Close to You (Through the Years, 1)

Close to You (Through the Years, Book 1)

Author: Nissa Renzo

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Coming-of-Age Romance / Emotional Romance / Forbidden Romance

Book Rating: ⭐ 9.5/10 (Estimated)

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3/5 (Estimated)

Genre

She lost her voice before she ever had the chance to use it. He became the one person who understood her without words. And somewhere between surviving their childhoods and growing up together, their unbreakable bond becomes a love neither knows how to live without.

Milow has spent her entire life trapped in silence.

Her father took away her ability to speak, leaving behind wounds far deeper than anyone can see.

Painful memories.

A childhood filled with fear.

And a world that has never given her a reason to believe she's worthy of love.

She's learned that sometimes surviving means expecting nothing from anyone.

When Milow arrives at yet another foster home, she doesn't allow herself to hope.

She's been disappointed too many times.

Rejected.

Misunderstood.

And made to feel like she doesn't belong.

To her, this is simply another temporary place where she'll never truly be wanted.

Until she meets Ashby.

Her new foster brother.

A boy who knows what it means to survive his own kind of hell.

A boy carrying scars of his own.

And somehow, the first person who truly sees her.

Milow doesn't need words for Ashby to understand her.

He notices the things everyone else overlooks.

The fear she tries to hide.

The pain she carries.

The emotions she cannot express aloud.

And instead of demanding that she change, he simply stays.

He becomes her safe place in a world that has never felt safe.

As the years pass, their connection grows into something neither can imagine living without.

Ashby becomes her protector.

Her closest companion.

Her constant.

And Milow becomes someone he can lean on when the weight of his own past becomes too heavy to carry alone.

Together, they create the kind of family and understanding they've both desperately needed.

But childhood doesn't last forever.

And as they grow older, the bond that once felt simple begins changing into something neither knows how to explain.

Lingering glances.

Unspoken feelings.

A closeness that starts to feel different.

Because the person who knows your heart better than anyone else might also be the person you're terrified to lose.

But growing up isn't gentle with either of them.

Milow continues facing relentless bullying and cruelty from a world that refuses to understand her.

Every day becomes another battle against the painful belief that she'll never truly belong.

Meanwhile, Ashby is struggling beneath the pressure of school, swimming, and the expectations surrounding his future.

He's fighting to achieve his dreams while trying to protect the girl who's become his entire world.

As their lives become more complicated, both must confront impossible choices.

Milow must decide whether she's brave enough to let herself be vulnerable when trusting others has always brought pain.

Ashby must determine how much he's willing to sacrifice for his goals—and for the person he refuses to abandon.

And somewhere between their shared history, their growing feelings, and the challenges threatening to pull them apart, one truth remains.

They will always choose each other.

But loving someone doesn't erase the past.

And sometimes the hardest part of growing up is learning how to hold on to the people you love without losing yourself along the way.

He was the first person to understand her silence. She became the person who made his world feel like home.

Heartbreaking, tender, and deeply emotional, Close to You delivers an epic coming-of-age romance featuring two traumatized foster siblings, a protective hero, a heroine who communicates without speech, years of shared history, forbidden feelings, and a powerful bond built on trust, loyalty, and unconditional love.

Because some love stories don't begin with a first kiss. They begin with someone finally making you feel safe.

Tropes / Mood

Coming-of-Age Romance • Foster Siblings Romance • Forbidden Love • Childhood Friends to Lovers • Growing Up Together • Protective MMC • Non-Speaking FMC • Hurt/Comfort • Shared Trauma • Found Family • Childhood Trauma • Emotional Healing • He Protects Her • Unbreakable Bond • Slow-Burn Romance • Years of Longing • Unspoken Feelings • Childhood to Adulthood • Swimming Athlete MMC • Sports Romance Elements • Bullying • Trust & Vulnerability • Emotional Scars • Safe Person • Deep Emotional Connection • Loyalty & Sacrifice • Angsty Romance • Heartbreaking Moments • Choosing Each Other • Interconnected Romance Series • Moderate Spice (Estimated)

Edition Note: Book 1 in Nissa Renzo's Through the Years series. Each installment follows a different couple, with interconnected events unfolding across the same timeline and occasionally shown from different perspectives.

The author recommends reading the series in order, as the books are not fully standalone. Milow and Ashby's story is also expected to continue in at least one additional book.

Reader Note: Close to You explores severe childhood abuse, trauma, foster care, bullying, emotional distress, and the lasting effects of violence. The female main character is unable to speak because of abuse inflicted by her father. The central romance develops between characters raised together as foster siblings.

The spice rating is an estimate; the supplied synopsis does not confirm the level of explicit sexual content.

Perfect for readers who love Chloe Walsh-style emotional romances, protective heroes, childhood bonds that grow into complicated love, heartbreaking backstories, and characters who find comfort in each other when the world has given them every reason to give up.