Allison ❤️Will Never Conquer Her TBR❤️'s Reviews > The Air He Breathes

4 "Big, fat, giant TICK!" Stars!

Sometimes the hardest part of existing without your love ones was remembering how to breathe.

The Air He Breathes is a first Brittainy C Cherry book for me. I'll admit the book buzz was contagious and I pretty much dropped everything to read this. Problem with buzz books for me is they tend to give me a false high expectation. Because of that, I forced myself to read very few reviews...but I don't live under a rock. This book was everywhere on social media- well deserved, I might add. With that being said...







I love the premise of a book with two protagonists suffering a major loss. Nothing produces insta-angst like that. But Ms Cherry captured my heart with a little five-year old spit-fire more than anything else. Elizabeth is a single mother, a widow, trying to get through her grief one step at a time. When taking off to live with her mother gets stale, she decides to move back to her home, a small town filled with gossip mongers and a house filled with memories...and a lawn grown up to her knees. What she didn't bank on is hitting a man's Golden Retriever just as she entered town. A man that was clearly jogging...barefoot. And he's not too happy. How is this her fault?



From the very beginning, we were gifted with a fantastic banter between a clearly assholish disgruntled hero and a sweet heroine that still has a backbone to defend herself. He too is suffering from the loss of both his wife and child and chooses to be a grade-A dick because, quite frankly he doesn't deserve anyone's sympathy or compassion. At least that's what he tells himself. Keep the walls up and the sympathizers at bay so he can wallow alone. So he chooses to withdraw from townsfolk by being the town asshole. Something about Tristan Cole drew Elizabeth to him. Yes, his bark was pretty ferocious but she didn't sway from getting under his tough exterior. Couple that with her adorable daughter Emma, and Tristan doesn't stand a chance.







Nothing I love more in a love story than that angsty tug of war from within. Of two people fighting their attractions for whatever reasons. So when the two MCs decide to take their release within each other, it was fantastic and steaming!








I could seriously highlight 90% of this book. It's simply very beautiful and I actually took quite a bit away from some of the philosophical quotes within this novel.








Yes, sometimes I found myself thinking, "What guy really talks like this?" The sap factor was high but my heart swooned nonetheless. Sometimes we like alpha tough brooding heroes, but Tristan is more the damaged "bark is worse than his bite" sympathetic-type character. Secondary characters almost stole the show for me. Her daughter Emma, her best friend Faye, the town "weirdo" Mr. Henson all added that extra bulk to the story. Set in dual POVs (my favorite) we get clear picture of Lizzy and Tristan's grief and ensuing feelings for each other.



The first 80% of the book was clearly a five-star read for me. Then things started to deteriorate a bit. I have very little tolerance for immature drama (which is why I don't read much NA- but these MCs are in their early thirties). Drama I can take if it fits the character and the author stays true to that but with these two, revelations occur and they appeared to turn into two different people. Immature, selfish and heartless to a little girl who's endured enough. I also wasn't entirely in love with the whole suspenseful plot device towards the end. It just was a bit far-fetched and changed the whole tone of the book for me. But overall, I enjoyed this book and I look forward to more from Ms Cherry.