Close to Me

By: Monica Murphy

Narrated by: Sarah McEwan, Teddy Hamilton

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author Monica Murphy comes an angst-filled new adult romance featuring Drew + Fable’s (One Week Girlfriend) daughter, Autumn Callahan!

My first crush.

My first kiss.

The boy who ripped my heart out of my chest again and again. Over and over. I let him have it every single time.

Willingly.

We are that toxic high school couple you hear about, the one you witness in the hallway as they avoid each other. You laugh at them in class when they’re forced to work together, their gazes full of hatred. We are the couple you gossip about when they win homecoming prince and princess their sophomore year....

The back and forth is what kills me the most. I’m not his princess, I’m the girl he toys with when he’s bored. And he’s definitely not my prince, no matter how badly I want him to be.

Finally it’s our senior year and we’re months away from never having to see each other again when disaster strikes - and brings us closer together. All it takes is one touch, and I’m burning for Ash. Hotter than I ever have.

But will that burn turn into a devastating fire? Or can we actually make it work this time?

©2020 Monica Murphy (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Super sweet goodness with a splash of näughty! 4.5 ✨

What a wonderful introduction to young love. Monica Murphy keeps me guessing. Sometimes I’m not too excited by her books and they drag on…other times (more often than not mind you) she knocks my socks off. Like in this book. I figured I’d like it, as Monica wrote it, but wasn’t sure I’d love it and boy did I love it! This book had all the growing pains, the angst and awkwardness of teenaged relationships. These two circles around each other for years until they finally met at the right time.
Our young h, Autumn, is the daughter of Drew & Fable Callahan (from One Week Girlfriend series). I loved getting to check in with them again and see how they’ve grown!! How their family has grown. Thanks to these amazing parents, Autumn grew up in a safe, healthy and loving home. The complete opposite of your H, Ashes upbringing.
He has had a hard life so far. His family is a super sad one, trashy and loveless. He is determined to make it out of there and is doing everything he can to get a football scholarship, even though he doesn’t feel he will ever amount to much. He takes the chance anyway.
These two finally collide Senior year and the story REALLY takes off.
The joys of young love are spïced up with some steam as well as vulnervulnerabilities that have you rooting hard for them to win!!
Of course I listened to the audible book too and gobbled this story up like the thirsty girl I am! As always, I loved Teddy Hamilton’s narration! He was ALMOST too mature as a teen boy however but it worked out in the end. Sarah McEwan did really well for Autumn and I liked her voice but didn’t love it.
All in all an amazing installment about Drew & Fables eldest child. I love seeing into the future and characters we have fallen for in past books! I am rushing off now to grab the Sophomore for Jake’s book to find out why he is so mad at the world.

Is there a squel?

I liked this story but I want to know more about Autumn & Ashe's future.
well narrated by both Ted & Sarah

Very teen - ish

Having finished this I am not sure what it was about or the intention....... I guess it was just about teenage hormones and how being physically suited to superior performance at football enables elevation from difficult circumstances. But what concerns me is the rarity of these skills....... the holy grail of opportunity based on genetic pre-disposition plus opportunity and connections......

The writing by Monica Murphy was sound - well paced, coherent and engaging as refected in the higher ratings. I felt the emotional range of the characters could have been wider. Of note, a lot of what happened to Ash was deserving of tears yet it was only the girls who cried. I look for emotional range as indication of an emotional mature author and story. If circumstances warrant it people cry - girl, boy largely irrelevant and I prefer to see that represented.

The content for me was really irritating very immature yet also sexually explicit. Once again there is the very tedious trope that by the age of 17 ALL young people are having sex that is oh so good and perfect and fulfilling with orgasms right left and centre. Frankly, no they're not and no it isn't.........

Autumn was a spolt and entitled brat who barely progresses in maturity thorough the 4 years the story covers. And I HATED Ash's constant deference to her non-existent superiority. A wealthy family, exploiting his vulnerability and treating him more like a toy they needed to fix..........

Despite all my distaste for the subject matter I finished the book. This speaks of potential.......

Amazing series

I have just loved the audio narration of this series- the vocal performance really bring to live the teenage feelings and angst of this story. Like my prior read, I really loved Autumn as a character-the tensions she feels in trying to be the person she thinks she’s supposed to be, the need to “fit in.” I found her so relatable. Her story with Ash is a bit drawn out, and I wish we’d gotten his perspective more (the later books in the series have alternating POVs, and that's more of my personal preference). We have a bit of unnecessary drama, like so many new adult/mature YA stories, but at the heart we have two characters growing up, figuring out who they are, and trying to figure out how to fit into each other’s lives. And i really loved getting to be in Drew’s head- and meeting the whole Callahan crew.

The female narrator is just fantastic- captures the whole spirit of Autumn.

Great high school romance!

I don't tend to read a lot of high school romance, but I was sucked into Ash and Autumn's story. This was a pretty sexual novel for teenagers but that was fine with me. This story was a good wrong side of the tracks story. Autumn and Ash were drawn to each other from the very beginning, but years went by before they finally acted on what was between them. I loved the damaged boy that Ash was and how Autumn made him a better person. This was a great story and I need to get book 2!

The narrators did a great job bringing these characters to life.

What it feels like to be in high school

When the book first began I was a little skeptical. It was very high school sounding. After I readjusted my notions about the book and took it a little less seriously it delivered on its concept. If you are looking for a book about high schoolers that talk and act like adults this is not the book for you. Monica has sounding and acting like a teenager down. The book itself was cute, and a little short. The narration done by Teddy and Sarah was great no complaints. Would recommend for anyone looking for a high school romance with just a hint of enemies to lovers or someone just moving from high school lover books to younge adult books with 18+ concepts.

LOVE the story and Teddy.

Did not care for Sarah McEwan at all! I'm going to bear it and listen to the rest of the series and try not to cringe at her voice.

Total High School Vibe & good narration

Close to Me is the first book in The Callahans series about Drew and Fable's kids. If you are a fan of past Monica Murphy books, you will know who these characters are. But those books do not have to be read (or listened to) before starting this series. This series is about their kids.
They are a close knit family of 6 that have moved out of the limelight to raise a family in a good family town. Autumn is their oldest and we get to follow her through 4 years of high school. The first 3 years seem to be just at the beginning of the school year before we fast forward to the next school year. It focuses on Autumn and her interaction with bad boy Asher Davis. Even when he is mean to her, you can feel their chemistry. This is high school in a nutshell and I enjoyed it.

Autumn is a good girl that gets good grades, is loved by her family and doesn't do anything wrong. She's a cheerleader and does a plethora of activities and dates a good and nice guy named Ben for over a year. But that relationship never seems to go anywhere and I could never feel anything with them. They are just a surface relationship it seems, and all for looks. But with Asher? You could always feel it. He's the bad boy from the wrong side of tracks, but there's gotta be more to him, right? Oh, we learn about it and there sure is more to him than meets the eye.

Close to Me is told primarily in Autumn's POV with a couple chapters of Asher thrown in as well as Fable and Drew. It's the epitome of a mature YA. It's high school romance in it's finest. Drama, school, sports and even a little sex. All the stuff you can imagine from your high school days. I may not always like high school romance, but I could appreciate this story for what it was. I just wish we got more of an ending and maybe more of an epilogue for these two. Maybe after the final Callahan book or interspersed in those books? We will see.

As for the narrators, I thought Sarah McEwan did a great job with Autumn. She captured being a high school girl and the drama and emotions that come with that. Since she told the majority of the story, I'm glad I liked her. Narrators can make or break a story. Teddy Hamilton did a great job with Drew and Asher's chapters. I definitely felt like he changed up the feel of a father character and a down on his luck bad boy.
This definitely read and felt like a high school book. Some of it is silly drama, but that's to be expected being in high school. I'll definitely be around to finish out the rest of The Callahan clan. Their family will always be one I want to know about. Drew and Fable (and kids) Forever!!

it had its moments.

it had its moments of promise.
I only selected this book for Teddy Hamilton and he barely narrated but Sarah McEwan was excellent. I didn't love the multiple points of view, I felt it could have been a narrative conversation.
no virgin is that comfortable.
the last bit with Riley made my skin crawl.
but I'll still listen to book 2.

loved it

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall