Review: Breathe by Kristen Ashley

… He bent his head towards hers and whispered, “Breathe, Faye.”

Breathe, by Kristen Ashley (Colorado Mountain #4), left me breathless, (get it? bad pun, I know) like pretty much every Kristen Ashley book I have read. It’s no secret. I’m a HUGE fan. Her books have ruined me for many others. They are the perfect blend of alpha male, romance, love, action, suspense, heartbreak, hot-guys, friendship, tears, love, family, details, awesome sex, laughs, and AMAZING epilogues.

Breathe was no exception. I absolutely loved it. But I will say, in some ways it wasn’t my favorite. The reason? I read Lady Luck (Colorado Mountain #3) back at the beginning of December, 2011. Ladies, I am 45 with 2 kids. I have killed brain cells like crazy (before I became a mommy) and my memory is shot. I have read about 120 books since I read Lady Luck. I did not remember many of the details that would have made this book more enjoyable to me. Before I blogged, I would re-read the last in a series before I read the new installment, I didn’t here, but I wish I did. I do not recommend reading this if you haven’t read the others. If you have, and remember them, this is a 5+++++++++++++++ star rating. Even without remembering, I give it a 5 (4 at the beginning, 5+ at the end).

Chace Keaton was a hero to the town of Carnal. The events from Lady Luck come in here: He exposed his dirty police department by working with internal affairs. But he was forced to marry the town whore, Misty, to cover up his dad’s kinky sex tape and protect his mom. After 6 years in a marriage with a woman he hated, she was “face raped” and murdered, unsolved. He feels responsible and hates himself.

Begin Breathe: Lovely 29 year old librarian, Faye, is hiking in the woods and comes across Chace at the site of his wife’s murder. Faye fell in love with Chace from afar when she was 16, she went away to college, got her masters, and was “holding out for a hero”, even when Chase was married to Misty, and treated her like the garbage she was. Faye is always reading, (even in the grocery store–I do that too) and reads a lot of romance. It seems Chace was always her tortured hero. Chace was a typical Kristen Ashley “alphahole” at first, even telling Faye to get her “fat ass” out of there, despite the fact that he used to crush on her too, before his life turned to shit. Chace does apologize, then gets scared, and “alphaholes” her again. But he becomes swoon-a-licious really quickly after.

While Faye might be a dreamer, she’s got a backbone, her family (especially her dad Silas) is awesome and she grew up in a loving, supportive home. Chace had a mentally disturbed mother and a total shit father, despite (or because) they were wealthy. Faye was Chace’s angel, and he was her hero. They were AWESOME together. How do they get together? A young boy, clearly a runaway and homeless, clearly beaten, has been sneaking books out of the library. Faye wants to help him but he runs away. She is the kind of person who does something, so she goes to the police. Chace intervenes, and they together embark on a quest to help the boy.

The story very much revolved around this boy and it was heartbreaking and beautiful to read. Faye was such a GREAT heroine. While shy, she was so strong, and hysterically funny with her geeky references and the word “frak”. I’m not into Battlestar Galactica or any of the other geeky shows (though I do love Star Trek The Next Generation) so even though I didn’t get a lot of the references I still found them funny as hell.

Kristen’s guys are ALL swoonworthy. Chace is absolutely amazing, protective, old fashioned (I like that, so sue me), and most importantly, they know what they have and appreciate every little thing about their woman. Faye, at 29 was still a virgin, as I said, she was holding out for a hero (I recommend you download this song here, you will want to hear it, as it is integral to the book)

iTunes: Holding Out For A Hero by Ella Mae Bowen

I also suggest you download this:

iTunes: Drift Away by Dobie Gray

Chace was so gentle and patient and romantic and loving, yet the sex was often and very hot.

“Faye, darlin’, I want you to hear this and get it, what you just gave me was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever been given in…my…life…With me, anytime, anywhere, you’re safe. But of the anytime and anyplace you’re with me, the place you’re safest is right here, in my bed…You can react how you want. You can be who you are. If I’m doin’ something you don’t like, you can stop me. Nothin’ will ever happen in this bed that you’ll be uncomfortable with. I swear to you, baby. You’re safe here and you always will be.” –Chase

“You in my life, me livin’ in hell, feels like I’ve been touched by an angel.” – Chase

“A taste of sweet. The touch of an angel. A trace of a miracle” – Chase

There is a quote at 17% in that is just totally amazing, but long, and I don’t want to spoil it.

“He’s a white knight on a fiery steed except his steed comes in the form of an SUV and it’s not fiery. It’s burgundy.” –Faye

“Twenty-nine years, I held out for this. Then, half an hour later, you proved every one of these words true and every moment since then, you kept doing it. I’ll take you thinking I’m your angel but you need to know you’re my hero. Twenty-nine, honey, I held out for this. Twenty-nine years, I held out for you.” -Faye

“It was wild. Abandoned. Rough. Wet. Intense. Fiery. Thorough. Exquisite. Heart-Pounding. Blood Singing. Soul-rocking. Life Altering. Luscious.” Faye, describing a kiss! (and me, describing all of Kristen Ashley’s books)

All of our favorite couples and characters from the rest of the series make appearances here, and Twyla was hysterical. And Tate & Ty totally still rock my world.

Likes:

-Chace grew tremendously throughout the book.
-Chace totally appreciating what he had.
-Faye and her family. Especially Silas.
-Revisiting all of the characters from other books, with some amazing scenes with them.
-A totally kick-ass epilogue.
-Good sex, often.
-Good tears. I had to stop reading a bunch of times because I cried so hard. But they were the good kind of tears.
-I laughed. A lot.
-Malachi. I loved him.

Dislikes:

-I felt like the old case was too much a part of this book. I wasn’t able to follow that part very well, but was still able to enjoy the rest.
-References to shows I don’t watch and books I hadn’t read, like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (which I will now purchase and read to my son). Again, it would have been better to understand some of the references, but I still enjoyed.

Rating: 5 stars, 4.25 for Heat. (Hot but vanilla)

Purchase Breathe by Kristen Ashley:

Amazon || BN.com || iBooks

I laughed, I cried, I loved, I freaked. I had to tell myself to just…..Breathe. While I had a little more trouble getting into it because I struggled to remember the details of Lady Luck, I fell in love with the characters immediately and couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it, but suggest you read the series in order. Here it is:

Colorado Mountain Series reading order

Related Posts: