REVIEW: BREATHE BY KRISTEN ASHLEY

When the local police department's secrets are revealed and the wife he's forced to marry is murdered, Chace finds himself the town of Carnal's hero. Knowing how deep in the mud he was forced to sink, Chace feels he'll never get clean. The quiet, content future he envisioned of the love a good woman with whom he could build a family was now beyond his reach. The only thing he can do is find his wife's murderer.

But he isn't the only one looking.

While searching for new leads, he runs into Faye Goodknight, the town's quiet, shy, pretty librarian. Chace has long since had his eye on what could possibly be the town's last remaining virgin but he has also long since given up hope he could make her his. Faye is pure and clean and Chace refuses to dirty her with his sordid past.Pure and clean Faye may be, but when the shy librarian is forced to go head to head with the man who she's had a crush on since he hit her hometown, Chace finds Faye is full of surprises. And he doesn't know what to do with her.

Kindle Edition, 554 pages

Published July 22nd 2012 by Kristen Ashley

Source: Purchased

Purchase: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Our Review---
Not sure I've run into this heroine in Kristen Ashley's book before--a shy, librarian, virgin?!!! It totally works....especially with Chace Keaton as her Alpha Male. Because here's the thing...Faye may be shy but she's certainly not dumb, not a push over, and not unwilling to speak her mind. She's also kind, loyal, and has the inner toughness of a gladiator. Good thing, too, because Chase is still dealing with some ugliness hanging over from the murder of his wife. He's a fantastic match for her because as badass as he is, he's also gentle, straightforward, and humble...with a healthy dose of bossy badass mixed in. 

I am glad that we can describe him this way, because at first I was calling him a grade-a dick. Though, my current name of choice is vagina instead of dick because it sounds much more satisfying to me...hahaha. Anyways, I was back on Team Chase asafp when we meet him in the middle of the night clearly not dealing well with his wife's murder--no matter how much he may not have wanted her to be his wife. True to alpha male fashion it was a slap in the face to him, so while he hurt: I was glad he showed that so I could like him again.

So in no defined order here are the things I love about this particular Kristen Ashley book:

1. Wookiepedia. That freakin' cracks me up. The entire conversation that goes with that term had me shaking the mattress with laughter--at 1:30 AM (sorry, honey!). That shit was hilarious. Exhibit A of why I connected so well with Faye. The books. The shows. The internet. She is classic. 

2. Serenity...and Benji...that entire thing is a beautiful, beautiful addition to this novel and ...well...you'll see! It is a great addition. And well you know how I feel about my online friends. (aka: You, Shel) So you can see why would appreciate this part a lot.

3. The conversations between Deck and Chace...they have a bromance that is amazeballs. And then the other bro conversations about the men and their women. I especially loved when Silas came to see Chace...awesomeness and handled so well! Deck. Those scenes made me so excited + hopeful we would read about Deck...and we did. Kaleidoscope y'all. 

4. Faye is a librarian..a FREAKIN' librarian..how cool is that? It's way cool. And the way the town adores and supports Faye...ah-mazing. Awww. I <3 Faye.

5. Family. Faye has a great one, Chace has a difficult one. Together they have the Carnal family and the way all of the families pull together makes me want to move to a tiny Colorado town and inhabit the warmth and love that small town living provides (at least in Kristen Ashley books). Solidified my love for the word Posse, y'all.

6. The conversation about doing right or righting a wrong...and how Faye goes about doing that for multiple wrongs, in multiple ways (as does Chace..but really Faye steals the show) She does. How she sees life is epic. We all need to be more like Faye. #Truth

7. The conversation, at the end, about knights and their armor. Sigh. ...that was a good one. And I'll pause here to say that I actually stopped after reading it, put down my Kindle, stared out the window and my mind roamed over these things: Kristen Ashley has got to be the best person in the entire world, with the biggest heart, and the best family because she always just knows...JUST KNOWS the right way to put things. Then I thought ... Kristen Ashley is a national treasure and if someone doesn't write a book about her and her writing and her upbringing it would be criminal. Then I thought...Kristen Ashley is probably so humble that she'd refuse to do it but the world needs to know more about her. Then lastly I thought about the strength of Faye (and really all of the Kristen Ashley female protagonists) and how wise they all are...and all of that comes from Kristen FREAKIN' Ashley's brain. I have a major crush on her..MAJOR. Yep. Major. In addition, I think it is an atrocity that we do not have a Rock Chick/Hot Bunch or Colorado Mountain Man series yet on TV. Major slight, in my opinion, because well...every show can't be about bondage. --- I love your words up there, Shel. KA deserves all of that praise, and more. She seems so nice.

8. Faye's mulling over Twyla's mullet...and her thoughts on always having room for more in the girl posse...AMEN, Faye, amen. See, girl posse. Love it.

9. The epilogue. Once again it rocks. It always does.

10. The promise of Decker and his book. Cannot wait to find time to work my way up to that one. :) 

11. I almost forgot! Frak!!! LOL that word just makes me giggle ..and I really don't giggle. I have been putting this word into use in my vocabulary, as well as "whack" and "throwing sass". KA lingo is taking over my brain.

So there you have it...just a few of the reasons I loved Breathe. Whatcha thinkin' Courtney? I broke the rules and put it up there. So, there you have it. Chase and Faye were classic Kristen Ashley with the alpha male-ness of Chase and the strong heroine of Faye...but they were special to me in a very big way. Loved them. A KA original.

Also, if you don't listen to the song Holding Out for a Hero like KA tells you to a million times while reading this, you don't have a heart. j/k j/k

And not to be spoilery we have been very vague about the meat of this book...but let me tell you....IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND! The end was awesome! 

Shelley: 5 Stars (really? do you even have to ask?!!!)
Courtney: 5 Stars 

Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, and has lived in Denver, Colorado, and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.

Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multigenerational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew up listening to the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon, and Whitesnake.

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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