New Release & Review - I Breathe You by Lori L. Clark

I Breathe You by Lori L. Clark 

Synopsis:

When a tragic accident leaves Rhane Evans -- lead vocalist for the rock band Fate's Crazy -- permanently unable to speak above a whisper and kills the love of her life, she moves across the state to pick up the pieces. Shattered, Rhane struggles to understand what happened the night of the accident, an accident everyone blames her for, even though she wasn't driving the car.

Enter Ian Callahan. He's the one person who may have a more tumultuous past than Rhane. Though they try hard to deny the sizzling attraction between them, it proves nearly impossible. When Ian's troubled past threatens to tear them apart, they begin to believe happiness isn't in their cards.

Because Fate's Crazy that way...

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17858320-i-breathe-you?ac=1

AUTHOR BIO

I read, I write, I run 1/2 marathons for fun. Ten things about me:

1. I'm an only child.
2. I love dogs!
3. I was born in Iowa City, Iowa and lived in Iowa my whole life until January 2007.
4. I worked as a professional psychic reader for 2 years.
5. I'm a Pisces Sun, Leo Moon with Aquarius rising.
6. I've written 5 books and am in the process of brainstorming a 6th.
7. I don't look or act my age!
8. I ran my first 1/2 marathon at age 50.
9. I love 80's hair band music.
10. My day job is as a claims payment analyst for one of Fortune 500 Magazine's "Top 100 places in America to work."

Author links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Jewelz' Review~

Rhayne Evans is the lead singer and lyricist of the up-and-coming band 'Fate's Crazy'. She and her band mates are sitting on top of the world when that world is turned upside down. Following the car accident that leaves her band mate & boyfriend dead, and her with no voice, Rhayne struggles to piece her life back together and find her purpose now that she can no longer sing.

Ian Callahan is hired by Rhayne's uncle to remodel the home she inherited from her grandmother. Their physical attraction is immediate, but Ian carries baggage from his past too.

In true New Adult style, I Breathe You is a love story that is rooted in angst and drama. Both Rhayne & Ian have very real issues they have to deal with - issues that if not resolved could destroy their relationship before it even has the chance to really begin.

I appreciated the complexity of Rhayne's character. In some ways she's simply a spoiled little rich kid running around with a chip on her shoulder, but that's only on the surface. She has some serious issues she has to work through, some of her own making. 

Ian is a sweet guy that's had a long run of bad luck it seems. He's a good example of bad stuff happening to good people and that sometimes our choices have consequences we never would have expected. I love his happy attitude and his tenacity - he doesn't give up easily at all.

While overall I was pleased with the book, I would have liked for more time to have been spent on developing the relationship between Rhayne & Ian. It's almost solely based on their mutual physical attraction and lacks the depth that I expected - especially given the title. There is so much wonderful  development of their individual characteristics that I felt a bit cheated that their relationship didn't have more depth. Given both of their past experiences, I would have liked to have seen them rely on one another to get through their struggles rather than push each other away. I wanted to experience that type of love when people say "you are the air I breathe" - that near-literal life-sustaining love. I suppose they had that type of love, but it was because of their physical attraction rather than a strong emotional and psychological bond. 

FYI: contains strong language, violence, and open-door sex

Honest Disclosure: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for my honest review.