The Air He Breathes

Be still my beating heart
5+ Emotionally Beautiful Stars!!!!

Show me the shadows that keep you up at night. Kiss me with your darkness

I cannot even begin to describe in words what this book did to me. Miss Cherry you are a horrible person , in the best kind of way. Oh my heart. I cried so many different times, I happy cried, I sad cried but mostly I ugly cried. But it was all OKAY because I also LOL'ed a lot!

Liz and Tristan both experienced such a devastating event. An event that any sane person would be uncomfortable discussing. I say uncomfortable because that is what death does to people. It makes them uncomfortable. Uncomfortable bringing it up in conversation, uncomfortable giving support, and uncomfortable bringing up past memories. show more I feel that was the beauty in this book. It is something we never like to discuss. We never like to read about. Sadly its there, this book had a magnetic pull on me. I was even uncomfortable reading it. However it needed to be read.

The emotion within the words mesmerized me.

"They loved in a way that made fairy tales envious"

"... but sometimes tomorrow never comes and you're only left with the memories of yesterdays"

"Maybe the truest form of love grew from the deepest kinds of pain"

AND can I just say Tristan asking BOTH Liz and Emma to marry him?? Shoot me. Shoot me now, because that is hands-down the most epic way all time - I Cried like a little baby!!

Oh a lighter note - Do we not just absolutely LOVE Faye? My friends and I have had similar conversations and I always leave feeling lighter. "No, no I heard you the first time. Liz are you fucking a guy with a green penis? Because if you are, you need a tetanus shot.... And higher standards" BAHAHAHAHAHAHA I love her.

Tanner, I mean. He always made me feel icky. I honestly though had no idea how that plot was going to thicken. Holy Shit. My stomach was in knots, I neglected to feed my child, shower, prep Easter Dinner, and do my dishes simply because I was so hooked to this book. (Don't judge me. I know you have all been there) show less

“You’re beautiful. You’re a beautiful, broken kind of monster.”

MIND BLOWN with that ending!! 10 stars!!

I have seen so many people recommend this book/author to me, and I have been putting off reading this series. I ended up picking up the forth book first and I enjoyed it, but did not overly love it. When one of my closest friends said this blew her away, I knew it was time to see if I agreed.

First, I highly recommend the audiobook. The narrators bring the intensity of this story alive. You your heart will break for both Tristan and Elizabeth. This is the most emotional book I have read in a while. Normally I will shed a tear when reading an emotional book, but not this one. I full out ugly cried…several times. I shed a few show more tears, I laughed tears. So, if you need a good book for that, this wins hands down.

I do not even know what else to say, but go read this! Best book I have read in a while! show less

The Air He Breathes (Elements #1)
by Brittainy C. Cherry

Beautiful story of two people, both widowed too soon, leaning on each other to get through their grief.

From an inauspicious beginning, it seems unlikely that Tristan Cole and Elizabeth will ever be civil to each other as neighbors, let alone have a chance at friendship or more. She has a gut instinct, no matter how many times he is abrupt, callous, or rude, that there is more to him than meets the eye.

Although he deliberately keeps clear of people, he still shows an inner kindness on occasion, especially with Liz' daughter, Emma. Those two even have nicknames for each other: Tick and Tock. Tris and Liz slowly, very slowly, start to develop an unspoken friendship which evolves into show more more as they find some peace when they are together that helps them deal with their individual grief.

There is so much to this story. The way their grief is handled is outstanding. Their slow progression in healing, in learning that it's okay to find happiness and love again after devastating loss. It came across as very real. It is neither tidy nor quick. It is difficult watching them figure everything out.

I thought the writing was so well done. You are in the midst of a story of tragic loss and then something is done or said that makes you just burst out in laughter (Liz' best friend, Faye, provides great comic relief). There are surprising plot twists (a couple were a little iffy but they didn't ruin the story for me). There is great character development, even among secondary characters. There is phenomenal dialogue and sexual tension. There are beautiful love notes intertwined throughout. There are moments that are so touching that I literally caught my breath.

"The magic is in the tiny moments. The small touches, the gentle smiles, the quiet laughs. The magic is about living for today and allowing yourself to breathe and be happy. My dear boy, to love is the magic."

This is a story most excellent. I highly recommend it.

P.S. I've also got to say that hipster dude on the cover embodies Tristan perfectly! *sigh* I love beards... show less

4.5 out of 5 stars

Ms. Cherry fills the story with witty wonderful characters. The Hero and heroine are both overcome with debilitating grief. Each of them are not dealing with it in the best of ways. Liz runs away and Tristan just gives up. When they come together, it's not really any better. They use each other to remember what it was to live and breathe when their spouses were still with them. Until they discover that maybe the person in front of them can be another reason to breathe.

