The author has since edited Breathe, so, my review may or may not still apply.
“Sadie White’s summer job isn’t going to be on the beach life-guarding or working at rental booths like most kids her age. With her single mother’s increasing pregnancy and refusal to work, Sadie has to take over her mother’s job as a domestic servant for one of the wealthy summer families on a nearby island.
When the family arrives at their summer getaway, Sadie is surprised to learn that the owner of the house is Jax Stone, one of the hottest teen rockers in the world. If Sadie hadn’t spent her life raising her mother and taking care of the house she might have been normal enough to be excited about working for a rock star.
Even though Sadie isn’t impressed by Jax’s fame, he is drawn to her. Everything about Sadie fascinates Jax but he fights his attraction. Relationships never work in his world and as badly as he wants Sadie, he believes she deserves more. By the end of the summer, Jax discovers he can’t breathe without Sadie.
But can their love overcome the disparity in their lifestyles? Or will they have to learn how to without each other breathe again?”
Breathe is a very cute book! Most of us have thought as teens what it’d be like to be with someone famous. It was fun to explore what that might be like with the ups and downs. I felt the story was also pretty accurate when it comes to young teenagers in love. First loves are often intense and Glines explored that well.
I feel for Sadie, her situation with her mom is devastating. I get that her mom is pregnant, but it began so much earlier than that! She sacrificed her childhood and continues to do so. Then there’s Jax, who doesn’t want a guy as perfect as Jax?! Seriously, he’s written to perfection. I can easily see how any girl would fall for him, even if he wasn’t a big super star. He’s very charming. While Jax is charming, Marcus was the one who stole my heart. He tugged at my heart strings, he was such a great friend to Sadie throughout the book. Preston also had me intrigued, I’d love to have gotten to know him a bit better! For a girl who previously had no friends and preferred to be invisible, I thought it was a bit odd she quickly was making friends, but it’s always nice to see a character come into their own.
I love that the fact it’s not written in Hollywood, New York, or somewhere else “glamorous”. It’s written in Alabama where Jax has a secret hideaway. It makes Jax much more of a real person, since we aren’t seeing his “public” face, but the real one he only shows to those close to him.
As cute as the story was, some of the wording was a bit cliche. The time frame was also a bit rushed to me. Before they’d even gone on their first official date she was telling someone she loved Jax. These are definitely not things that will bother all readers, but thought I’d throw them out there.
I will say Breathe made a great light read while I was lounging out in the sun, so if you are heading to the beach or just need something fun to read definitely consider this book!
I received my copy of Breathe from the author for the blog tour.