Anne Calhoun pens a beautifully written story that touches on the darkest times of grief and depression and the journey back to becoming “alive”. Thea Moretti has been a widow for two years. The loss of her husband hit her hard and her will to fully embrace life has yet to come back to her. In many ways, Thea doesn’t want to move on. She wishes to have life exactly the way it is. When her sister tells her great news about her personal life, Thea feels resentment. How can the world move on without her?
But despite this heavy veil she intentionally places between her and the world, there is one person who seems to be able to penetrate her. Firefighter Ronan O’Rourke is her current lover and despite the fact that they have been seeing each other for awhile and Ronan is ready to take that next step, Thea withholds herself.
BREATH ON EMBERS is very somber in tone. Calhoun’s voice and writing style matches it so well. Her writing creates a unique feel to the book so that even though it’s set during Christmas holidays where spirits are usually high, there’s this dark and cloudy touch to it that really sets the tone for the entire book. My one disappointment was that I wished there was a little more light in this book. Most of it is dark and opening Thea up is a slow process. I wished there was a more uplifting experience at the end, something to give readers the confidence that Thea will get over this and she won’t regressed back into herself. However, that being said, I still very much enjoyed the way Ronan was there for her without trying to heal her or completely change her.
A word on the sex scenes – They are hot! Calhoun weaves miraculous emotions throughout the scenes so that they are infused with passion and emotion. It’s really the only time that we see such intense emotions from Thea.
I am a huge fan of Calhoun’s work. Love her voice and her writing style. Her writing gives me chills sometimes and I found myself flying through this book. I can’t wait to read more of Calhoun’s work.
*ARC provided by publisher
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