Fractions of seconds can do lots of damage. One decision can ruin lives. A blink can be tragic. And loving a Hollister…can hurt like hell.I would know.They say the average person can hold their breath under water for two full minutes when pushed to the extremes. Will Hollister has been holding his for years. The oldest of two elite swimming brothers, Will was always a dominant force in the water. … force in the water. But in life, he preferred to let his younger brother Evan be the one to shine.
Evan got the girl, and Will…he got to bury all of the secrets. A brother’s burden, the weight of it all nearly left him to drown.
The daughter of two Olympians, my path was set the day my fingertips first touched water. My future was as crystal clear as the lane I dominated in the pool—swim hard, win big, love a Hollister.
My life with Evan burned bright. He gave me arms to come home to, and a smile that fooled the world into believing everything was perfect. But it was Will who pushed me. Will…who really knew me.
And when all of the pieces fell, it was Will who started to pick them up.
In the end, the only thing that matters are those few precious seconds—and what we decide to do while we still have them in our grasp.
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Another engaging book by this author. I really like how she weaves the story to create a deeper meaning in her books than just whats on the surface. The drama is great, the suspense and uniqueness of characters are wonderful, and the overall story of heartbreak, rising above the tide, and redemption is what kept me flipping the pages.
‘Hold My Breath’ is not my first Ginger Scott book but it is definitely one of my favorites. I love Ginger Scott’s style and she is one of the authors that I read without even checking the synopsis or reviews. I love how emotionally well balanced her stories are and how strong are the characters she created. I will do my best to write a review that won’t spoil the book for you.
The story is about two swimmers, Will Hollister and Maddy Woodsen, who are training for US Olympic team. Maddy’s parents are both Olympic swimmers. Her dad owns a swimming club. Since childhood Maddy, Will and Evan (Will’s brother) trained together. Will is a talented swimmer but all his life he was over shadowed by his brother Evan. Four years ago, Will and his family had a tragic accident, their plane crashed and Will was the only survivor. Since the accident, Will was drowning in his sorrows, spiraling around and he had another accident, which became his wake up call. He decided to train with Maddy’s dad in order to get in to US Olympic team. He knew it won’t be easy for him or Maddy because of all the pain their past has caused.
Since the accident Maddy wasn’t the same. She was alive but she wasn’t really living her life, she was just going through the motions, just existed. But everything started to change when Will came back to her life. At first, they both wanted to stay away from each other but they couldn’t manage it. Their feeling for each other was really strong. They push each other hard to help one another to become better in and out of the pool. I love how competitive they are and it is funny and sweet to see how their wagers always worked in a way that put a smile to their faces. I really liked how their relationship evolved from friendship to love. They helped each other to get over the past and ease their pains, they pushed each other so that they are better, and they are always there for each other for support. At some point it was heartbreaking to read the things Will had to endure and I was like ‘Come on that is enough already’ but I was glad at least he had Maddy to ease his pain and support him.
This is a classic Ginger Scott book, you laugh one minute and start crying the next (or was that just me) I love how well developed the characters are. I felt their sorrows and happiness. This story helps you to see the importance of friendship, forgiveness, family and loyalty.
Would I recommend this book: Yes.
Would I re-read this book: Yes.
Would I read future books by this author: Yes.
Feeling like I am a little behind on the Ginger Scott train but I am on board now.
Loved her short Hail Mary in the One More Step and I found this treasure
This books was heartbreaking, beautiful, romantic, and breathtaking
Will is the older of the two Hollister brothers and elite swimmer who survived a family tragedy 4 yrs ago. He was invited back by his childhood coach to train for the Olympic swim trials.
Maddy lost the Hollisters that day too, she was in love with Will’s younger brother Evan.
They just have to figure out how to be near each other. LOVE LOVE LOVE
This was a book that fits its title. You literal take a breath and you don’t breathe normally until the end. Maddy and Will are made perfectly for this story. The dreams for later and moments from the past were enough to bring strong emotions while reading this book.
Survive ,live, love
Wow.
