#94: Right Person, Right Time

A Review of Nothing Comes Close by Tolulope Popoola

Many times, love doesn’t make sense.
Not how it is found, not the unlikelihood of the match, not even how quickly it grows from mild interest to a full-blown pheromonal exchange activity. Perhaps, it is exactly as they say—love is blind.

In Nothing Comes Close, Tolulope Popoola tests just how far blind love will go. Sweet Lola meets and falls in love with a man who seems to bring her immense joy and equally immense pain.

“Haven’t you experienced love so passionate that you want to hold on to it, no matter what?”

Greetings, dear reader👋🏽👋🏽
I hope you are doing well and enjoying the new year cheer.

Welcome to another edition of this spectacular newsletter.
Today’s newsletter is a guest feature by Favour Effiong, a Nigerian engineer and STEM girlie with a lifelong love for books. She’s a writer, ARC reader, and editor who loves to share exciting parts of her reading journey and review books.

Wole is attentive, good-looking, sexy, and very gentlemanly, but Lola is certain that there are layers beneath the prince charming facade, and she cannot wait to unravel them. Wole is also trying hard to leave his past behind, even when it refuses to stay buried in the shadows.

When love happens with Lola, it is unexpected, but surprisingly welcome. They hit it off instantly, but despite the sizzling chemistry and emotional depth, their relationship is not as smooth sailing as either of them would have liked.

As with many relationships, several factors unite to separate the lovebirds, and they face an interesting blend of distance, old flames, suspicion, and the dangers of hearsay. It is not a war they can win without trust.

Nothing Comes Close particularly shows that love doesn’t always have to be storybook perfect, it doesn’t need to make sense to onlookers, it doesn’t need any form of validation, except from the people involved. It also teaches why it pays to be extremely careful with third-party interference in relationships.

With Lola and her girls, and Wole and his guys, this book showcases the importance of healthy friendships and how these alliances can be instrumental to putting back together the pieces of a broken soul. It also exposes the little, cute conversations that happen behind the scenes, when friends tease each other about their prospective love interests.

At some point, Lola’s morals seemed to be lurking in the grey area; after all, who makes out with their new boyfriend when their best friend is lying gravely ill? But one thing this author did not promise is perfection. Just like real-life people, the characters make questionable decisions, suffer the repercussions, learn the necessary lessons, and move on.

This book is a slow burner, gradually heating up even to the point of physical intimacy between Lola and Wole, but once the heat is on, it’s turned up all the way. The dialogue flowed naturally, and the descriptions were vivid, spurring imaginations. The pacing felt unrushed and accurate. While the character development helped shed more light on why the characters were who they were, the point of the story about Lola’s baby brother was largely missed.

Wole and Lola’s story is a great pick for romance and drama lovers, for anyone who likes retired bad boys, for those who believe in loving and not letting go, for all who dream of sweet, intentional love, and for the people who like happy endings. You see, when love comes at the right time and with the right person, Nothing Comes Close.

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Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Leave a comment, maybe? 😊

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