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...
Danielle's Review~ 4 of 5 stars
Fate is crazy.
It’s kind of ironic that that’s the first thing I thought of while starting this review.
Rhane Evans seemingly has it all. She is the lead singer of the up and coming band, Fate’s Crazy, along with her boyfriend, Dalton, and their friends Ronnie and Donnie. Fate has a way of stepping in and changing your life when you least expect it.
Six months ago I was on top of the world, living the dream. I was the lead singer for Fate’s Crazy. Living, breathing, being with Dalton. My soul mate. What I’ve become now is a broken twenty-three-year old, barely able to speak above a whisper. An out of work woman mourning the death of the only man I’ve ever loved.
Rhane is blamed for the accident that took Dalton’s life but she can’t remember what happened. All she knows is that Dalton was driving and that she was in the passenger seat. After an extensive hospital stay, which consists of multiple surgeries, Rhane is discharged from the hospital. Her Uncle Thomas, T, takes her under his wing and brings her to her new home where she will live with her “caretaker”, Gwen.
Nightmares of the past haunt Rhane. She’s angry and lost over losing Dalton and bitter over losing her voice that defined her for so long.
Enter Ian Callahan. Ian was hired by T to do some construction work around Rhane’s house. He allows us to see a side of her that I was missing in the beginning of the book. He humanizes Rhane. He makes her laugh, he makes her smile, he makes her FEEL.
With help from T, Gwen, Ian, Emmy, a mother dog and her puppies, and her grandmother’s old piano Rhane's road to healing is still hard but with their support she’s able to face her battles with their support…whether she wants it or not.
I really enjoyed this book however at first I was not a huge fan of Rhane. In the first few chapters to be honest I thought she was a bitch. I really didn't think I'd like her at all and I sort of dreaded reading this BUT once she had several interactions with T, Ian, & little Emmy I felt myself starting to soften towards her.
My only complaint in the end was that there where several questions I still had and a few "loose ends" I wanted tied up. That being said it was a good story.
I was given an ARC for an honest review.
Lara's Review~
Rhane Evans, lead singer and keyboardist of Fate’s Crazy, has two loves: music and Dalton Morgan, Fate’s Crazy’s lyricist and lead guitarist. In an instant both are taken from her, along with the memory of exactly what happened in that tragic moment. A crushed larynx leaves Rhane rehabbing for months with nothing more than a whisper for a voice. Her band mates, Lonnie and Ronnie Donleavy, as well as their Manager, Nick Dauber place full blame for the loss of Dalton on her. Something Rhane will start to question herself.
Breathe, one, two, three. Hold, one, two, three. Exhale, one, two, three. Repeat.
Released from the hospital, Rhane’s Uncle Thomas, “T”, takes her to the run down property left to her by her Grandmother; where a no-nonsense live-in caregiver, Gwen Cummings awaits. The home needs some TLC, which gives Rhane the opportunity to keep herself busy. But not even the projects she throws herself into, including adopting the care of an orphaned dog and her four pups, can release Rhane from the memories fighting their way forward in the form of nightmares that plague her or the pain of the losses that fuel her rage. Begrudgingly Rhane eventually gives in to seeking out the professional help of Dr. Tyler Stephens.
For someone who has lived and breathed music her whole life, you can’t even imagine how badly this sucks for me right now, having no way to express the music I feel caged inside.
When Ian Callahan, Contractor and single father, hired by T to start the repairs on Rhane’s home appears there is an instant attraction for Rhane. One that confuses her until she realizes how much Ian reminds her of Dalton. While trying to deny having feelings for him, she finds herself incapable of being drawn to him.
All these months, my insides have been at war. An invisible, internal tug-of-war. One piece of me wants to move on, and forget about Dalton. Another part needs to remember what happened, so that I can let go.
***
I think he’s figured out that he flusters the hell out of me. He’s sort of cocky that way. Unfortunately for me, I’ve always had a thing for cocky, self-assured, slightly egotistical men. Who wants boring,, when you can have a bad ass?
The two’s blossoming friendship often crosses over into not so subtle flirtations.
“Come here, Sunshine.” I move to stand next to him. A smirk tips up on one side of his mouth, and he shakes his head. “That was easy.”
I narrow my eyes and fold my arms across my chest. “What are you talking about?”
“I just made you come with one finger,” he says with a hearty laugh.
As cracks in Rhane’s walls start to crumble, Ian becomes a stronghold for her, a lure that draws her closer to him. The attempts at denying her feelings for Ian slowly disappear.
I so don’t want to cry in front of him again. But it’s futile. My shoulders begin to tremble. He pulls me tighter into him. I could lose myself in his embrace.
***
“It’s okay, Sunshine. I’ve got you,” he murmurs. “Go on and cry like nobody’s watching. I’ll be your rock.”
What Rhane soon realizes is that Ian too has his own demons…
“…I don’t think you understand at all. Babe, my life is all kinds of crazy fucked up. There are days when things start closing in on me…Then I remember Emmy. That beautiful, innocent, little girl. She didn’t sign up for this shit. I’m a selfish fucker, Sunshine…”
And despite the intense and undeniable heat between Rhane and Ian, those demons threaten to pull them apart.
“I would love nothing more than to carry you into that bedroom and bury myself inside of you until you’re begging for me to stop,” he hisses. “But I can’t, Sunshine. When it happens between you and me, I promise I won’t be able to walk away from you. And right now, that’s a promise I can’t make.”
***
“Sometimes when I think of never seeing you again, I can’t breathe.”
“It’s alright, Sunshine. I’ll be your oxygen,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head.
When I first started reading I Breath You I didn’t really feel one way or another about what was happening. It wasn’t until we first meet Ian, and they have a slight misunderstanding, that everything turned around for me. I realized in that moment that I wasn’t yet invested in Rhane’s story. At the beginning Rhane is this badass rocker chick who’s temper and jealously over her boyfriend’s antics is notorious in the band. There is a jump over the accident that takes Dalton from her and when we next meet her she’s getting ready to leave the hospital after nearly seven months. When Rhane struggles to piece together what happened the night of the accident we see a broken young woman struggling; her interactions with Ian is what humanizes her in a way I hadn’t yet felt and allowed me to begin to connect with her. As Rhane started to let Ian in and let her self heal, I started to feel more engaged in the journey she was taking. It was also in the moments Rhane let the reader see her as vulnerable that got me to start to connect with her; like when she reminisced about her Grandmother.
I liked that Ian wasn’t this perfect guy who could just become rapped up in Rhane. He had a past, a past that was alive and kicking in his here and now. Although he kept a lot of it to himself, at first, he understood to be close to Rhane there were things he’d have to let her into even when she held back with him.
The one thing I would have liked to have had a little more of was the conflict with Rhane’s ex-band mates and manager. The demise of the band is commented on, T steps in, and it all goes away. It’s mentioned but I would have like to have seen Rhane face it in some way. Fate’s Crazy was such a huge part of her life before the accident and a huge part of how she once defined herself. It felt a little brushed over. With that said, I really liked all these characters and wound up rooting for Rhane and Ian. Page after page you just saw how right they were for each other and how much they needed one another. I can’t wait for the next book in Ian’s POV!
Author Bio:
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 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 6 books and am in the process of brainstorming a 7th.
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. I'm a claims payment analyst for one of Fortune 500 Magazine's "Top 100 places in America to work.
1. I'm an only child.
2. I love dogs!
3. I was born in Iowa City, Iowa and lived in Iowa 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 6 books and am in the process of brainstorming a 7th.
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. I'm a claims payment analyst for one of Fortune 500 Magazine's "Top 100 places in America to work.
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Thanks so much for the great review and for participating in the tour! <3
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