Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Breathe

SERIES: London Love #1

AUTHOR: Sophia Soames

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 368 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2021

BLURB:

Meet Ryan, aka, Joey Hole, disgraced former adult entertainer with more issues than he can keep track of. His boyfriend left him for an Instagram twink with 150K followers, his Mum wants him out of her spare room and then there’s that idiot at college who just won’t take no for an answer.

Meet Luke. He was once the rich kid who’d just been gifted his first car, and now he doesn’t even own a bike. He’s also slumming it in a house full of ungrateful siblings and his first trip to the Food-bank gave him some goddamn emotional scars. Life is getting better though, and he’s acing it at college, as well as making some brilliant new friends. Well except for that stuck up twatwaffle Ryan who won’t talk to him and refuses to like his brilliant social media posts….

REVIEW:

Can you say Bonus Epilogue? By now you probably know of my Epilogue Addiction, so I’m quite pleased with the ending of Breathe. But we’ll put that on hold for the moment.

Breathe is an endearing, quirky love story about two young men trying to find their places in the world – and with each other – after enduring harrowing life experiences.

Ryan Aspinall is a broken and depressed man. He built a career in New York City as popular and successful porn star “Joey Hole”. (I really hate that name.) He disgraced himself, though, and has now returned home to London with his tail between his legs. It isn’t until much later in the book that we learn about his nuclear meltdown and the epically bad behavior that cost him his career and his boyfriend of four years, the man he thought he’d spend his life with. He’s ashamed – not by his job but by his very public self-destruction. Ryan built an extensive social media presence for Joey, and it leaves a trail that will never fully disappear. Sure enough, it catches up with him.

All I could do was let myself drift until the darkness and pain woke me up, and another day began.

He’s back living with his mom, has no friends or social life, and is about to start college at the age of twenty-three. He applied late and all that was available was a one-year course to be a personal trainer, a career wholly unsuited to his “skinny frame and non-existent workout routine”. Unlike “Joey” who was overly confident and brash, Ryan is sweet but insecure and shy. Fitting in with the other students is not something he prioritizes; he’s content to be alone … except one guy won’t let him.

Luke Walters has lived a ritzy life filled with villas, fancy cars, boarding schools, and nannies. But his parents recently lost everything and went to jail, so he’s now living in the slum with his five siblings, from eight-year-old Olive to his mid-twenties sister, Emma. As the oldest boy, he’s the guardian of the two youngest kids and his responsibilities for keeping the siblings afloat is astounding. He’s a nerdy guy with no friends and feels like an unattractive freak. He pathetically wants friends – and Instagram likes – but his lousy social skills hold him back.

Luke is intrigued by Ryan, the loner in his college course. He just has to have him as a friend, but Ryan wants nothing to do with him (or anyone). It’s Luke’s little sister, Olive, who wins him over.

“In my defence, I now want to hang out with you. I’ve never met anyone more messed up than me, and I say that in the kindest way possible.” – Luke

They build a friendship slowly. It isn’t until Ryan learns of Luke’s past and realizes they both have dark secrets that he becomes more comfortable around Luke. It’s total honesty that leads to them growing close. Ryan trusts Luke and strips himself bare. Figuratively, that is. He wants to be loved the way Luke loves and takes care of his family. And Luke needs Ryan to nurture and take care of him, too. He’s spread too thin; he’s scared by all his responsibilities and the future feels insurmountable. He’s fearful that he had nothing to offer Ryan.

In the end, they realize they’re quite alike deep down. They both need closure – Ryan from Joey and his life in New York, and Luke from his parents and former life. They both experience self-doubt but are eventually set free to be themselves. Which brings us to their hard-fought HEA with the beautiful family they’ve assembled. The epilogue is one year out, and the bonus epilogue I raved about provides a wonderful view of their lives three years after that.

This is an off-beat tale in keeping with the author’s usual style. It features solid writing with an extensive and varied secondary cast comprised of both families and their school friends. There’s a unique quality to Ryan and Luke’s relationship. They achieve a special intimacy from nothing more than holding hands. In fact, they’re in love before ever sharing a kiss. This is not an Insta-love, though, just a charming love story that takes its time. I recommend Breathe to readers looking for something sweet and a little bit unique.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon