Book Review | Breathe Into Me – Sara Fawkes

Breathe Into Me
By: Sara Fawkes

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Angst
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: April 8th, 2014
My Rating: 4 Stars
My Reading Format: Paperback

Synopsis:

How did my life get so broken? It’s a question Lacey St. James asks herself every day. Stuck raising her little brother in a trailer park while she works a dead end job at a grocery store, she has a stalker ex-boyfriend, a bad reputation, and no way out.

And then she meets Everett, whose presence changes her entire existence.

Everett is an outsider to her small community, in town for the summer housesitting one of the grand mansions off the Mississippi coast. When he saves her in a bar one night, she’s grateful but wary of his intentions. Lacey doesn’t trust most men in her life, but for reasons Lacey can’t understand, Everett is completely captivated by her. He’s determined to show her that life can offer more than she’d ever hoped for, if only she believes in herself. As she works with him to free herself, Lacey desperately yearns to trust him, to move on and perhaps start fresh.

But what happens when she finds out that everything he’s told her about himself was a lie?

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Breathe Into Me is a story about one woman’s journey in finding and accepting kindness in a world that has, once, treated her so coldly. Lacey St. James once lived a happy life. She had a family that loved her and friends she could rely on. Until the day everything changed and she found herself moving with her mother and younger brother into her grandmother’s trailer. This is where Lacey’s life took a turn for the worst and when she realized, you can’t rely on your family when push comes to shove.

Now, Lacey finds herself working two jobs to support herself and her younger brother. Her dreams revolve around one day getting the two of them out of that trailer, and out from under her grandmother’s abusive iron thumb. Then maybe she’ll be able to finally find her happily ever after where fear and anger isn’t a common theme.

But fate has other plans and Lacey finds herself starting to trust for the first time in a long time and wanting to share her deepest darkest secrets with. But the new-comer in town, Everett, has secrets of his own. Secrets that could force the connection between the two to unravel and crumble down all around them.

My Thoughts:

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I first picked up Breathe Into Me by Sara Fawkes. The only thing I knew, this was a new to me author and this paperback has been on my bookshelf for far to long. So initially, I fell in love with this book cover and that’s why I bought the book. Little did I know, the story inside was just as breathtaking as the cover.

My heart cried for Lacey St. James. This girl was tough as nails on the outside, but right beneath the surface she craved acceptance and love from the family that should have been on her side from the start. There were times I felt like curling up in a ball and crying for Lacey. My heart hurt for this woman and all she went through in her life. Everett appearing in her life, was a gift from the fates. She could be at her lowest point, and this man would immediately pick her up and help her fight her battles. And that’s one reason why I loved Everett so much! This man didn’t fight her battles for her. He stood readily by her side until she tapped him in and then he would help her through the obstacles. They were as sweet as storybook romances come. I loved these two together.

Now let’s start with why I dropped a star on my rating. I loved everything about Lacey and Everett’s story, from the slow burn to the protective streak Everett showed. The only thing I had an issue with was during the end when Lacey made a call to a few long lost characters in order to protect her brother. I would have loved to see more of these characters in the novel after the phone call. I wanted to see Lacey have someone, other than Everett and his friends, that she could turn to when times got tough. I wanted to see more connections with this woman who has lived through too damn much.

It has to be said, there are a few content warnings within these pages in forms of abuse. If you find any method of abuse triggering (physical, sexual, mental, emotional, and child) I highly recommend you go into this one with eyes wide open. There are many form of abuse detailed in this novel, some lightly detailed while others are heavily detailed. Just be aware and be conscious of what’s to come. I do love how Lacey and her younger brother find redemption at the end of this novel. I just wish the redemption moment was drawn out and detailed a bit more. I wanted to see ‘certain characters’ pay more for their crimes.

Overall, I loved Lacey and Everett’s romance. Mostly, I loved the fact that Everett became the person, friend, and then lover that Lacey needed in her life. He became her rock, her shoulder to cry on, and her safe place. These two were made for one another. My heart can rest easy now knowing they finally gained their happily ever after. So, if you love novels that live up to the angst factor and will have you smiling one minute and crying the next, you should pick up Breathe Into Me by Sara Fawkes!

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Peace Love and Happy Reading,

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