Review: "Breathe" by Elise Faber

Breathe by Elise Faber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I've loved many of Elise Faber's past books (and I'm sure will love many of her future ones), "Breathe" was not among my favorites. I think part of the problem is that I've only read one of the previous books in the Breakers Hockey series, and much of the groundwork for hockey blogger Eva Moreno and professional hockey player Theo Young's enemies-to-lovers romance was laid in those earlier stories. I wish there had been a prequel or flashback included in this book to remind readers of the key events that had taken place between them in the past, particularly the incident in which Theo apparently embarrassed Eva in front of some of his teammates and their significant others. That would have provided needed context for the animosity between them and helped quite a bit with the relationship development, which IMO was overall a bit lacking. To me, it seemed like they just flipped a switch and went from hating each other one minute to being "in love" the next, which was tough to believe given how genuinely nasty Theo was to Eva at times.

The character development also seemed to be a bit lacking. For example, on several occasions it was mentioned that Theo had "all those fancy degrees" (possibly in science?), and I really wanted to know more about them. What degrees did he have, and how did he find time to pursue them while also playing professional hockey? I think knowing more about Theo would have helped me like him more, which frankly was tough to do at times.

Despite my frustrations with certain aspects of the book, there were a number of things I really liked. For example, I loved how passionate Eva was about building her career as a color commentator. Sportscasting isn't an easy industry to break into, especially for a woman. Given her family commitments, she easily could have given up and taken a different job in a less competitive field, but she continued to follow her dreams until she finally achieved them.

Bottom line, I'd recommend "Breathe" for readers already familiar with the previous books in the Breakers Hockey series, but it may not be the best starting point for those who are new to Faber's work. I may revisit it (and revise my review) after reading some of the earlier stories.

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

CW: Attempted Rape/Sexual Assault; Death of Parent; Chronic Illness

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