I did not want this book to end. I fell so in love with Will. And loved Maddy just as much !!
Maddy is an elite swimmer training to make it to the olympics. Her dad is her coach as he and her mum were also Olympic swimmers In their youth .
In her childhood and early swimming days there were 2 brothers that she was close with also training hard to become elite swimmers . These boys Will and Even became like family. It was inevitable that she would fall for one of them.
Will is the older of the 2 brothers , he shared a closeness with Maddy during those early years , but when tragedy struck and he lost his whole family in a plane crash and he was the lone surviver he lost himself to his grief and emotional turmoil for 4 years. He didn’t come home and he had so seen Maddy in all that time. His brother and Maddy had been together before the accident and all he wanted was for her to be happy . Facing her grief was going to be too much .
But fate has other ideas. Will returns home to train for one last attempt at the Olympics. To train under Maddy’s dad .
There is so much more to Wills journey, and the depth of who he is as a person is slowly revealed . I won’t say more then that to avoid spoilers . But the more I read the more I loved him .
This is a friends to lovers romance . Their chemistry is strong and their bond even stronger . I loved reading about their childhood memories and the way they relate together and friendly banter is fun and engaging !!!
There’s plenty of moments that turned tear jerkerish and one moment I let the tears fully fall when Maddy helps will realize that although his blood relatives are gone his family is much bigger then he realizes . It just got me .
I most definitely highly recommend this book ! It’s awesome
This was an excellent read. Right off I could feel the heavy emotions of Will and Maddy. The connection between them carried a lot of feelings, but I loved the way they worked through all of them. Maddy was wonderful. Even through all her grief over losing Evan, she still opened up her heart to Will and helped to heal him. I loved seeing snippets of memories they had swimming together and Will’s secrets regarding his brother Evan. Will carried such a heavy weight with him caring for everyone and leaving nothing left for himself. I just fell so hard for these characters. It is an emotional rollercoaster, but damn if I didn’t love every moment spent reading this book.
Ginger Scott writes such a beautiful story of loss, family, and love. You can’t help loving this book. I felt every emotion Will and Maddy went through while reading. I felt it slowly lift with every page. Maddy was such a strong character and she helped to lift the burdens Will carried around. Add in their fight, drive, and determination in the water, and I was done for. Hold My Breath is a brilliant book.
Lord have mercy…the heartache! So much angst right from the beginning. Will just gave me all the feels and I loved every minute of it. He turned into such a remarkable man, despite the difficult path to get there. Poor Maddy was inadvertently in the middle of a mess and she handled the truth with such aplomb. Her acceptance and support of the true Will made all the sad parts worth it.
This was such a captivating story, I fell in love and cried along the way. Hold my Breath will take your breath away. From beginning to end it is phenomenal.
Will had me Holding my breath, what a heart wrenching story with so many twists and turns, Will is just trying to survive after his family is killed in a plane crash. Will gets the chance to try and make a comeback as a Olympic swimmer , he gets to train with his old coach who happens to be the father of Maddy, who he has always had secret feelings for. Maddy has a tragic lose when her boyfriend died in a plane crash with his parents, Evan is Will’s brother. Will is keeping Evan’s secrets and it is weighing him down the only thing keeping him from drowning.
”You’re the only thing that doesn’t make me want to drown.”
Will it has the whole world on his shoulders and yet he is still such a strong genuine guy. I love him and the entire read I was hoping for him to get his Happily Ever After that he so deserved. I loved Will and you just to need to read this book to get all the emotional aspects of a beautiful story.
I’ve loved this book.
Hold My Breath is an emotional read that at the first will break your heart but after a good crying it will heal you and it will put every little piece back together.
Will and Maddy’s story will catch your attention from the beginning and will keep it until you turn the last page.
Will,our Hero,is a great guy who took upon himself everyone else guilts and secrets until he felt like drowning and he understands he should share this weight with the one person he loves more than everything else in the world.
I’ve discovered Ginger Scott works few weeks ago and now I can’t get enough of her beautiful,gut wrenching,thought provoking writing.