"I was damaged goods at best. But when I was with him, at least I remembered to breathe."

Liz and Tristan are very complex and emotionally stunted characters. Actually each person they have in their lives is emotionally stunted. As the reader, you watch show more the H and h learn to over come their grief and the minor characters grow too. I loved the fact that Liz recognized she had changed and wanted everyone else to see that she changed too. She saw in Tristan the ability to change to someone he was suppressing. And Tristan. Whoa! For a surly Hero, he knew when to turn up the passion and possessiveness. My .5 star deduction has to do with the delivery of the plot twist. Although I could see what was coming, (okay by me), one felt a big dragged out and the other rushed. I wish there was a bit more balance between the two.

This is a first time read for this author for me. I loved the flow of her writing and complexity of the characters. Ms. Cherry is a to-be-read author for me. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for an overcoming heartbreak to HEA read. show less

Heartbreakingly good. This is only my second Brittainy Cherry novel and man, she is quickly becoming one of my favorites because of the compelling way she can write really heart-wrenching situations with broken characters and slowly bring them together in a really believable way. These two have both experienced a terrible loss of a spouse, and don’t want to love again. I loved Elizabeth and Tristan, and found the slow burn way they came together SO SO good. Steamy. Sweet. Touching. Just hit all the right notes. Amazing. Will have to find my next book by her.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.

Brittainy C. Cherry amazed me with her brilliant talent and as I sit here and write this review I honestly don't know what I was thinking for waiting until now to read this author's work.

The Air He Breathes is so hauntingly beautiful that it will surely take your breath away and make you feel so many things.

Tristan lost his whole world and in turn it made him a broken, tortured, bitter and lonely man. Elizabeth has not only known, but experienced loss and with the help of her daughter, Emma and her friends and family she's learning to see life in a light and slowly but surely moving on.

He's cruel and goes out of his way to be seen as a monster. She gives Tristan that ray of hope. Together, Tristan and Elizabeth come together during a show more time in each other's lives when loss is so unbearable it's hard for them to function.

This story was gut wrenching and heartbreaking, yet so freaking beautiful at the same time. It sucked me in and didn't let go until the very end, and even then I still felt the words moving through me!! I'm privileged to have experienced such a beautiful story and characters that made me love them with my very being. Be prepared for one hell of ride, I swear I've never felt more alive. I'm looking forward to read many more of Brittainy's amazing work heart emoticon!! show less

This was not my first stint with Brittany C. Cherry and so I had high expectations for this book and she did not disappoint. A note of warning if you plan to read this book ensure you have a box of tissues nearby as The Air He Breathes will tear your heart to pieces and slowly put it back together again.

This was not your typical romance. It’s a story of loss, grief, acceptance, moving on and finding love once again under the most incredible circumstances and with the most unlikely person.

My heart broke for the characters. Losing someone is never easy and the circumstances under which they both lost the love of their lives were both tragic and heart-breaking. Tristan’s loss was greater as he lost both his wife and child. Not to show more downplay Elizabeth’s loss, as she lost her husband, but she had her daughter, Emma, who brought some light to her darkness.

Tristan’s pain ran so deep it would appear he could not manage, however Elizabeth’s and Emma’s appearance in his life brought peace to his broken heart and kick-started the healing process for them both.

Now Tristan and Elizabeth did not meet under ideal circumstances. However, at the end of that interaction, I laughed so hard that tears came to my eyes. Despite, his abrasive behaviour, Elizabeth stood her ground with him.

The author did an outstanding job with her portrayal of these broken characters. She made their pain feel so real that I could not help but sympathize with them. She showed that there was more to Tristan than one initially thought. Throughout, the story’s progress, his gentle and caring nature came to light.

I enjoyed the romance. Their relationship started out as means of getting over their loss and slowly developed into something meaningful and lasting.

The secondary characters brought some light moments to the story, although there were one or two I would have wanted to disappear as they only made things difficult for the main characters.

I had a theory as it relates to the accident that destroyed both their worlds, and I was right on all counts. The revelation proved devastating and had the potential to destroy their new found happiness or push them to the next step of their healing process.

Narration
I had purchased the e-book, but when I discovered it was available in Audible Escape, I went the audio route. This was my first time listening to Brian Pallino and Erin Mallon. I thought they both did an excellent job in portraying the voices and the mood of the characters.

Conclusion/Recommendation
I had a wonderful time with The Air He Breathes and would definitely recommend it to fans of contemporary romance.
This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading show less