review: so close by emma mclaughlin and nicola kraus

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Just in time for the 2016 election season, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (of The Nanny Diaries fame) have written a novel set against just such a background. Amanda was raised by a teenage single mom in a small town she was determined to escape. She was just scrapping by until an encounter with a pair of wealthy young men and a chance meeting with an up and coming politician’s wife leads to her getting fired. That day turns out to be more of a pivotal moment in Amanda’s life than she ever could’ve imagined. Amanda is soon climbing the ranks of the Tom Davis for Senate campaign while trying to help out her siblings back home and maybe have a bit of romance in her life. Although the romance is a little weak (Amanda and Pax just never really click despite how many times the authors throw them together), the behind the scenes of the campaign (which seems based on the John Edwards campaign) is excellent and the family drama is beautifully complex. The relationship that develops between Amanda who never had the mom she wanted and Lindsay who lost a daughter is absolutely wonderful and makes for a heart-breaking subplot.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publicist, BookSparks PR.