Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

This was a very interesting read. The main character is a woman who is at the pinnacle of her career, happily married and life seems to be perfect. Until her husband decides he wants children after all. A tale of madness, depression, loss, loneliness, surrogacy with moments of happiness and ultimately hope, this was a gripping read. I just didn't like the open ending.

The Nearness of You by Amanda Eyre Ward is my latest read. I can't get over the cover now after reading the book because I feel like the flowers each represent the characters. I see the top flower as Dorrie and the closed bud as Eloise. The fully open yellow flowers is Suze the to me. I love the colors on the cover and feel like it is intriguing enough that I would have bought this book if I didn't get an ARC.

So for starters, the book is about Hyland and Suzette Kendall, a middle aged couple who when faced with infertility, turn to Dorrie, a young potential surrogate who is more than eager to help. Dorothy 'Dorrie' Muscarello is young and broke but has a chance to change it around if she attends the University she has been accepted to. Just one issue. She can't afford tuition. Being a surrogate for the Kendall seems to be her one way ticket out and she takes it. Will Suzette be able to love a child that isn't hers biologically? And will she even be able to bond when she didn't even want kids to begin with? Will Dorrie be able to say goodbye when the baby is born and leaves with the Hylands? So many questions and with less than 250 pages, there is so little time. No worries thiugh, Amanda Eyre Ward does a good job of telling the story and of weaving in and out of each characters pov to get the reader attached to seeing where things go.

This book evokes so many emotions and questions. What does it take to be a mother? Is it possible to love a child that isn't biologically yours the same as you would a child that is yours?

I really enjoyed the way each chapter tells a different character pov. I especially liked Dorrie and feel like she made me feel so invested in seeing what happens.

My one complaint about this book is the ending. I felt like I had been on the ride of my life and the ending just left me dissatisfied and wanting more. It ended too abruptly for me. Overall I give this story 4/5 stars!

Thanks to Random Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before it's February 21st release date. I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Get your copy today, it's a good read! :)

The Nearness of You delves into the world of surrogacy, parenthood, marriage, secrets, and mental illness amongst others. However, I felt that there were some gaps and unrealistic sections. In addition, the big surprise had been hinted at when the surrogate gave birth. All in all it was interesting, if a bit flawed.

This is the first Ward book I've read, and unfortunately, while the writing and the premise were good, I felt like the book had too much tragedy for one group of characters, and ultimately I felt like there was too much going on plot-wise.

The Nearness of You By Amanda Eyre Ward

Suzette is a surgeon living in Houston with her husband Hyland who is an architect. When Suzette and Hyland got married they both agreed on having no children. Now suddenly Hyland has changed his mind, he now wants a child. Suzette has had a history of mental illness in her family and she is stabilized, regarding her own mental heath. They choose to use a surrogate.

Dorrie is the surrogate chosen by Hyland to be the one to deliver a new baby to Hyland and Suzette. When Dorie doesn't show up for the sonogram appointment, Hyland can't reach Dorie by telephone. Hyland drives to Dories house and finds a note from Dorie that she has left and she is never coming back. The woman at the fertility clinic says that the clinic is not responsible and it is well past time to close. On the way home Hyland pulls the vehicle over to the side of the road saying he doesn't feel well enough to drive, so Suzette drives.

The novel alternates between different character's points of view. It introduces a new character named Jayne. It is obvious that the story is taking a new direction. Amanda Eyre Ward is a capable storyteller. Who is Jayne and how does her character figure into the new direction the story is taking. I can't give anything more away or I will spoil the story for you. An engaging well written story.

