REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE: Breathe
AUTHOR: Sloane Parker
PUBLISHER: Loose ID
LENGTH: 277 pages
BLURB: Lincoln McCaw lost everything — his home, his job, his partner — after he caused a fatal accident. A year later, he’s drowning the guilt and despair in whiskey, but he needs to move on. His sister and her kids are counting on him. Then he meets a man who ignites a passion Lincoln thought he’d never find. Too bad one night is all they can have together. Now he needs to figure out how to turn away from the only person who makes him feel alive…before whoever is sending him threats decides Lincoln needs to suffer more than he already has.
Jay Miller is surrounded by grief and misery until he finally gives in to all those years of sexual fantasies about being with another guy. Realizing he’s ended up in the arms of the man who caused his wife’s accident, he tries to pull away. But how can he give up a friendship he needs more than anything — a friendship and a love that could save him? He may not have time to make the choice before someone else destroys it all.
REVIEW:
This story has an excellent premise and I liked it a lot. Two men who have lost so much find their way to each other despite every seeming to be against them.
Lincoln is living with guilt and misery and the only reason he keeps going is his sister and niece and nephews. They need him and he’s determined to not let them down any more than he has already.
Jay lost so much but he’s slowly coming to the realization that maybe his world isn’t completely over and he’s getting tired of everyone who’s supposed to love him telling him it is.
When they find each other, the connection is immediate but Lincoln fights it tooth and nail, determined that he doesn’t deserve any happiness. When he finally gives in he finds out who Jay really is and he’s sure he needs to be punished again.
But the two men can’t seem to stay away from each other and they grow closer. The author builds up the growing intimacy with great skill and you can’t help but feel happy that these two broken souls are helping each other feel whole again.
The angst in this story comes from all sides. Not only are both men convinced that what’s between them can’t last, even if they want it to, others seem to think they don’t deserve any happiness either.
Threats against Lincoln’s sister and her children have both men working together to find out who’s taking vengeance into their own hands.
I found myself rooting for these two even though the story seemed to drag a little in the middle. I would have liked to have seen them having more conversations and less sex to work things out, but overall, the story is sound.
The characters are believable and easy to connect to and the emotions are real. I love how their growing relationship not only changes their perceptions about each other, but about themselves as well. Sometimes realizing that bad things happen to good people and accepting that you’re not evil or doomed because of it is a hard lesson to learn.
The end and the revelations it brings aren’t really unexpected but they are well written and I applaud Sloane Parker for making me cry and smile at the same time throughout the story. I will be looking for more from this author.
Rating: 