so cool! *jumps up and down in excitement*

Close to You, debut novel by Kara Isaac is quite an entertaining contemporary romance. Alison and Jackson meet on a three week tour of Tolkein's New Zealand and the snarkiness begins! Both have baggage from the past, big baggage, hurtful baggage, destructive baggge. Can they get past the previous disatrous relationships and begin something new? Will they be able to see beyond their wounds and understand that life does not have to be defined by their mistakes? Isaac, amidst the background of The Lord of the Rings, blends a great storyline and flawed, charming characters with humor, faith and family values to bring readers a delightful love story. Looking forward to reading more of this author's work. ( )

Allison Shire thought she had found her happily ever after, that is until she finds out her husband already had a wife she knew nothing about. In an effort to escape the whole ugly situation, she travels to New Zealand to work as a tour guide, guiding Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fans to the well know sites from the movies. Jackson Gregory was at the top of his game. He was about to make it big in business and had the girl of his dreams, that is until she left him to be with his biggest competitor, taking with her all his business secrets. Left with nothing and feeling responsible for losing his investors money and wanting to someday return it to them, his only chance seems to be with his great uncle who has money enough to invest in another of his ideas. In order to do that he volunteers to be his uncle’s assistance spending three weeks trying to convince him he’s a total Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fan. The problem? He doesn’t have a clue about any of it. When Allison and Jackson first meet sparks fly. She pegs him for a fake right away but as they continue to get thrown together on various outings, they begin to see a different side of each other. The attraction between them is strong but both have things they have to get past. Will they be able to work through those things and perhaps find something neither of them expected?

This was such a great story and I enjoyed every minute I was involved in it. There was lots of great humor (which I love) but there was also a seriousness about it that dealt with real-life issues like love, loss, guilt, anger and family relationships, just to name a few. There were a lot of things relating to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit which I was not familiar with because I’ve never read the books or seen the movies (I know, I know). However, I didn’t feel like that was a distraction at all from the story itself. I loved getting to know Allison and Jackson and seeing how they each grew and changed throughout the book. I appreciated Jackson’s great uncle and how he handled Jackson and the whole trip with wisdom and love. One thing I really wished was that there would have been an epilogue. I longed for just a little more but that’s partly because I hated to see it end. This is the author’s debut novel but it sure didn’t read that way. If you enjoy books by Jenny B. Jones then I definitely think you should give Kara Isaac a try and keep this “Close to You” until you finish. Loved the cover, loved the story, highly recommended

*This complimentary copy was provided by Howard Book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

A couple memorable quotes:

Allie pressed the phone against her ear, leaning her head against the leather seat. “What if I’m not supposed to be doing this? What if I’m messing up God’s plan?” Kat laughed. “You can’t mess up God’s plan. He’s a whole lot bigger than that…”

But you changed me. You helped me understand that God doesn’t want me to live a life that’s defined by my mistakes. And I’m so grateful for that.”

For more information about this book or other books by Kara Isaac I encourage you to visit her website at http://www.karaisaac.com. ( )

I was given a copy of this title, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Okay, to be honest, I usually avoid romances, especially for review. I'm okay if a romance happens in the story, but I tend to hate it if that is the sole purpose of the story. So, I am not even sure why I requested this book. I mean I do, it mentioned Tolkien and New Zealand, but I can't say I expected great things from this book. I actually thought that I would be a little annoyed in places. But I wasn't. This turned out to be my favorite 2016 read,so far.

Allie and Jackson find themselves in similar situations, recovering from broken hearts and their lives being turned upside down. They are not aware of this, but the reader is in on this inside of information. Yes, this is one of those stories where if the characters would get out of their own way and communicate with each other the situations that they find themselves in would play out differently. But that also means that some hilarious moments would never happen.

I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this story, the interaction between Allie and Jackson. But that would take forever. I liked that we got to see how Allie interacted with the other characters, and while they were always in the background or an afterthought sometimes, the glimpses that we got of them were memorable. I am still not sure if Louis was a real person or an angel masquerading as a person. He was everywhere and knew everything. Or maybe Jackson was right, Louis had connections that were better off not mentioning. (Just kidding!)

The other thing that I really really enjoyed about this story was Allie and Jackson's faith journey. They came to their faith and belief in God at different times throughout the story, and they live it out differently. Each approach is unique to their characteristics and it feels like their faith is authentic and genuine. It was also not overbearing.

Sometimes you come across books at just the right time, and that is what I think happened with this one. I enjoyed reading this, and it left me laughing out loud and ahhing at the romance. I highly recommend this.

5 stars *****

Always Shine!