I wrote about or featured this title on my blog and will provide the details directly to the publisher in the next round of this review process.

I've raved quite a bit about Whiskey and Ribbons, a book published by Leesa Cross-Smith in 2018. When I saw the she had a new book coming out, I could not have requested the ARC more quickly. Whiskey and Ribbons was a favorite the year that I read it, and I was enveloped by the atmosphere and story presented there.
Let me tell you.
I think Leesa Cross-Smith might be a literary genius. The general tone and voice in This Close to Okay is equally masterful and beautiful and wonderful. And the world created in the pages of this book are all of those things, as well. I loved the way she explored the relationship between Emmett and Tallie, strangers, in this story; I loved the way that she addressed and dealt with the complexity presented by that same relationship. I loved it when we alternated between their perspectives and how she slowly, deliberately crept backstory clues into the narrative. I loved how she described Tallie's home as the epitome of comfort and domestic peace. I loved the fact that this novel (which takes place over only a couple of days) felt fully formed; I loved how much I ached for the characters and how I yearned for their own happiness.
I have to say that this is a really, really sad story; it would be a disservice to all of you reading not to make that entirely clear. But MY GOSH is it deserving of your time and attention.

A story of two people and a weekend that brings them together and changes their lives. A novel that can restore your faith in some of humanity, despite some of the odd choices that characters make throughout. I feel that the book will have a wide audience among those who can look past these odd decisions and suspension of disbelief. Some of the dialogue is clunky or cliched, but the details and storytelling elements are great. Would recommend; especially to a book club or book group!

This author consistently paints a lovely picture. The mood here is tender and wistful, and I liked its gentle kindness a lot.

The story of how two strangers can change each others lives in just one weekend. Both main characters carry lots of baggage and slowly let their secrets out as their time together continues (one is much more open than the other). This is a messy ride, the emails had me stressed out but was one of my favorite elements to the story. I related to both Tallie and Emmett on many levels. Life is hard, relationships can make you question yourself endlessly leaving you to replay moments, along with racism, continued stigma towards Mental Health, infertility. This world is so large and yet at times it is still so unbearably lonely.
I know a lot of people had issues with Tallie and her decisions as a Mental Health professional but I can't speak to any of that. In the end I'm glad she got Emmett off the bridge, opened up to him so he would eventually with her. This book was moody, familiar. I felt comfortable and seen, Tallie and Emmett felt like my friends and I'm so gald they have each other. I won't spoil the ending but I will say I loved it and thought it was perfect.

The book is about a therapist who stops a suicidal man from jumping off a bridge. She takes him to a coffee shop, and they develop a romance.

I love books about therapy, and this book explores the connections of a therapist who breaks out of her caregiver role. Unfortunately this was just too slow moving for me. If you like books with lots of conversation and a slow relationship build up, this might be for you.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you want to be sad, read this book!!! On a rainy drive along the Ohio River, Tallie spots a man standing on the edge of a bridge. As if second nature, Tallie jumps out of the car and convinces the man to have a cup of coffee with her. The two form a friendship, despite the lack of information the man on the bridge, Emmett, is willing to share. Tallie does her best to accommodate Emmett into her weekend to help him. We take a deep dive into mental health from the perspective of suicidal Emmett & therapist Tallie so we really get a well rounded picture. The whole book was mostly sad, but the last little bit was BIG sad. The very end felt a little abrupt to me and left me definitely wanting more from these characters.

I know many readers loved This Close Too Okay and I stuck with it for nearly 50%, but for me it had one flaw I just could not get past. It was the fact that the book's main character, Tallie, was a therapist, but acted in ways so contrary to what you would expect of a therapist. I don't want to give anything away, but from the opening chapter to the midpoint, her choices over and over felt jarring to me. For a long time, I tried to just go with it, but eventually, I had to quit.

While I don't usually feel the need for trigger warnings in books, this one has a big one: attempted suicide and suicide- these are very key themes throughout the plot of this book. Also a child death in a traumatic way, adultery, infertility, racism

When Tallie meets Emmett he is on the Ohio bridge preparing to jump. His past won't let him move on and Tallie's therapist instincts won't let her give up. There is a realness in the give and take in their relationship and learning. They both hide things from each other but are pulled toward healing each other as well. I liked the ending, without giving anything away, it was a satisfying but honest end for the relationship they had made together.

While this book won't be for everyone, it is a great read and highlights elements of life we usually shy away from.

This book took me completely by surprise, but in the best way. Told in alternating perspectives over the course of one weekend, we follow Tallie and Bridge/Emmett who meet when she finds him about to jump off of a bridge when she drives past. As a therapist, she can't just let him do this and so, she gets out of her car and starts talking to him. This book has such compelling language that pulls you in from the very first page. It reads quite quickly and features impactful writing, touching on important subjects like grief, suicide, race, and mental health. It's so captivating and the plot twists were truly unexpected, which I loved that I didn't see it coming. This book, wow, just so mesmerizing.

I almost didn’t finish the book. At about 30% I wasn’t sure where the story was going. I was having a hard time connecting. It started out strong and it fell into a slight lull for me. The writing was great, the author is very talented. About halfway through it caught my attention and I really enjoyed the second half of the book. I felt connected to the characters and wanted to know what happened to them. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

When explaining the plot to a friend, it sounds absolutely absurd, and it is! A budding romance between a woman pretending she isn’t a therapist and the mysterious man she rescues from suicide on a bridge. But the author did a good job of not making it seem that way— I was definitely drawn in from the beginning. Unfortunately, halfway through this book had a very clear Christian agenda. This book should be labeled as Christian fiction, as the discussion of god with a suicidal person is no small plot point. By the third act, the story had fallen apart, with obvious plot twists being apparent early on.

I was not expecting this level of emotions going into this book. I'm new to Leesa and I'm so happy I took a chance because this book is EVERYTHING!


Moving, thought provoking, sad, joyful and powerful. Truly the ingredients of what a great story should be, I feel like I went through SO many feelings while reading this and could really relate to the characters and the decisions they made.

I love when a book makes you feel more enriched after reading it, this is a story that will stay with me long after I've read it and an author that I will definitely read more of!

This was super emotional and I enjoyed every moment of Tallie/Emmett/Rye. I honestly could have done without the other characters and I’m still hoping for a different ending. Lol.

Thanks to @netgalley and @grandcentralpub for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

What an interesting book- as someone trained in mental health I am always nervous to read a book where the main character is a therapist. This was so well done. Tallie and Emmett are such flawed characters. I yelled at her in my head a lot in the beginning- "Tallie, be safe!" She did a lot of things that would be considered dangerous and/or unethical but she did this with the intent of saving a life. Emmett did a lot of regrettable things, like lying to Tallie. You could feel his pain radiating through the book. Two flawed people, with troubles of their own, get together for a crazy weekend, in order to save a life. His? Hers? Both? Highly recommend reading to find out. Love to see books that normalize mental health, suicide awareness and grief. Amazingly written and I can't wait to read more from this author.

Lots of trigger warnings: suicide, loss of spouse, loss of child, infertility, infidelity, mental illness, anxiety, PTSD.

Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary ARC- purchase the book on my own to keep on my shelf.

There's just something about Leesa Cross-Smith's voice that I love, and I particularly love the device she uses of portraying a pivotal shift in a relationship happening in a very compressed time period. In her debut novel 'Whiskey & Ribbons', a complicated love that has been blossoming over time comes to full flower during a snowstorm. And in 'This Close to Okay', two souls adrift for very different reasons help each other find their moorings over a rainy weekend in October. As was the case in her first novel, the characters in this one skate dangerously close to the lines of what might be considered 'taboo' or 'inappropriate' but despite that, find in each other precisely what they need in that 'moment' in time.

Again, in this novel as in her first, Cross-Smith creates an intriguing cast of secondary characters and tells us just enough about them to help us understand the nature of the main protagonists, and round out the sphere of their social and emotional universe. She is absolutely genius in capturing the tiny moments that cause two people to bond, things like the way a person holds your hand when you least expect it, or expresses concern when you expect censure; or the way people you love take to a newcomer, reassuring you that it is in fact safe for you to bring this person into your world. And occasionally, there is an absolutely flawlessly beautiful line, observing something about the natural world or the innermost emotions of the characters. I was looking forward to this book for a long time and was elated when it was released. Now, all that remains I guess is to wait for the next one.

This Close to Okay both confused me and gave me the warm and fuzzies. I don't know how else to describe it. On the one hand, the premise seems kind of outlandish. I'm not bringing any strangers, let alone suicidal ones, into my home to stay for a weekend and meet my family. However, there's this feeling of warmth that arises as both Tallie and Emmett/Rye come to know one another. An intimacy that can't be denied. Their character development is remarkable, each making a mistake but learning how to cope and forgive. The story is told beautifully and handles the heavy themes of therapy, depression, and suicide with grace. A lot of books approach therapy from a preachy standpoint, but this felt oddly authentic. Take the lying out of it, and I want Tallie as my therapist. When it boils down to it, this is a beautifully told story of pain turning into growth.

Thank you for the opportunity. Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. While I think this book could really resonate for some people, I was left adrift and unconnected. Again, I appreciate the opportunity.

Major TW for suicide and the topic of mental health.
*CW: infidelity, infertility

2.5 to 3 stars.

I was always hesitant with picking this one up (I received an early copy), mostly because the topic of suicide is just such a personal topic for me and I’m very critical of it.

The reason why I am so critical of books written about suicide is because I have read so many where it seems that love is the cure to everything. It’s not. I seriously feared that this one was heading in that direction. And while it ultimately didn’t, thank God, it did take a quick nosedive into quite a bothersome narrative. Showing someone with a mental illness take part in such a traumatic event did not sit well with me. Sometimes people really need help, I get it, but was it necessary to put a woman with a mental illness at the forefront of such tragedy?

There’s also a bit of problematic language sprinkled throughout (the lesbian comment), the characterization of Tallie herself, and while I could actually appreciate the ending (I quickly burst into tears after that last sentence), I wish this book didn’t try to fit so much in at once because there was no space for each story to unfold. And don’t get me started on the invasion of privacy that I just can’t overlook.

I really wanted to love this book and even got distracted with some beautiful sentences written and with Emmett/Ry’s character. But I have such a bone to pick with so many little things, that I don’t really even know where to start.

Okay this at times was a slow burn, but in the absolute best way. This was such a deep and honest look at human beings and our lives - our pain, our suffering, our desires, our mistakes, our “what ifs”, our odd quirks and off color jokes. This book does something miraculous - weaves a powerful, unforgettable story recounting, for the most part, just a single weekend, and conversations between two people.

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I am IN LOVE. The formatting was extremely original. The way it acknowledge the various people that walk by us that fade into the background, the way it captures how we see other people and ourselves. It really was a stunning, original creation that I think everyone should read. A brilliant look at forgiveness, starting over, and the pangs of metal illness and depression.

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Recently divorced therapist Tallie Clark’s life is forever altered when on a rainy, autumn Kentucky night she stops a man from taking his own life in the pouring rain. After convincing the stranger to join her for a up of coffee, her therapists concern unrelenting, she invites the man, Emmett, into her own home.

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For an entire weekend that seems like forever (in a good way), Tallie and Emmett slowly get to know one another, cracking one another’s rough outer shelves of defense mechanisms and secrets, though both are hiding their true identity from one another (Tallie hiding her profession, Emmett hiding his dark past).

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In the end, it becomes a lesson in the fact that sometimes we try to save others, but are equally unaware of the healing we also need, the hurt we hold in our hearts. Alternating between Tallie and Emmett’s perspectives, we are allowed glimpses of what brought one man to a bridge on a stormy day, and the betrayal that has one woman so badly bruised.

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