Thank you to Net Galley, Amanda Eyre Ward and Ballantine Book

For a book that is only 240 pages, the characters in The Nearness of You by Amanda Eyre Ward certainly had a lot of ground to cover. Mental illness, surrogacy, drug addiction and family relationships are all prevalent themes in this short, but ambitious novel. The prologue hooked me immediately and once I discovered that the main character, Suzette, was a highly esteemed heart surgeon at St. Luke’s in Houston I was completely emotionally invested. St. Luke’s is the very hospital where my own father received his new heart almost three years ago. The surgeons and staff we encountered during our stay there were absolutely as brilliant as Suzette is described. The settings throughout the book (Houston, Galveston, Grand Isle, New Orleans) are all places that my family and myself regularly frequent so it was enjoyable to read a story where I was familiar with the surrounding environment. I also appreciated the nod to literary greats scattered throughout the book, (Kate Chopin, Steven King, F. Scott Fitzgerald) and I loved that several of the characters were written as avid readers.

So, the synopsis. The Nearness of You centers around Hyland and Suzette Kendall. Suzette is a dedicated and brilliant heart surgeon at the top of her field who is stunned when her husband Hyland tells her he wants to have a child. Children were never something that Suzette envisioned for herself due to the demanding hours of her job and her background of severe mental illness. Hyland convinces her that if they went the route of surrogacy, they would avoid passing on anything genetic to their child. Suzette reluctantly agrees to this and so they begin the process of finding the perfect surrogate for them. Enter Dorothy Muscarello, a young woman with high hopes and big dreams of leaving her past behind and making something of herself. She has been accepted to Rice University but is unable to afford the tuition on her own. When the offer of surrogacy comes her way she sees it as the opportunity she has been waiting for to get out from under her mother’s roof and fund her way through college. She meets with the Kendalls and everything is agreed upon. Things begin to unravel fairly quickly however, once Dorrie becomes pregnant and starts to question her choice and role as surrogate.

This book had all the makings of a 5 star read. There was a lot of heaviness packed into these short 240 pages and while several hard topics were briefly touched on, I did not feel that the author really delved in to the meat of the matter. This story is told from multiple points of view and it did not always flow seamlessly to me. Eloise went from a two year old child to a teenager in roughly a few chapters. The information we are given about her upbringing with the Kendalls comes in brief flashbacks as Suzette rushes home in a moment of family crisis. It is evident that Eloise is troubled and doesn’t feel like she belongs, but I wish there had been more back story to that part of the plot. I also didn’t feel like Jayne needed her own chapters… that threw me a bit. I wish we had been given more information about Suzette’s childhood. It was obvious from the little that was written that Suzette lived through hell and I was very interested in the specifics as to how she got from where she was to the esteemed doctor that she turned out to be. A LOT of time was spent describing Suzette performing operations. I was fascinated by this and enjoyed reading about the surgeries, but I think the only reason that was is due to my emotional tie to St. Luke’s hospital. These operations were not pertinent to the story itself, and I could see how it may distract from the main plot for some readers.

The ending was also a huge let down for me so that knocked down the star rating as well. I don’t always need to have everything wrapped up with a nice, neat bow but to end it the way it did was just completely disappointing to me. 3 out of 5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of reading The Same Sky by this author. I was a big fan of that book (see my review here), so was looking forward to another novel by this author. This one is another gem that I highly recommend. Ms. Ward has a way with characters that makes them leap off the page and you feel like you are immersed in their lives. Even though a couple of these characters were not even that likeable to me, the way they were written still had me feeling emotions and relating to their troubles. This book had me hooked following the lives of these characters. Perhaps because I've been involved in the adoption process, although not using a surrogate, I could relate so much to Suzette and her intense need to protect her child, even without that biological bond. There is even an interesting twist at the end that you can kind of see coming if you are paying close attention.

Despite the end being a bit too tidy and quickly wrapped up, this is definitely another winner from Amanda Eyre Ward. You will love these well written characters.

Suzette and Hyland have a happy marriage and a busy life when Hyland surprises his wife with the news that he really wants a child. Married fifteen years, children had always been off the table, as Suzette did not want to pass on the genes of her mother, a woman who gave Suzette a horrifying and unstable childhood and eventually wound up in a mental institution. But Hyland proposes a new solution: what if they use a surrogate, with his sperm and a surrogate's egg? Suzette, a busy and successful heart surgeon, reluctantly agrees. Even though there are some red flags, the couple eventually chooses young Dorrie, a woman who wants to use the surrogate fees to go to college. Dorrie and Hyland bond, and Suzette realizes she must get on board with the idea. But soon Dorrie will make some decisions that will affect everyone in this new trio.

