The cover of Susan Wiggs’ book screamed “beach read” to me so I had to grab it when the weather started warming. But Just Breathe is more of a “woman at a turning point in her life” story than what I would call a light beach read – but it is very satisfying and I’m glad I picked it up.
Sarah Moon is a cartoonist living in Chicago with her husband, Jack. Her comic strip (called “Just Breathe”) reflects her own life – including the fertilization treatments she’s going through so they can have a baby. When Sarah makes an unexpected stop at her husband’s latest work site, she finds her husband in the arms of another woman. As Sarah struggles to understand what happened to their marriage, she realizes she hasn’t been happy in a long time. She decides to go back home to the small town she grew up in.
While finding a lawyer, finding a place to live, finding friends – and finding out that last fertility treatment worked (twins!) – Sarah realizes that the place she was so desperate to leave wasn’t so bad after all. And it doesn’t hurt that Will Bonner, the All-American high school jock she used to make fun of, is attracted to her.
Sarah and Will’s relationship is complicated by her pregnancy, his teenage daughter, and an arson investigation. But even though it’s messy, they both end up willing to take a chance on love.
Check the WRL catalog for Just Breathe
If you like Just Breathe, you might also try Cathy Lamb’s The Last Time I Was Me, Deborah Smith’s The Crossroads Café, or Barbara Samuel’s Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas.
