Close Enough to Touch: A Novel Kindle Edition

Beautiful book with a complex, touching, very unusual protagonist, and a story line that is both deeply unique and, from the standpoint of human relationships, powerfully recognizable.LOVE. It's love that we all want. Even Jubilee Jenkins, a seemingly normal young woman who has the misfortune of an allergy to human touch. Not metaphorical, not imagined, an actual allergy that sends her into shock, literally -- into breath-defying, heart stopping, death inducing anaphylaxis. What could be more antithetical to the urge for human touch than that?Not much, Jubilee finds. After her strange and somewhat dysfunctional mother (the entirety of her family) leaves town, ultimately leaving her the house of her childhood to keep, Jubilee develops a nine-year case of agoraphobia. It's only when her mother dies and the trust set up to pay the mortgage of that house concludes, demanding that Jubilee find some source of regular income, that she's forced to face her horror of the OUTSIDE: traffic, places, noises... people. One of those people is an old acquaintance from high school, one with whom she had a strange and mysterious connection, and it is this friend who barrels back into her life to help her find her feet. She begins by helping her find a job at the local library.Once employed, Jubilee is daily met with the challenges inherent to being part of the world: interacting with people, learning new skills, regulating her schedule, managing to work without ever being touched, and... meeting a guy. One of those guys. The kind you slowly and inexorably fall in love with. And when that happens, Jubilees bounces between the despair of realizing she can never touch or be touched in the act of love, OR she is obligated to once again pursue a course of potential cure, one that hasn't worked in the past and demands a faith and determination she doesn't know she has anymore.From there the story unfolds in so many involving, compelling, moving, heartbreaking, joyful ways that you'll never want it to end. I didn't want it to end. Which brings me to my final kudos: the end. Lately I've read far too many books that seem to have forgotten the power and NEED for a good ending. Too many either leave us hanging, offer an unrealistic conclusion, or simply wander off as if they weren’t sure how to tie up their story. I loved the way this book ended. Without pandering or falling into "ride off into the sunset" pabulum, Oakley brought the narrative to an unexpected, joyful, even somewhat open-ended conclusion that was just the right touch.Wonderful work; highly recommended.

Close Enough to Touch had me spellbound from the very first page; this is a very special book. A heartfelt and poignant story, with emotions leaping off the page; making me laugh, sigh, cringe, smile, cry, FEEL. I found myself reading passages over and over; such beautiful words, lyrical writing that swept me away. The characters, Jubilee, Eric, Aja, and the rest were multi-layered, complex people who will live in my heart. I was totally enthralled by this story, and the author's ability to create romantic, sexy scenes that took my breath away, even though the characters could not touch... I loved this original, unconventional, story; honest, compassionate and brimming with warmth and love.

This is so much more than the typical boy-meets-girl story. Colleen Oakley has just the easy-reading, well-written style I love where not a word is wasted, and the plot solidly moves along. It's a dual narrative featuring Jubilee and Eric, with the precocious Aja featured as well; all equally flawed and lovable at the same time. As an added bonus, the characters love books and meet in a library. This unique, heartwarming, breathtaking book is deserving of all five stars. Loved it!

This is a lovely touching story of a young girl who had a rough childhood due to her parent's divorce but mostly loneliness because she was different from everyone else. She has a rare allergy of being allergic to skin contact with other people. Therefore she always kept to herself and was even misunderstood by her own mother. After her mother's death she has no choice but to venture out into the outside world to work and to make a living. Can she survive outside her home ? Can she find a life for herself and conquer her fear of touching other people. Can she ever find love and happily after? You have to read it to find out.

The author is a new favorite. She made me feel the agony of not being able to be hugged or touched, EVER. About 1/2 way through the book it became not just a story anymore; I was empathizing with the main character. Very, very highly recommend it.

A gorgeous novel! Colleen Oakley creates such interesting and yet totally relatable - while altogether surprising - characters. With this novel, she weaves together a poignant story that will have you flipping pages like mad, while hoping it never ends!

This one was pretty good! Jubilee Jenkins has an allergy to other humans and cannot be touched by anyone, if she does it can be deadly. Jubilee meets Eric, and the two of them fall in love, despite the looming allergy that afflicts her. I love how this novel was written, alternating between Jubilee and Eric's point of view. Oakley writes very smart, and does not necessarily dumb down the readers experience. This was an interesting concept, and I could see that the author did a great job in researching for this book. I felt for the main characters, as well as the minor characters in the novel.

