Release Day Launch and Reviews: Breathe Into Me: Sara Fawkes
Sara Fawkes
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Expected release April 8, 2014
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 exboyfriend, a bad reputation, and no way out.
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 exboyfriend, a bad reputation, and no way out.
And then, she meets Everett, who changes her entire existence.
Everett is an outsider who’s housesitting his family’s mansion off the coast, and for reasons Lacey can’t understand, he’s completely transfixed by her. He seems determined to show her that life can offer more than she’d ever hoped for, if only she believes in herself. She desperately yearns to trust him, but what happens when she finds out that everything he’s told her is a lie?
Lacey is trapped in a life of toxic people and limited options. She exists in a run down trailer park with unsupportive family, a dead end job, and no expectations for change. Her life is one negative thing after another and she cannot seem to escape. She meets Everett who is house sitting for the summer and he takes an interest in her. And she is really in need of a true friend vs. the people who she has been associating with. She needs to break away from the past and situations holding her back. Everett is kind, supportive, understanding, charming and just plain irresistable. But he is a bit mysterious. She already has trust issues, but he gradually wins her over. He pushes her to expect more from herself and is willing to help her achieve it.
There were mysteries and events from their pasts that were slowly revealed as the story went on keeping me engaged and intrigued. I knew there had to something more lurking under the surface of both of their lives. There were interesting twists and painful secrets that were exposed.
They were both broken down and were trying to rebuild their lives and start over. The events from their past had changed their lives and caused trust issues, guilt, and pain. They both needed support, acceptance, and understanding to even begin to move on. But opening up old wounds and sharing was painful and scary. Secrets were kept that had the potential to ruin their fragile bond and hope for a future.
This was an emotional and somewhat dark-ish read, but also had sweetness, romance and was inspirational. Lacey was such a strong heroine despite all the she faced. And Everett was such a warm, lovable guy. My heart broke for both of them at times. It was told mostly in Lacey's point of view with a few chapters in Everett's point of view. I was so excited to get into Everett's head.
This was a story of survival, strength, love, and redemption. It dealt with some rough topics. But it had enough romance and humor to help balance out some of the harsher subjects.
I was not sure how I was going to like it in the beginning since it started out pretty negative, but I got more and more interested as it went on and became more positive. The writing style was raw and interesting. There were a few inconsistencies and sometimes it seemed like there was just a lot of angst and drama going on at once. But I found myself flipping pages to see how it was all going to turn out.
She made it easy to like most of the characters and really dislike the ones that we were supposed to. And there quite a few characters that I did really despise and wanted to see get their due. There were also some side characters that made me smile like his friend Trent and Cole her friend Clare, and her boss Andrew. They have potential for more stories.
Thanks to Sara Hawkes and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review
Lacey is trapped. Living in a trailer with her mom, grandma, and 4 year old brother, she works two jobs and still can’t seem to find the money or opportunity to get out on her own.
Everett appears at a time when Lacey is reaching her bottom. He seemed to be everything Lacey was not looking for but needed. Their relationship began slowly as friends, with Everett helping Lacey overcome one of her personal challenges. And went from there, until Lacey begins to suspect that Everett is hiding something big.
Watching Lacey’s life change was hard. Every time things started to look up for her, something else popped up in front of her to add to the challenges. In a small town, trying to move beyond her reputation and past would be enough of a challenge for anyone. But Lacey also faced challenges added by her family, her job, and an ex who won’t let her go. It almost felt like she had too many things to work through to make this believable. Not that real situations might look like this, but that the speed at which all her problems are solved over the course of a couple months, despite taking years to reach where she was at the beginning. It was easy to feel sympathy for her plight and to root for her successes along the way.
The characters that find their way into Lacey’s life beyond those who are out to hurt her captivated me early. I instantly liked Everett, but wondered what really brought him to town. It seemed from early on that he was hiding something, but I really had no idea what it was. His connection to Trent, who had gone to high school with Lacey also raised my suspicions. For as horrible as Lacey described her high school experiences, I expected Trent to have an immediate reaction to meeting her again. I also liked when Claire and Cherise inserted themselves into Lacey’s life. It seemed like no one had ever stood up for her in the past, so watching new friends finally have her back was one of the first glimpses of hope that her past wouldn’t always follow her.
This is a story filled with emotional turmoil, developing relationships (not just the romantic one), and the journey of a girl learning to rely on the people around her for help. There were threads that started connecting quickly, and others took much of the plot to complete. The mix of quick fixes and longer resolution was well developed and made for a dynamic read.
Thanks to Sara Hawkes and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review
Sara Fawkes has always loved spinning tales, but her romantic roots come from sneaking her mother's old Johanna Lindsay books from the dresser drawer. She's been writing stories since she was a little girl (and has the home made books from preschool to prove it), and loves creating stories and characters and interesting messes for them to get into. An avid traveler and adventure motorcyclist, her dream job includes selling everything off and leaving civilization to see the world on two wheels, writing in cafes in each country she visits, and living off her writing. In the meantime however, she lives in California with her menagerie of pets and, when not writing, loves to rebuild old motorcycles/cars with her Dude and plays with the characters in her head. You can find her online talking about whatever strikes her fancy at: http://www.sara-fawkes.com
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