Safe Distance by Megan Green

I read so many books that at times it can be difficult to find one truly stands out and for the right reasons, what are those reasons, well that is the problem everybody has different criteria but for me, I need to be absorbed, I need to have characters I can relate to and care about and I want it all with a smidge (and in some cases a very large smidge) of sauciness on the side!

So did I get that with this, well I think I did, maybe not a huge man size dollop of extra spiciness but I certainly got characters that mattered and a plot that I fell right into and since this was a debut novel I have to say the author did a sterling job.

The story centres on Hayley and Ryan.

Haylee was testy character for me to get to grips with, I couldn’t put my finger on it to be honest but just every now and then, she set my fingers twitching and I had to stop myself from skimming over what she had to say (No, really I know it is a bad habit, if the character was in front of me I would roll my eyes but since she isn’t, I skim- I have smacked my own hand for doing in on numerous occasions!)

I got that things hadn’t been smooth sailing for her but she wore her pain a little too much like a coat of armour that was to remain impenetrable rather than a cloak that could be peeled away. She was harsh at times and cold – unnecessarily so in my opinion but that didn’t stop me shedding more than a few tears for her.

Ryan on the other hand I fell for hard, he wanted a friend, he knew that wanting more out of their relationship could cost him the precious little that he already had but he couldn’t help how he felt, but managing to wrestle his feelings into shape, he settled on having the best friendship he could rather than nothing at all, after all he wasn’t prepared to let her go. I loved his misplaced determination, really there was something between this pair that was never just going to accept being friends, and their souls wanted more!   

I had an underlying unsettled feeling about Ryan ,that he was hiding a pain that could rival Haylee’s but what it was I had no idea but when it was revealed, I was gobsmacked, completely blown away.

Now I am not saying that he was a saint, far from it but of the two of them I certainly took to him more, although the truth about her past certainly opened my eyes to the fact that first impressions are not always fair. And I was unfair to Haylee. Her story was tragic in some parts, did it excuse her behaviour – no but it explained it!

To sum it up the book is the story of two people with the capacity to love unconditionally, struggling to find a way through demons that were determined to destroy not only their pasts but their futures too.

It showed that in order to move forward you have to look back, you have to deal with the crap and start afresh, learn to live, learn to love and most of all learn to trust.

I cried at more points in this book that I would honestly like to admit to and not just a sniffle – big arsed ugly tears. But I also smiled at much of it too and chuckled my way through many of the old book and movie references along the way.

This is an emotion read that requires to keep an open mind (some of the aspects of Haylee’s story are hard to read!) and most importantly to stick with them because they are worth it in the end.