Well another reviewer pointed out the huge plot point that was left unaddressed, so I don't feel bad for thinking the big was a bit off without resolving that. I was happy well enough with the characters of Kayla and Luke as well as Kayla's young son. This book has a tough subject matter though, domestic abuse. I think that James handles the subject matter delicately, and I liked that there are discussions about it with her son Eli about the fact that he knew that his mother was being hit and why she stayed until she finally ran. I liked that Luke wasn't being pushy. He is interested in Kayla, but realizes he can't and won't rush things with not just her, but also with Eli.

"Hold Me Close" is part of James romantic suspense books. I didn't much care for the first book, and this second one ran to good to meh to me as well. Still deciding about reading the next two books in the series or just passing on that. Back to this book. We have Kayla Chambers who after being hit again by her boyfriend, goes on the run with her son when he drops them off at the laundromat. We find out that Kayla has reached out to a domestic violence organization, and she's going to leave her life behind and start over again in the town of Paradise, Idaho that she has fond memories of as a child.

Luke Jackson has a FWB situation finally ending and realizes that his new neighbor may be the answer. He quickly realizes that Kayla and her son Eli don't need a pass through the night man, they need a solid person to be there. He quickly pushes (slightly) into helping them when he can and hanging back and not trying to do more than that with either of them.

We get reappearances by former characters and of course set up for the focus of the next book in this one.

The writing was good. We get POVs from Eli, Luke, Kayla, and even Kayla's abusive ex. I think that James did a good juggling all of those voices and showing Kayla's ex obsession with her and punishing her for daring to go against him. The guy gave me chills.

The flow though was a bit off jumping around like that. I didn't think at times that Eli's voice was authentic.

The setting of Paradise is hard to picture. It seems like a teeny tiny town, but at other times it sounds quite large. There are discussions about the hard times the farmers are going through so it touches upon real world events at times here and there.

The ending though was very well done. Except for the whole murder plot line. I wish that had been resolved. It was such a weird thread to leave hanging. ( )

Your sucked in right from the start as the heroine uses the domestic violence hotline to get assistance in getting away from her abusive boyfriend. They get her and her son to another state to start their lives over.

A long time ago Kayla Chambers visited Paradise, Idaho for a summer. It was the best summer of her life and she hopes that moving their with her son will bring back some of that happiness. Kayla is a widow who had a great marriage until he was taken from her in an accident. Lonely and down on her luck she made a mistake and moved in with a man who looked like a prince but turned out to be devil in disguise.

Paradise is a quite peaceful town with friendly people. Luke Jackson is the principal of the high school and really nice guy. He tries to befriend Kayla and her son but she pretty standoffish and leery of men who are to nice to her and her son. Kayla is a strong woman who had known both sides of love – the good side and the bad and she owns up to the mistake she made and doesnt want any hands out in life. She is a woman that is more than willing to do what it takes to provide for her and her son.

Through out the book we get her ex's POV and know that he is looking for her. Other than the beginning and his POV the slowly blossoming romance between Kayla and Luke is pretty sweet but you know at some point that's all going to come crashing down with the ex finds her.

This was my first book by this author and I thought she did a great job on the domestic violence information and showing how that not only affects the woman but also the child who was witness to most of it. ( )

I read Carry Me Home, the first book in Rosalind James' Paradise, Idaho series a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. With this second book of the series, she has totally won me over. While I found Carry Me Home quite light-hearted with lots of witty banter and humor, the atmosphere of Hold Me Close was much more serious and highly emotional. I've read several books this year that focused on domestic abuse, but this one definitely affected me the most. The way the author portrayed the fear and insecurities of the abused, especially the effect it had on a young child, was really heartbreaking. The chapters from the abuser's point of view were totally creepy and disturbing.
That said, it wasn't all depressing and sad. There was plenty of fun stuff and romance, too. In fact, there were a lot more sex scenes in this one than in the previous one, so the emphasis was definitely on romance rather than suspense. My reason for giving this 4 instead of 5 stars: Luke was a bit too perfect to be real, and the shooting of the detective was a bit of a loose end. The suspense side of it just got resolved too easily and quickly for my taste.
Nevertheless, this series is now among my favorite romantic suspense series. Some of that may have to do with the absolutely awesome narration of the audio books by Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross. Love the way the narrators stick to their gender for narrating the male and female parts and swap back and forth within the chapters. Great audio production! I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review, but ended up listening to the audio version, which I couldn't resist purchasing. ( )