I had it all. Truly, I had the perfect life. One filled with happiness and love where the bright smiles of my gorgeous wife and my beautiful daughter greeted me every day. I was a lucky man… darkness…
The moment when I find myself alone again. The pain is real and the emptiness inside me only grows with each passing day.
Time will heal me, they say. But they’ve never lived through the loss I have. They’ve never felt the excruciating pain of what it means to have your heart shattered into a million pieces.
They don’t know the guilt I carry.
Sometimes I wonder why I even bother waking up every morning. But if I let go, I let go of them. And their memory is all I have left.
I know I need to move on. I know it’s time to Just Breathe Again…
The problem is I didn’t know where to start.
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Another gut wrenching story from CA Harms. Dealing with the ultimate, devastating loss of his family, Aaron is a lost soul. Being a shell of his former self and punishing himself by not allowing the chance to move past it, broke my heart. This book hits on every emotion.
Faith is something like a Saint for the challenges she faces in pursuing someone as broken as Aaron. There were a few moments that had me wishing for her to see she couldn’t compete with the memories, but they both managed to overcome that obstacle.
Then we have sweet Granny Rae, who is such a ray of sunshine is this heartbreaking tale. Despite not being blood, she cares for Aaron like he is her own. Overall a good, heart constricting story.
Emotional and hopeful….
I wasn’t sure I was going to see the light as the hero of Just Breathe Again struggled to do just that. He was putting one foot in front of the other but there was no hope…
“…and my pain was just that…mine.”
He’d suffered an unthinkable loss and dealt with it by burying himself in work and a bottle. Relationships were for people who deserved them so he kept himself aloof from his family and everyone around him. I was close to tears a few time as he shared his soul-deep hurt and guilt. It took someone special to jar him out of his rut but that didn’t mean it would be easy…
From start to finish, this was a story full of honest emotion. He was unapologetic about his way of doing things but that didn’t mean those who loved him, didn’t call him on it. Emotions were never far from the surface so it was easy to get close to the characters as they shared them all – anger, sorrow, joy, and forgiveness…
In turn, I want so much to share what went on. From the anger, to the tears to the laughter – all that went into this one sitting read. But, honestly, you will want to experience it for yourself…
*I happily reviewed this story
A beautiful well rounded book
It is every parents nightmare to lose a child, and CA Harms had me in tears as I was reading Aaron’s heartbreak and each episode he had in reliving his loss. I never want to even imagine how hard it would be to carry on with life after going through that trauma.
While the expected ugly cry level of Don’t Be Afraid, didn’t eventuate, I was still caught up in the emotion of Aaron and Faith’s story. He not only broke Faith’s heart but mine as well, and I got to the point where I was as angry and frustrated as she was. I might have gritted out the occasional “don’t be a doormat” at her, but I needed to remember that this was a romance novel, and our heroine was getting some of the hot and hard man that Aaron was.
An aspect that I also loved in this book, was the unconditional love that came in the form of Aaron’s now elderly guardian. Family isn’t always blood-based, and Aaron scraped the bottom of the barrel in the Parental Lottery so badly, that an older lady fell in love with the grubby little kid next door and fought to bring him up. Granny Rae is everything that a parent should be; loving, firm and fair. As a secondary character, she was important, and I wholeheartedly admired her.
It is these aspects that CA Harms puts into her books, creating good reads, and, making her one of my must-read authors. Just Breathe Again was a beautiful well rounded book. 4 Stars.
This book was emotional, it was beautiful, it was about forgiveness and moving on but not forgetting.
It is hard to write this review and put this book into words. Honestly, I didn’t read this blurb and had no idea what to expect when I started this book. It was an emotional rollercoaster that I didn’t want to end. It broke my heart, but put it back together. It was truly a beautiful story.
My heart broke for Aaron and the tragedy he experienced and that he struggled to move on with his life. Faith was unexpected in so many ways, she blew into his life and helped him in more ways than he could have ever realized. They both struggled when it came to their feelings towards one another. Aaron wanted Faith but anytime they become close he instantly felt guilty. Faith wanted Aaron, but the hot and cold feelings she kept getting was too much for her to deal with.
This story is one that I know will stick with me for a while. Just Breathe Again is a MUST READ emotionally beautiful story.
Let me start this by saying CA Harms always writes amazing books. This book was just as amazing but took me longer to read then usual. ** Spoiler free review**
It had a huge effect on me. It broke me, then I was put put back together only yo be broken again.
For me the best supporting Character was Granny Rae and trust me when I say you will understand why once you read this book. No blood between them yet the love that Rae felt for Aaron was that of Mom and son.
Faith was amazing strong and stubborn. She knew who amd what she wanted…..Again as tough as this was for me to read it was worth it
Just Breathe Again, so that is exactly what I did the moment their story ended. It wasn’t until the last page that I realized I had been holding my breath throughout this emotional ride with Aaron and Faith. Faith is exactly what Aaron needed to believe that life was worth going on and to accept that he was worth loving and when he thought there was none, she walked down the stairs and Faith looked him in the eyes. This story was more than emotional and it was one that was full of dips, twists and so many roadblocks. My heart ached and my soul was drowning in the dark at times but it took one woman with a peace about her to bring light, love and healing. I cried, I smiled and I cried a little more but ultimately this beautiful soul-stirring journey between Aaron and Faith captivated me. Their story will wrap its way around you and it will leave you with hope, love and so much faith but essentially it will finally allow you to breathe.