ARC Review: Can't Hardly Breathe by Gena Showalter - Under the Covers Book Blog

Recommended Read!

“…they have so much chemistry you can’t look away.”
~ Under the Covers

Strawberry Valley, Oklahoma is such a sweet small town to visit. In this installment we have Dorothea, who owns the town’s inn we saw in the previous book and Daniel who is ex military. Dorothea used to have a huge crush on Daniel back in high school and he was one of the few people that treated her nicely, even if he never saw her as anything more than that. When given the opportunity to have a wild fling with him, Dorothea leaves all her inhibitions at the door and grabs hold of that knowing full well it can’t go any farther with him.

Fun and sexy banter is to be expected from Gena Showalter and I think you’ll find in this book is so endearing, as are the main characters. But it’s also about character growth. Dorothea is trying to make something of herself in town after a divorce that hit on her self esteem again. She’s focusing on her business and her sister and a man is not a priority in her life right now. Daniel is basically at the same place in his life. Worried about his father’s health and knowing full well his own past issues are not a good basis for a lasting relationship or love. Even after he’s seen his friends pairing up and finding that special someone.

While this book is on the light and fun side, it also deals with very real issues. Dorothea was bullied in high school and that’s affected her confidence in a major way all throughout her life. Something she’s had to struggle to overcome and sometimes she’s better at it than others. I liked the way Ms. Showalter approached this because it gave us that real glimpse of the issue without making it a heavy point in the story but also showed us Dorothea working through it until she came out a stronger person in the end.

Daniel has his own demons to battle as well. After coming back from deployment he’s struggled with PTSD and guilt. This is not obviously something that can just go away but it does show that it can’t be deal with alone. These two had their own hang ups keeping them apart until they realized they could work through it all together. And in the meantime, they have so much chemistry you can’t look away.

But let’s not forget that Daniel is just simply hot. He’s very much that sexy alpha I’ve come to expect from Ms. Showalter, but he’s also incredibly sweet and pushy at times to get what he wants. I adored him! I can’t wait to meet the next Showalter hero.