What a great book! It was a book I couldn't put down. The author made the main character's condition, an allergy to human touch, so real and described Jubilee's fear and struggles in facing the world around her. It was hard to let go of the thought of never being able to be touched, at all... Jubilee was on my mind even when I wasn't reading the book! Oakley described thrilling and electric situations between Jubilee and Eric, but also brought friendships, grieve, parenting, and love to this fantastic novel.

Close Enough To Touch starts off very promisingly with a certain strand of dark humour which, considering the subject matter, you would very much need to cope with an allergy to rest of humanity. To some extent we all have a figurative allergy to people but Jubilee Jenkins has a literal allergy to the human race and has become am agoraphobic recluse as a result and who can blame her?I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. There is a glossed over plot hole early in the story and it niggled at me so much I simply could not get past it for the rest of the book. Without giving too much away (I hope) Jubilee has been living as a recluse for 9 years never once leaving her home for 9 years and then in a matter of weeks she manages to not only leave her house but she regularily cycles to her new job in a customer facing service role.I also found Jubilee to be quite an unlikeable character but this is no bad thing. How could someone who cannot even touch another person without potentially dieing have the social niceties or be able to even relate to other people? For me her self-absorption and need for a "connection" which can border on pathetic sometimes rings true for this character; howver unlikeable it makes her.The secondary characters of Eric and Aja and are well written and well fleshed out characters. I really enjoyed the segments of the book dealing with the adopted son and his new dad. Their struggles to adapt to the loss of not only Aja's parents but the breakdown of Eric's marriage and his struggles to reconnect with his teenage daughter are poignant and genuinely funny in places.Close Enough To Touch is a decent enough book but schmaltzy in places and only really spoilt by what I preceived to be an early plot hole. It is definitely of that category that I always think of as "literary self help" and one that I generally enjoy. I didn't feel I'd wasted the day it took me to read the book and if this is a genre you have enjoyed in the past then you would find this a worthwhile read.

What a wonderful premise for a romance! To be allergic to people. Great start and it just pulls you in and you find yourself hoping for Jubilee to overcome her fear and isolation and grow and it is just wonderful. Absolutely love this book. Definitely worth a read. Only downside was that I felt the ending was a bit rushed and the fact that they had been separated for 7 years and then meet accidently on the street and take off from where they left off just felt a bit rushed, like the author had used up the quota of words and had to finish.

This was a nice enough book. I wouldn't class it as unputdownable but a pleasant enough read.Why are three more words required before I can submit my review?

Heartwarming story, highly enjoyable

“Mas no momento que o sono me envolve, a verdade desliza para dentro do meu cérebro. Que talvez algumas coisas sejam maiores do que o medo da morte”. (Tradução livre)Aos 6 anos, Jubille Jenkins foi diagnosticada com uma condição médica rara: ela é alérgica a outras pessoas e por isso não pode ser tocada. No último ano do ensino médio, ela deu seu primeiro beijo e quase morreu (literalmente). A experiência além de perigosa foi humilhante, pois descobriu que tudo não passou de uma aposta. Envergonhada, passou as duas últimas semanas do colégio no quarto.Três meses depois, sua mãe se casa com um empresário e parte com o marido para Long Island, deixando a filha em New Jersey.Passaram-se 9 anos e Jubilee se tornou uma reclusa. No começo era apenas um “jogo”: o que eu posso fazer sem sair de casa? Só que com o passar do tempo o jogo se transformou em agorafobia.Com a morte da mãe, Jubilee perdeu seu apoio financeiro. Era hora de encarar o mundo e as pessoas. Então, armada de suas luvas, mangas compridas e sua fiel bicicleta, colocou a cara no sol e partiu em direção ao seu futuro.Eric Keegan acaba de se mudar, devido ao trabalho, para a New Jersey e também tem seus problemas: a filha de seu fracassado casamento não fala com ele e seu introvertido filho adotivo acha que tem poderes telecinéticos. Eric tentar entender como se tornar o homem e pai que ele tenta desesperadamente ser até que um dia, ele conhece Jubilee.“Afinal, se você não pode tocar, abraçar ou beijar alguém, o quão conectado vocês estão?”. (Tradução Livre)Sou uma romântica incurável e esse romance nada convencional (e com final cliché) “tocou” meu coração. Os personagens são cativantes e reais, sendo possível nos conectar com suas batalhas internas. Acompanhar o desenvolvimento do relacionamento de Jubilee e Eric foi interessante devido a condição dela. Sentia um frio na barriga devido a tensão e agonia criada nos momentos em que eles se aproximavam e as cenas românticas foram adoráveis mesmo que eles não pudessem se tocar. Uma leitura encantadora sobre o amor e seus impasses, sobre entender e está ao lado de quem amamos, super recomendo.