Breathe

Breathe by Kristen Ashley, 656 pages

Chace Keaton is the recently widowed hero cop of Carnal, Colorado.  Faye Goodknight is its shy, quiet somewhat geeky town librarian.  Yep, this is yet another librarian based romance, but don't read this book to get any kind of glimpse into the life of a librarian.  With the exception of one town hall meeting when Faye has to defend herself and her library, Breathe is VERY light on actual library work or even any scenes set in the library.   I am not a cop, so I cannot speak to how realistic any of Chace's time on the job might be, but there certainly is more time spent in his world than hers.

When reading a romance writer I've never read before, I usually start out real apprehensive.  I have read my fair share of terrible books.  I have also read books that a non-romance reader would find very difficult to stomach but that I know readers of the genre would love.  Thankfully, Breathe is a novel that fits into the second category.  It ended up being a fast-paced enjoyable story with plenty of likable characters, a believable attraction between the two main characters  and (surprisingly) one of the best plotlines I've read involving the shady business that can go on in a small town (kidnapped children, serial killers, sex tapes, overzealous Christianity...you know, the usual). 

I would NEVER recommend Breathe (or the author if this book is indicative of her other works) to new readers of romance.  There are a few reasons for this: 1. The beginning was really rough. I wasn't convinced it was even readable until after about 100 pages.  The male protagonist seemed to know only 1 word the entire first quarter of the book.  It starts with an "f" and ends with an "uck."  2. The female protagonist is a virgin, and it's kind of a big deal at the beginning.  For a contemporary novel, that is a rarity and an annoyance (if I want that storyline, I would read one of the millions of historical romance novels).  3.  The male protagonist is what in the romance world (maybe the rest of the world too???) is referred to as an alpha male.  That is to say, he is bossy, possessive, controlling and downright unlikable sometimes - until the heroine "fixes" him.  The only reason I could handle this is because I know that Ashley is writing this for fans of this type in fiction (which is pretty popular right now because of 50 Shades of Grey).  4. Also, he is secretly rich. Well, his family is anyway.  He has a beautiful house with acres of land and a trust fund set aside for his kids college funds should he ever have any kids.  This is just so typical of romance, it is ridiculous. Why can't we just say he is a town cop, watches his budget and saves for retirement?  Nope, he has to be stupidly wealthy.   5. To some, this book would be considered borderline erotica.  6. Sometimes the dialogue is downright LAUGHABLE (see point 1). That can be good (like when Faye is waxing poetic over Battlestar Gallactica) but when I read that Chace was wearing a "kickass sweater," I could barely continue reading I was so astounded that the words "kickass" and "sweater" were in the same sentence. 

Still, after all that, this book makes me want to read more of Kristen Ashley.  Despite her occasional dialogue problems, for the most part she crafts a highly readable story.  I would recommend this to regular readers of Nora Roberts, Carly Phillips, Maya Banks and Lori Foster.