I am a bit conflicted about this novel. Ward wrote The Same Sky, which is a beautiful novel and one everyone should read in this current political climate. It's hard not to compare others to that magical book, and this one did fall short. She does, however, have a way of weaving stories with her words, and while I wasn't nearly as attached to the characters in this novel, I still found myself reading the last half of the book somewhat compulsively.

The novel started out slow, but picked up about 1/4 through, with a twist in the plot. It's told from a shifting rotation of perspectives, including Suzette, Dorrie, and Hyland. There are some large shifts in time as the novel progresses, which did make it harder to attach to some of the characters. None of the plot twists are exactly surprise, as they are foreshadowed a bit in each character's description: this is more of a character-driven novel versus a shocking dramatic novel. Still, even though I tore through the last half of the novel, I just felt the book lacked something, and I felt a tad let down by a story and characters that weren't completely fully developed (the ending is a bit abrupt as well). I enjoyed the perspectives on motherhood that the novel offered, but felt there could be more. That's not to say the novel isn't worth reading; Ward is a wonderful writer, but I just felt a little perplexed and frustrated when this one ended. I had hoped for more.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 02/21/2017.

This was a story that will really challenge your emotional and moral standards. A couple after 15 years of marriage decide to have a baby. Unfortunately, they cannot have one together. So they decide to use a surrogate which costs them $35,000. The surrogate after 9 months decides she's going to keep the child and runs away. Of course, the couple are stunned, lost, and grieving. After 2 years, the surrogate brings the child to them and says she can't keep it anymore and leaves.

What happens after that really makes you start to question this surrogate. (I'm not spoiling it any further!)

I found this book emotionally entertaining as it really touched several nerves. Okay, many nerves. I think that any book that can do that to me, is definitely worth reading. For me, that means the author has been able to impact me in such a way that those words weren't just words. They touched me.

Thanks to Random House - Ballantine for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read many books by Ward and have always enjoyed them. However, The Nearness of You just didn't do it for me. It is very disjointed and a large time jump that just doesn't seem to gel.

The idea of the story is very intriguing, I just would have liked to see it executed better. I do not have an issue with MPV and past/present novels, but there just didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to this and large chunks of time were spent describing Suzette's surgery's, which was completely unnecessary.

All in all, it fell flat and Ward never gave you a chance to connect with the characters, and the "twist" is entirely predictable.

Ultimately, I would not recommend this book.

4.5 stars
Suzette and her husband, Hyland, have always agreed that they didn't want any children(because she's worried about mental illness on her side of the family), so you can imagine how surprised she is to find out that he wants a baby. They agree to find a surrogate who doesn't turn out to be exactly what they expected. The story is told in alternating viewpoints, as Suzette, Hyland, and Dorrie, the surrogate, each tell their stories. Ultimately, a story of family and love. Highly Recommend.

Suzette and Hyland had been married for years, and were comfortable in their love. Suzette worked long hours as a heart surgeon, Hyland wandered from job to job, but they were always there for each other. Things were good, until Hyland reneged on their marriage agreement by asking for a child. Suzette had never wanted children because her mother was mentally ill, and she stood a chance of passing on the illness. Despite misgivings, Suzette agrees to allow Hyland to medically impregnate a surrogate but, shortly after learning she was pregnant with his child, the surrogate disappears.

Through multiple viewpoints, Ward tells the story of the young surrogate struggling to raise a child she thought she didn’t want, but loved all the same, contrasted with Suzette’s similar conflict and love. Readers are taken through their years of pain, adaptations and sacrifice, to arrive at the conclusion that love conquers all.

“The nearness of you” was a good read, although the medical jargon was very confusing. I think Ward could have portrayed Suzette’s job in a general manner without resorting to readers having to hunt down a medical dictionary to figure out what was happening.

Recommended for Adults.

