Every Breath by Tasha Ivey ~ Review

 

*Synopsis*

**Contains mild language, adult situations, and sexual content. Mature audiences only.**

How does someone give their heart away when they don't have all of the pieces?

Not that Makenna really wants a second chance at love anyway. She is stuck in her tragic past, secretly living every day for her deceased fiancé, while her new boyfriend, Drew, is gently nudging her into the present.

Desperate to appear normal again, she slaps on a happy face and goes through the motions of a normal, healthy relationship--but with the exception of even a single kiss. And she's okay with pretending, but Drew needs more than she is willing to give.

Surprisingly, it's an innocent letter from a soldier halfway around the world that has her seeing life differently. Sawyer is at his breaking point, and his depression sucks him in deeper every day. Makenna becomes his only lifeline to home, and he's hanging on by a very weak thread.

By helping him, Makenna learns to let go of grief before she's left with only a ghost of the woman she once was, finally freeing her from guilt and showing her that it is possible to love again. But when she discovers that both of the men in her life are hiding something, she makes two shocking revelations.
One of them is insanely in love with her, is she willing to face her own demons to fight for it?


*Review*

Every Breath by Tasha Ivey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*4.5 STARS*

"I am broken. Broken and shattered into so many pieces, I don't know if there is anyone who could ever put my heart completely back together."

This book was so unexpected. Just when I though I had it figured out it turned into something else. I was able to figure some things out but there were others where I asked myself, "Whoa, where did that come from?"

Makenna is existing she is not fully living. She goes through the motions but is not willing to give love a try again. She lost her heart when her fiancé died. He was perfect for her and she feels she will never find that again.

"He was going to be my only one. Until he was ripped away from me. My forever disintegrated in a matter of minutes."

With the encouragement of her best friend, Callie, she decides to give Drew a chance and "date" him. I'm not sure if date is the correct word for what they were doing in the beginning, seeing as they hadn't even kissed for four months. Drew obviously wanted more, but Makenna was terrified of allowing it to happen. The thought even repulsed her times.

Makenna and her second grade class received correspondence from a soldier, Sawyer Harris, still at war. Makenna and Sawyer started sending emails and video chatting back and forth, developing a friendship that they both desperately need at that moment. Makenna feels comfortable talking to Sawyer about things that she has not discussed to ANYONE since her fiancé died. Sawyer's tour is almost done and they had planned to continue their friendship once he is back stateside. When Makenna's house gets mysteriously vandalized she is forced to make decisions that ultimately turn her world upside down. But with the help of the right person, the pieces of her heart start to fall back in place.

"Sometimes, it takes someone else to show you that you won't heal until every breath you take is for you, not anyone else.

The scars may not ever fade, but the heart can be put back together piece by piece, if you have the right person for the job."

This story was heartfelt and emotional. Although, Makenna is broken she tends to rationalize through her issues which I liked. The pace in the beginning of the story was bit slow for me but once it picked up it reeeeally picked up and I really enjoyed the story. So much so, that I had a hard time putting it down. I just needed to know what was going to happen next. Tasha Ivey does such a an amazing job with the twist and turns in this story. She keeps you on your toes while reading. Some things I could kind of see and others just completely blindsided me. In the end I appreciated the fact that it sort of came back full circle.

A favorite quote:
"I could kiss you every second of my life and it wouldn't be enough."



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*About the Author*

Tasha Ivey is a literature fanatic, whose love for the written word fostered her development into the writers she has become. A lover of an extremely erratic mixture of literature, she has been influenced by authors from Jane Austen and E.M. Forster to Charlaine Harris and Alyson Noel. But her biggest influence and literary hero? Nicholas Sparks. Aside from writing since she doesn't have anything other than a shriveled up prune on her left side of her brain, she prefers to spend her time being creative in other ways like painting, cake decorating, and various types of crafts. That is, if the constant voices streaming through her head allow her to stop making up stories for a while. Lucky for her, she has a huge supportive family, including her amazing husband and two kids, who doesn't complain too much when she hangs out with her characters more than she does with them. Sophie, the dog, however...she does complain. A lot.

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*Buy it!*

Every breath is on sale through 8/10 in celebration of Tasha's birthday week! (Click on the image to purchase the book from Amazon)