Kerry Heavens on Rachel Brookes' Just Breathe

When Kerry Heavens, author of Just Human  asked if she could post a review of Rachel Brookes' Just Breathe  our blog we jumped at the chance...freaked out more like! We absolutely adore BOTH of these authors. Kerry promised she'd make the post special and she didn't disappoint. Kerry has given us an exclusive first to share with you all, which we love!! Enjoy...

Hi!

I'm Kerry. I was recently asked to write a guest post for a blog and I knew immediately that I wanted to write about fellow indie author Rachel Brookes' debut novel Just Breathe.  Unfortunately, due to a slight misunderstanding, I ended up writing a different post for that blog. Then I was left with this post I had done for Rachel, that I really wanted to post somewhere. So I asked the lovely girls here at MakeMyDayBooks if they would mind posting it here. They were only too happy to oblige.

Now, I know they have already reviewed this book here, so I promised something a little different. I have made a trailer for Just Breathe  and this is the first place it is being shown. Not even Rachel herself has seen it until this moment...so Rachel, this is for you...I hope you like it!

To view Just Breathe trailer click here

My Review
Ok, I need to start by saying that Rachel is a very good friend of mine. We met on Twitter and quickly began sharing our experience of first time self-publishing. It has been wonderful to have someone to share my journey with and we both released in the same month, so she has been right there with me through it all. I now have another writer to bounce ideas off, send passages to, and make difficult decisions with. I love her!

So naturally, I loved Just Breathe… but not for any of those reasons. In fact I was afraid to read it at first, as I'm sure she was with mine, because I didn’t want it to come between us if it sucked. I was so relieved to return from my holiday and be able to send a really long gushy email to Rachel saying that she had better give me more Tate Conners, like yesterday!

The reason I loved Just Breathe  was the characters.

Sav is the sassy, bright Aussie girl, relocating to LA to try and leave her life and all of its sadness behind her. She has had it tough, no question, and this has led to some questionable conduct which concerns the people or rather person who cares for her most. I won’t give it all away, but I will say that if Sav was my friend, I would have an inappropriate crush on her father figure! Anyway, Sav is the kind of girl I like. She isn’t a weak woman and I love the fire in her. She has her flaws, but then don’t we all? She carries some serious scars from early in her life and this has left her adamant about keeping all men at arms-length to protect her fragile heart. But she isn’t sad about it, she is a grab life with both hands kind of girl and I found her very likeable.

Now, Tate…Tate Connors…*Sigh*

Rachel achieved something really special with Tate. She calls it the Tate Connors effect and I think she has hit the nail straight on the head! From the very first time Sav lays eyes on him, you can feel his magnetism. He is a player by design. Like Sav, his battle scars have shaped his attitude to women and life. He plays hard and loves the game. But beneath the cool exterior, lucky for us is something just wonderful.

As first meetings go, theirs left an impression on me. Something about his cockiness just made me love him on the spot. I love that self-assured arrogance…and the way he practically marked her with his breath on her neck…ugh! YES PLEASE!

Here is the excerpt, don’t worry it’s not a spoiler, it’s from right at the beginning.

‘His intense eyes didn’t leave me as he leaned down toward me. I watched his lips closely as they made their way toward me in all of their pink and pouty glory, that bottom lip…god, I’d love to bite it. I took a deep breath as I felt his breath on my ear. “I’ll be seeing you,” he murmured in a voice that was deep, gravelly and intoxicating. The feeling of promise lingering in his words excited every inch of my now highly responsive body.’

It just made me go weak at the knees reading it again! I’d be happy to share a lift with that boy anytime!

The supporting characters and the relationships felt very real to me. I think Rachel has done a great job building Sav and Tate a world together. Special mention goes to Mr. Davenport…you’ll see!

I won’t spoil any more for you, but I will say, read it. The characters are lovable and their story is touching in places and hot in others. The road may not be all smooth sailing ahead of them, but I know they will get there.

Being the author’s ‘partner-in-crime’ does have huge benefits. I have been lucky enough to read some of the upcoming story and I can tell you, Tate’s head is an interesting place to be and being there only made me love him more. Just a minute ago, I received yet another exciting email from Rachel with 30 more pages filled with Tate Conners. I am a very lucky girl...so now, if you don't mind...I must go!

Kerry x

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