A heartfelt story of an unconventional family and how past hurts can form who we become in such profound ways. I enjoyed all the unique characters and the unexpected turns the story took at times.

Suzette and Hyland have decided years ago not to have children. After living their lives for years, Hyland decides he does want a child. They interview surrogates and finally find a surrogate named Dorrie. She ends up pregnant and runs away as she decides she wants to keep the baby. Will Dorrie keep the baby? Will Suzette and Hyland ever meet and raise their daughter? There are so many twists and turns to this wonderful book. It is told by Suzette, Hyland, Dorrie, and the child Eloise. It is a story of family, family love, and just what makes a family. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

I'm not a parent, nor do I plan to be, but for some reason stories like this always hook me. It only helps that this book was written so well. I fell in love with the cast of characters and invested instantly in them. This was like a Lifetime movie on steroids...and what I mean by that, is that the subject sounds like something you'd see on a Lifetime movie, but the material was so well thought out and presented that it far surpassed any content you'd get in a film there. 5 stars-loved this one!

Excellent story! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

I received an ARC from Net Galley and started to read it right before the holidays. I wished I hadn't started it then I may have given it 5 stars if I was able to just sit and read the book continuously but things were too hectic. Even though that was the case I still gave it 4 stars because I never forgot what I had read because the characters and storyline stuck with me. The book had me at the Prologue where a girl was in the hospital close to death and the nurse comes in to tell the three visitors that visiting hours are over and no one moved. She says that only immediate family could stay past 5 PM. The man said I'm her father and the nurse said which of you is her mother? There was a thick quiet and the nurse repeated Who is her mother? And with that the story begins. This was not a typical surrogate mother story. It went places where I never thought a story like this would go. I very much enjoyed how each chapter was told alternatively from the point of view of each of the main characters (Hyland, Suzette, Dorrie and Eloise). What did surprise me was at how abruptly the story ended. I was stunned for a moment or two wanting more from the author because so much more could have been said. After sitting with it for awhile, I realized I was quite okay with it. I have definitely become a fan of Amanda Eyre Ward and will be looking forward to her next novel and hopefully an ARC!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books for the ARC of this novel.

I'll start by saying if you plan to read this and you have any plans either cancel them or don't start the book because this is a total 1 Day-er. The book grabs you from the very first page (I don't want to spoil it but it starts at a hospital bedside and leads you to believe you know the ending). Aside from the attention grabbing prologue the books keeps a very nice pace.l and the chapters are relatively short but each one ends with a hook.

Another aspect of the book the author did exceedingly well is kept what could be a somewhat complex/confusing tale clear and concise. The chapters are total from the POV of all of the characters but in some instances there's only 1 chapter for one character and other characters dominated the book. That could have been very confusing to constantly switch POVs but it wasn't and I found it added a different element to the plot that made it more enjoyable.

So if this is a great book why the 4 stars? I thought the author could have gone into each characters emotional state and why they did things a little bit more. You know each characters "demons" in the book but how it affected them comes off a little superficial in the book. Even with that slight negative this is still a must read book and you will not be disappointed if you pick it up.

I thought this novel had the makings of a great story. The story itself was fascinating, there was enough drama to draw the reader in and keep them engaged as the story was captivating but I think it lacked on delivery. Suzette and Hyland decided to find a surrogate as Suzette was worried about her family’s health issues being passed down. Dorrie didn’t quite fit within the guidelines of what they should be looking for but they liked her, so Dorrie became their surrogate. When she doesn’t show up for the sonogram appointment and they find a note on her door, fear creeps into the couple life. Betrayal, anger, confusion, grief and frustration all pop into my head as I read the note that Dorrie left for them. As the story unwinds, I found it hard to get emotional as I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters in this novel. As the couple tries to locate Dorrie and they deal with their emotions and with each other, I understood what they were going through but I felt like I should be feeling something deeper. I heard Dorrie’s side of the story and other individuals that were close to her and I understood where she was coming from and why she behaving the way she was but again I felt I was missing something. Perhaps it is just me and other readers will enjoy this novel just the way it is, everyone is different. I did enjoy the story though but I think I would have told it a different way. 3.5 stars

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review.

I was super excited when I got approved for this on Netgalley by Ballentine books! I rarely get approved for books that are not published by Bookouture, so I could believe my eyes when I got the approval email for this. I was anxious to read it and when I did get to it, I was not disappointed (for the most part).

From the very first chapter I could tell this was going to be a heavy book to read. It touches on so many tough subjects including mental illness, surrogacy, and the pressure on a relatioship/marriage when one partner doesn’t want to have children. Later on in the book we get to see the effects of PTSD from deployment, drug abuse, prostitution, and child neglect. If any of these things are possible triggers for you, please be aware that this is at least touched on briefly in the novel. To be honest, I was not expecting such a heavy story to come with this book, but it was an amazing read nonetheless.

The prologue is pretty much the ending of the story, then the rest of the story is told as the character are looking back and reminiscing over the experience. As the story begins, we find out the main couple has been married for 15 years and all of a sudden Hyland (the husband) brings up the subject of children. Again. Hyland actually called off their engagement because Suzette (the wife) doesn’t want children, but decided to marry her anyways. So what Suzette thought was a long buried and agreed upon subject is once again brought back up. Now Suzette does have her reasons for not wanting children and Hyland has his reasons for wanting children. They quickly decided on a compromise of surrogacy.

After many different women backed up of being Hyland and Suzettes surrogate, for many different reasons, they finally find a young woman named Dorrie to agree which happens towards the end of Part One.

Up until this point, I found the book not extremely interesting. It was really slow and it took me a while to figure out exactly how I was feeling about the story. I was so confused because the book contained very interesting subject matter, I just didn’t find it very interesting. To be honest, I felt kind of awkward and uneasy.

Literally as soon as I finished Part One, I had an epiphany. I was feeling this way about the book because that’s how Suzette was feeling. For the most part, Part One of the book was told from Suzette’s POV. Since she was feeling awkward and uneasy about the children discussion, finding a surrogate, and trying to figure out if this is what she really wanted that’s how I was feeling too! It was an amazing experience. I was feeding on this vibes of the words and the character. I’m not sure that has ever happened to me on this scale before it and it was awesome!

Part Two starts with a chapter from Dorrie (the surrogate) and I was some completely captivated at this point! I loved that Ward had the surrogate’s POV included in the story.

Throughout this part of the book, readers get to see many different POVs– Suzette, Dorrie, Jayne (random little girl), Eloise (surrogate baby), and Hyland. I’m not sure exactly why Jayne got a chapter in her perspective, but she did.

This is the part of the book where all heck breaks loose, literally! The feelings that Dorrie was having really touched my heart because I know that those are the same exact feelings I would have if I were to be in her situation. At least that’s how I picture it would happen.

After reading Dorrie’s thoughts, I just can’t imagine that when you agree to be a surrogate that you actually know what you’re signing up for and getting yourself into. So I was not surprised that Dorrie reacts the way that she does.

Part Three was full of twists, some I was expecting and some I was not. I was completely blind sided by one of the major reveals, nothing could have prepared me for that. But the reveal wasn’t a negative one, which I really liked. The reveal made me really happy and really sad at the same time.

The ending of the book was where I was really disappointed. The ending left me completely unsatisfied. I seriously loved the whole book, but in my opinion Ward really dropped the ball on the ending of the book. It had so much potential for a tragic or happy ending, whichever she would have chosen. But instead we got not kind of closure and are left guessing how everything turned out for the characters. But it didn’t leave off in such a way that you would think there will be a sequel.

One of my favorites things about a book is reading to see where the book gets its title from. The Nearness of You could have been incorporated into the book in some many different wonderful ways. But NO. This book got it’s title from an Ella Fitzgerald song that Eloise sings for her a cappella tryouts. Boring. Bummer.

The whole book was so well put together, but the ending made it lose a few star points for me. Unfortunately. But overall, it was a wonderful book and I would still recommend it to other readers!