I have to thank the universe for Bookstagram. I have always had a soft spot for Paris and I was looking for some Bookstagrammers who are from there, which is when I found Morgane Moncomble’s account and discovered she has written romance books that had been published only in France at the time. While I don’t know French, I found the plot interesting and was elated when the German publishing house Luebbe LYX decided to translate and publish it.
Violette and Loan’s friendship starts the day they are locked in their apartment elevator. After his breakup with his girlfriend, Loan moves in with Violet and her best friend Zoe. In no time, Violette and Loan become best friends as well and they share everything with each other: their highs and lows, almost every secret, and even the same bed. For others, they seem to be a couple.
When Violette meets Clement, she asks her best friend for a favour. She wants to lose her virginity with someone who knows her and who she trusts. Who could have been better than Loan? Little did she know what kind of chain reaction this favour would start.
I have to say, I am not a big fan of New Adult books because I feel that they can easily be cheesy. After all, they are here to make you feel good and let you believe in something unbelievable beautiful, right? Never Too Close for sure gives you some of that as well, but the real reason I binge read it in two days (but I could have finished it in a couple of hours if it wasn’t for work) is that it convinced me with the parts that are not wrapped in pink cotton candy.
Both characters are carrying something with them from their past which still has a big impact on their lives, and both come from homes where family was only a word they heard from others, but nothing they have been able to experience. Violette describes herself as ‘not normal’ and compensates her insecurity with a lot of fast talking. Loan, on the other hand, seems to want to be as quiet as he possibly can be and to try to avoid confrontations.
I fell for their humour and the atmosphere that is surrounding these two. I like that it is fulfilling some clichés, but while doing so shows a couple of grown-ups trying to deal with their past and find their place in the world. As romantic as a book can be, it has to stay reliable.
Moncomble takes one of the big personal obstacles and gives it a safe and honest place to be discussed. There is nothing quite personal as discovering your own sexuality and to not know how to deal with it. I think everyone can see themselves in Violette at least a little bit and understand why she asked Loan to be her first. The only thing that disturbed me the whole time was what, or more who, was the reason for this. Being a virgin is the reason why Violette’s heart was broken once. Now, that she has a new boyfriend she does not want to be rejected again because of it. While the story continues, it is revealed why she feels the pressure of being normal like everyone else, which for her includes to have sex.
However, if she does not feel ready to go that far yet and even more not with the boyfriend she chose, why not wait a bit longer until you have found someone you feel better about it? Okay, okay, with not giving too much away because we would not have this great book about these two soulmates.
I feel sorry for Violette…to think that she must make it right for everyone else and not putting herself first. As her best friend, Loan accepts her the way she is and encourages her to stay that way, while being there for her not asking questions whenever she needs him. It makes you envy such a beautiful rock-solid friendship and how honest they are with each other.
The reason why I cannot give this book a 10 out of 10 is because they can’t talk straight forward with each other when it comes to their feelings!
Let’s put aside the whole thing about Violette choosing the wrong boyfriends with whom she cannot be herself with and even less feeling comfortable to go to third base. It is soon pretty clear that she and Loan are more than best friends and that they should give their feelings a chance. So why on earth do they need so unbearable long to say it to one another? One will think of it as romantic, but it frustrates me.
Never Too Close is the perfect book to escape reality and enjoy a cosy evening at home. Behold, for those of you who do not want to leave these characters, the second novel Never Too Late will take place in the same plot and will focus on two character who get introduced in Never Too Close.
Unfortunately, it is not known if and when this book will be available in English. For once, I am glad to be able to read a book in German.
Never Too Close is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
