BLOG TOUR: NEAR AND FAR by NICOLE WILLIAMS ~ REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the Near & Far Blog Tour!

I am so excited to be participating in this event, hosted by AToMR. Follow the tour to see all the reviews and extras. My stop includes a review and tour giveaway.

Series: Lost and Found #2

Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: 7/30/13
Format: eARC
Source: Received from author for review
Rating: 5 stars

There’s optimistic. And there’s Jesse Walker.

If he wasn’t so charming, his sunny disposition and incessant grin would get annoying. Fast.

Falling in love with the girl who had at first seemed immune to it, was the best thing to happen to Jesse since the Walkers adopted him into their family when he was five. But loving the girl who has her fair share of secrets is about as easy as that same girl loving the boy who seems to have none.

As Jesse’s life continues at the ranch, and Rowen begins making her mark in the Seattle art community, they begin to wonder where the middle ground is. Or if there even is one.

As push comes to shove and choices aren’t only needing to be made, but forced to be made, Jesse and Rowen have to face what their lives might look like without the other.

Can two people with such tragic pasts and different presents, go on to expect a promising future? Whatever the answer, they’ll need a lot more than love to make it.

 

Oh. My. HEART. What can I say about Near and Far? Well, I guess I can start by saying that my clock currently reads 2:54 am, I just finished reading Near and Far, and my emotions are so pumped up that I can't sleep.

I will admit that for as excited I was to read Near and Far, my anxiety was just as high. I loved Lost and Found so, so much. I loved Golden Boy Jesse Walker and complicated former bad girl Rowen Sterling. She was a character I could reaaallly relate to, and he was the kind of guy that every girl deserves. Their story was beautiful and magical and represents what true, unconditional love is made of and just how transformative love and respect can be.  Lost and Found left Jesse and Rowen at a realistic and very hopeful place. Did I really want to see them put to the test?

Truth is, I wanted Rowen and Jesse any way I could get them, but I was afraid of what might come between them. Would it be temptation while they are apart? Or would it be that their radically opposing lives would give them doubt? What I was surprised by in Near and Far is that the issues that test these two are not from outside, but are actually internal. Surprising. Painful. Soul Crushing. Rowen is following her dreams, but also being a part of a long distance relationship. Jesse is living the only life he's ever know, and the distance is hard.

Near and Far was for me, though, Jesse Walker's story. In Lost and Found, the focus was more on Rowen, but we learned a tiny bit about Jesse's early childhood. In Near and Far, the past and the present are on track to come crashing together around Jesse, testing his outlook on life and love, making him doubt his worth. Jesse showed Rowen that she was worthy, brave, special. He won't have any hope of a future unless he can learn to live by his own words.

I really, really loved Near and Far. Jesse is one of the sweetest leading men you could hope for. He's loyal, honest, and his heart is immeasurable. Rowen has come so far since we first met her in Lost and Found. Her strength, unwavering love, and devotion to Jesse made me love her even more. This is a couple that I could put on a pedestal when it comes to

Hmmm....am I forgetting someone? Oh yeah, Garth Black. Garth was the bad boy of  Lost and Found, in which had me both scowling and laughing at him. Near and Far had me laughing again - a whole lot of laughing - and dare I say, swooning a bit. With his never-ending smart alec (and sexy) mouth, and a few wise words, Garth tried to steal this book more than a few times, so it's a good thing he's getting his own.

Near and Far is everything I hope for in a sequel. It wasn't forced story. And by that I mean, it wasn't just thrown together with a bit drummed-up conflict, and some angst, just so there could be another book. Jesse and Rowen's story wasn't quite finished. Nicole Williams had a story to tell in Near and Far; a heartbreaking and beautiful story to tell. She truly did Jesse and Rowen, their story, and her readers justice.

Favorite Quotes:

  That girl, that woman, was mine. And even though that was a hallmark I was intensely proud of, I was more sure and proud of something else.

  I was hers.   ~eARC, 2%

  I might not have been lost anymore, but I still liked Jesse Walker finding me. Even if it was only in a room of people.  ~eARC, 14%

  "Jesse mentioned a T.A. slash friend of yours who hooked you up with some last minute sweet art gig...show...rodeo...thing."

  "Art rodeo? Really, Black?"

  "I don't know what all you art people call your snooze-fest get-togethers. Give me a break, Rowen. I don't speak Lame."  ~eARC, 27%

  His hands fisted into my shirt, and he kissed me back, hard and unyielding. Our chests rose and fell in time, reminding me that when we were together, everything made sense. Life didn't seem so confusing; the answers didn't seem so complex. When Jesse and I were close enough to share the same breath, confusion and uncertainty were distant memories.  ~eARC, 67%

The Lost and Found Series

(click on cover for GoodReads page)

Purchase Near and Far

   

GIVEAWAY

 2 Print copies of Near & Far - International
$50 Gift Card from Amazon.com - International

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author:

I’m the New York Times and USATODAY bestselling author of the LOST & FOUND series, the CRASH series, and a handful of others. Basically, I get to do what I love. Every single day. I write romance because I’m a sucker for a good love story, and I write happy endings because there are too few of them in real life.

Connect with Nicole:

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