Amanda Luker in Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus’ novel “So Close” portrayed a modern-day rags-to-riches story of a small-town girl just trying to get out of the trailer park and make something of herself. While Amanda is the main character, poor little rich boy Pax Westerbrook is certainly the catalyst for the entire story. Having met during a night of clubbing, Pax is the reason Amanda loses her job and through trying to make it up to her, he also gives her another chance at meeting Senator Davis and his wife Lindsay.

While Pax is intertwined and constantly comes in and out of Amanda’s life, this isn’t an ordinary Cinderella story. Amanda works hard for everything she has. She demonstrates an incredible work ethic throughout the book, and it was especially impressive to see how hard she worked day in and day out on the Senator’s campaign with no hope or guarantee of a paycheck. That kind of work ethic really revealed her character and entrepreneurial spirit.

It was interesting to get the behind the scenes glimpse of the path to the presidency. International best-selling authors, Emma McLaughlin and Nicole Kraus did a great job of making me feel like I was jet-lagged on the campaign trail alongside Amanda. Told through Amanda’s eyes, her character with all of her flaws and naïveté were well-developed and easily relatable.

As intriguing as the political indiscretions made this book, for me it was really about Amanda’s entrepreneurial drive and her determination to become someone outside of the trailer park. While life offers opportunities randomly and sporadically, it’s really about what you make of those opportunities and how you create your own windows when no others open for you. ( )