Deprival haunted her… find it in her to turn her back on those who need her: the innocent, whose rescue is her perpetual goal.
He was blind, but now he sees how his family has sifted through his fingers. The reality hits hard when his son becomes a stranger, slipping deeper into transgression. Concern has him call on the one person he fears will see his own failures all too clearly. A woman he’s kept his distance from for his own protection.
What appeared to be an incompatible pairing, turns out the unyielding bond needed to heal them all.
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Freya Barker has done it again. She has woven a rich tapestry of words that draws the reader into the world she has created in her Portland, ME series. She wraps up the reader in a cocoon of well-written, tightly plotted words and emotions. Still Air is the last book in this series and she appears to have saved the enigmas for last. Both Pam and Dino have been supporting and supportive characters in the first three books, but their story is both heart wrenching and surprising.
Pam has always held her cards close to her vest. She has always been there for the women of Portland, supporting and protecting them, when she herself was never given those things. Her backstory is rich in heritage and heartache. The loss she has suffered is life altering and touches the reader to their very soul. She is a strong woman but while she’s been caring for everyone else, she’s not let anyone take care of her.
Dino, on the other hand, has had his hands full with his wife, her addiction, and her ultimate desertion, while trying to keep his children’s lives on an even keel. After his wife leaves, Dino finds out all of the damage that she and her addiction has done, mostly to their son, Jonas. Dino struggles with being a single parent and is blindsided by the actions of his son. Keeping his eye on Jonas, allows his young daughter to begin to slip away also.
Pam and Dino have had an apparent love/hate relationship in the previous books. When Pam finds Jonas in the midst of a gang related crime, she realizes she must tell the boy’s father. Ultimately, the couple realizes that their previous animosity toward each other was simply a case of chemistry that they both denied. Their journey together is full of loss, pain, passion, and love. Lucky for them they have an amazing group of friends that are truly more like family to support them.
While Pam struggles with a tremendous loss, Dino seeks to find a balance between his children and the woman who holds his heart. These characters may be the most passionate couple in the Portland, ME series. They may be older and wiser, but the fire they spark in each other all consuming. They are loving, sensual, and sizzling. Ms. Barker writes her characters from the heart. Her books are character driven and full emotion and love. While I’m sad that this is the last book in this series, I’m sure there are more great stories to come from Ms. Barker in the future.
Favorite Quotes:
Kissing this man is a full body experience, with every one of my senses fully engaged. Except perhaps my common sense.
Seventeen years old, and his eyes are eagle sharp. This boy is an old soul and he has exposed the sum of my existence in just a few words.
I sound like Tweetie Bird on helium, my tight voice is pitched so high.
My Review:
The goddess of words has obviously blessed Freya Barker. Her latest work was just another stellar addition to her impressive list of equally superb and thoughtful tour de force genius. The writing was engrossing and I remained totally engaged throughout. I always adore and relish her unusual and endearing characters, as they are relevant and identifiable people that work hard for a living and don’t have chiseled abs, or a model’s beauty. Instead, they are trying to make the best of it while struggling with real-world issues, make unwitting mistakes, swear like sailors, banter and tease each other like teenagers, and try to keep their families and friends from going off the deep end. The protagonists in this tale seemed to have been cursed as they were repeatedly staggered by one devastating family issue and disruption after another. Their lives are in near constant upheaval and are dealing with life altering events, turmoil, and chaos, while also in the midst of a blossoming yet unlikely romance. I delighted in the deep sense of ease, trust, friendship and camaraderie in this diverse group of friends. I covet their relationships and wish I could join their tight unit, however, I fear I do not have the fortitude to pass their typical initiation.
So far, the Portland series has featured 3 women who are strength personified after struggling through devastating events in their life without support of family or friends (mostly by their own choice through non-disclosure). Each one has had to learn to trust those who care about them with their secrets and have found some pretty swoonworthy men to help share and ease their burden. A huge part of each woman’s healing has been a supporting character named Pam, the chief counselor and women’s champion at Florence House, the local shelter for female domestic violence and abuse victims. Now in Still Air, it is Pam’s turn to reveal her history and embrace her own opportunity to heal.
Pam has been taking care of others for so long that it is second nature to her, but she has no one in her life to take care of her. Of course she would have her friends believe that she doesn’t need looking after, but the weight of her secrets and the constant stream of vile human behavior she is exposed to is starting to crush her spirit. There is one man in their circle who has the uncanny ability to see right through her defenses, so fear and self preservation demand that she throw him serious amounts of sass and she tries to avoid his presence whenever possible much to the all-knowing amusement of those who are closest to her. Pretty ironic for a woman that demands the exact opposite behavior in those she counsels, no?
