Just Breathe

Sarah Moon thought she had found her happily ever after. She had a wonderful husband, Jack, who has recovered from cancer, a comic strip that allowed her sarcastic wit and observations from life a voice in the form of Shirl (her alter ego), and is trying to fulfill her dream of being a mother. Her perfect world falls to pieces when she finds her husband is having an affair because he believed Sarah was too obsessed with getting pregnant and sex had become a chore to fulfill that obligation.She leaves Chicago (it had always been Jack's city, his friends and family, etc) to return to her hometown in Northern California (which Jack never liked). She returns to the town that was never really her home and where she was the oyster farmer's daughter which she had always resented. She was loner in high school and found peace in her artistic abilities and keen observations especially in her underground comic which poked fun at high school and some of the personalities of her classmates. She returns to her father who she always had a difficult relationship with, her perfect brother, and her colorful grandmother and aunt. She also feels the void that her late mother has left behind in her life.In her road to recovery, she goes through the divorce process and all that entails. During this stressful time, she is blessed with the miracle of life and discovers she had gotten pregnant from the last insemination that also occurred on the same day she found out her husband was cheating. It is not the ideal situation but she has to get her whole life in order for her unborn children. She throws herself into motherhood annd doing it on her own (with the help of her family of course).She is also blessed with a second chance at a happily ever after. Will Bonner had been the airhead jock she had ridiculed in her high school comic. He was the person everyone expected to go far but he returned from Mexico after graduation with new wife and a stepdaughter. He settled down to raise his now 13 year old stepdaughter after her mother left town and is now the fire captain. She reconnects with Will and they form a friendship over time which could lead to more if circumstances were different. It is not the best timing since Sarah is going through a divorce, pregnant with another man's children, and trying to rediscover who she is. Will has to deal with a 13 year old teenage girl as a single parent (need we say more).Sarah changes over the span of this book. When she left Chicago, she really didn't know who she had become because her husband's life had dictated the last 5 years of her life. She really didn't recognize the person that she had become. Returning home she rediscovers the bonds of family, the importance of establishing a home, facing the past, following her dreams, and moving on to the future especially for her children. It also allows her to deal with the loss of her mother and re-establish and strengthen her relationship with her father and brother. She also realizes that she was meant to be a mother and it was one of the key pieces that she was missing in her life.Will and Sarah seem a perfect fit as a couple. The chemistry is there as well as the knowledge that Will loves her and her children even though they are not his. Sarah seems to be the perfect mother figure for the Will's artistic stepdaughter, Aurora. She kind of reminds Sarah of herself at that age and they bond of over their creative abilities. Will they be able to find love again and blend their families together? They have both been through hell and back and deserve their happily ever after as well as a bright future and loving home for their children.This is my first Susan Wigg's novel but certainly not my last. She creates unforgettable characters that the reader can relate to that deal with real life issues like infidelity, single parenthood, and divorce. So enjoy this wonderful heartwarming novel.

If I had to pick two words to describe this book, it would be quiet and compelling. Quiet, because it sneaks up on the reader, softly pulling us in and teasing us to care about Sarah, the cartoonist who is desperate to become pregnant, but shocked into acknowledging, if not accepting, that her husband has cheated on her after she gave up so much to help him survive the cancer that almost took his life. Then there's Will Bonner, the fire captain whose protective instincts bring him a wife and young daughter, Aurora, when he's barely out of high school. Though he can't prevent the wife from divorcing him and fleeing to the bright lights of Las Vegas, the child, now 13, is convinced that Will isn't as good as he seems to Sarah and oh, if he and Sarah get together, where will that put Aurora?That second word, compelling? Because the story doesn't stop when Sarah comes home and re-encounters Will, whom she'd known in high school from the distance of a nerd looking in at the big sports star everyone thought would secure multiple scholarships and go on to bigger and better things. No, each of these people are deeply wounded by the unexpected and when they make their reacquaintance, something clicks and each begins a slow dance of recognition that their life is no longer what it used to be.Add in an unknown arsonist who not only places Will in danger as he fights the biggest fire he's seen in years, but also the business that Sarah's family has owned for generations and Aurora's discovery of a strong box that contains the answers to so many secrets about herself and her mother, secrets that force her to flea to Las Vegas to find her. All this creates a crisis that, like a kaleidoscope, changes their lives yet again.As I said, quiet and compelling, but most of all, worthy of a reader's time.

First of all, I am lousy at writing reviews. But when I see a book by Susan Wiggs I read it. And in some instances I reread it. That was the case with this book.Sarah is a cartoonist who wants a baby so badly she is undergoing fertility treatments. She thought her husband wanted a baby as she did. She decided to surprise him at work with his favorite pizza. Her surprise was finding him with another woman which sends her back to the home town she had struggled to escapeWill has stayed in town and given up his dreams by marrying a young woman in Tijuanna who has a five year old daughter.Marisol leaves, without her daughter. Will adores Aurora and has made a good life for the two of them.Sarah and Will attended the same high school together where he was a jock and she drew cartoons and distributed to the school. Her favorite subject was portraying Will as an arrogant jerk.Their past collides with their present with interesting results, especially when she learns she is pregnant. I had a hard time putting my Kindle down.

This book had something for everyone! Family angst in different ways, step families, divorced families, same gender families- just goes to show we're all human families! Then the small matter of arson, teenage angst and coming home to a small town that you thought you didn't like but with age comes wisdom.

This is the story of 2 people who spent a lot of their life going after a goal that fell apart. She moves back to her childhood home and he becomes a firefighter to protect everyone as he had rescued his adopted daughter after a disastrous fire. They become best friends, but his teenage daughter acts out when she suspects a deeper relationship developing.She becomes a single mother of twins whose self esteem has been eroded by her her ex-husband's denigration of her work as an artist and her values as a person.This book is the story of how they grow and change to who they should become.

I really enjoyed this uncomplicated book.A very easy read, characters believable even if a little predictable (especially the husband of the central character) but that apart overall an enjoyable book.

I wonder how many people out there find an element of themselves in the characters in Susan's novels. I do with most of them I find a bit of myself.

Had no problem with this item

Excellent story. Prices are great. Fast shipper !

Fantastic read as always!