Review: Wow!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 20, 2014
I received a complementary copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.This story was fantastic and I absolutely LOVED it! In Extreme Close-Up we meet Lisa who is a 40ish divorced mother with one son.  She has been divorced for two years but not dated and thinks her body is unattractive due to the ten pounds she kept on after having a baby - 15 years ago! Lisa is a photographer with her own business where she struggles to earn enough to pay the bills.  Her son is away at camp so an old friend of his comes to cut the grass. Lisa sees a gorgeous young man cutting her grass so goes to tell him he is at the wrong address when she realizes it's is her son's friend, Brady, who is doing the job and he is in the right place.  Lisa can't believe Brady is so grown up and looks so hot - oh yea, Brady is eight years older than Lisa's son.Turns out that Brady (now called Braden) has had a thing for Lisa since he was 12 and now at 23 he still does.  Braden was a football player in college but an injury ended that path.  He wasn't disappointed because he wanted to use his brain, not body, to make a career.  Braden is a really nice young man, being very respectful and polite. Since Braden was still attracted to Lisa he thought this was his chance to act on that attraction.The story and characters were very believable. The author amazed me in writing a story about an older woman and younger man and made it seem completely acceptable.  Braden helped Lisa accept herself the way others saw her which was much better than she saw herself. Lisa helped Braden realize that he could go back to school and take the career path he really wanted.It was so nice to see the wonderful way the author had Lisa finally accept herself as a beautiful woman both physically and mentally. This story had some very sad, emotional times near the end but many laugh out loud moments throughout. The only thing that I wasn't comfortable with was Lisa's feelings for Braden since she had known him as a kid.The ending was perfect.  I had no idea how this book would end and have everyone content but Julie did it.