Dino is the gentle giant who rules the kitchen at Gunnar’s pub The Skipper and he has also been a wonderful supporting character in the preceding books. He is a man of few words until he believes they are needed; then he stuns the recipient with the accuracy of his succinct observations and insights only to retreat into silence again. His family has been in a state of upheaval recently and it only appears as if it will get worse. His soon to be ex-wife Jeannie is a mess; drug addiction led her to rip apart their family with mistrust and misdeeds, and the repercussions of her actions are still spreading. Dino’s two teenage children are left reeling, and their increasingly concerning attitudes have Dino searching for a way to reconnect with them. Pam seems the most logical option to step in and assist, and despite her misgivings about closer interactions with Dino, it’s not in her nature to allow a child in need to fall through the cracks. It doesn’t stop her from continuing her attempts at keeping him at arms length though which leads to him issuing her an amusing but fairly appropriate nickname as he explains it.
“Was wondering when my biscuit would come out.”
“Your biscuit?”
“A crunchy outside, difficult to butter up, but worth every effort once her full flavor hits your palate.”
And so Biscuit is born!
Now, about that book title. “Still air” implies no movement, peacefulness, tranquility and calm. These characters do eventually reach a point where calm and peace are more the norm, but this is a complex story where the hits just keep on coming with no down time for most of the book. Pam and Dino just keep leaping from one problem to the next in both professional and personal capacities and by the 75% mark I was just as exhausted as they were from the emotional turbulence. When they finally get to a good place and find their still air, it was a sweet relief.
The Portland series has been an intriguing world to visit with some amazing characters and individual personal journeys along the way. I love how real these people are too. You will not find stick figure, perfectly manicured and polished men and women here. Instead you find people who have lived life, been beaten down but get back up, and have physical imperfections like grey hair and soft midsections as they approach or enter middle age that we can relate to.
Pam and Dino played their roles well in the prior books, but I have to admit their pairing was not one that I would have imagined or suspected based on what I read previously. I didn’t dislike them together, but their relationship didn’t evoke the same all encompassing feelings that I experienced in the prior books. I fear that those who read this as a standalone will not have the same appreciation for their individual characters as those who have the benefit of knowledge of their colorful histories and impacts on the other couples in the series. You will be missing out on some really great stories if you skip the other 3 books, so turn it into a win-win and read all four!
This is the book I have been waiting for…. Pam has been such a strong secondary character throughout the entire series. She is strong and fierce, protecting those who she takes under her wing. Putting her heart and soul into the Florence House and its occupants. Determined to help each woman who enters the doors find their way back to loving themselves and finding what they deserve out of life. I always felt that there was so much Pam was keeping hidden under the surface. Boy was I right…
Dino always keeps to himself, just showing up at the Skipper to do his job then goes home to his family. He doesn’t normally share to much with anyone, unless he is giving his advice on the situation, which he has done his fair share. It is like if you step into his kitchen, be prepared to be set straight when you need a little shove in the right direction. Unfortunately the tables have turned this time around and it is Dino that finds himself needing that little shove. This big bear of a man loves with every fiber of his being. His children truly come first in his mind but it would seem that work and life have sort of taken priority in the last little while. Suddenly Dino finds himself not so connected with his family and life at home. With this new light on the situation he is determined to fix that, he just hopes that it is not too late to get that connection back with Jonas and Gina.
As the story unfold, we find Pam once again trying to help and lead those in the right direction. This time it is Dino’s son Jonas that we find her attention on. The more she interacts with Jonas though the more we begin to understand Pam’s story and how she found herself so focused on seeing the right things, being there when she is needed the most, not letting opportunity pass you by as there might not be a second chance to make a difference. This time sharing her true experience is what Pam uses to help get her point across and bring new light into a potentially dark situation.
When Pam is hurting and tries to handle things on her own, she finds herself in a completely new place. Surrounded by family of friends who are determined to stand by her side and help her though this time. Be her strength for a chance. Give back to her what they have all received in spades. It is very difficult for Pam to let them take care of the situation and just let the emotions take over. She hasn’t done that in a very long time.
Freya, you have completely blow me away. With each book that I read, the deep raw emotions that I feel from your characters just gets stronger and stronger. One minute you have me giggling at the cute little antics and the next I can hardly read the pages as the tears are streaming down my face. You have made me feel like I was a member of the Florence house who was watching my best friend struggle and want to do everything I can to help her. To give her back everything she has given to me. You have this way of drawing me into your books, I tend to eat the pages up and forget about everything around me.
Thank you for bring us these wonderful real characters that we can relate to.