Review ~ Catch My Breath by Lynn Montagano

ebook received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: April 17th 2014

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Description:
Lia Meyers' plan for a relaxing Scottish vacation is short-lived when one uncharacteristic moment of clumsiness lands her in the arms of a dangerously attractive Englishman.

The perfect opportunity for a much needed holiday romance? Wrong! Lia’s still reeling from the mother of all bad breakups, and she really doesn't have the patience for Alastair Holden – despite his effortless charm and cute British accent.

Arrogant and totally inscrutable, he's exactly the sort of guy she wants to avoid but can't: the man behind the mystery proves just too tempting to resist.

Drawn to him, Lia is forced to battle with her own insecurities, and the closer they become, the more she recognizes her own weaknesses as she peels away his layers with every night they spend together. Discovering the past Alastair is so desperate to conceal, Lia must decide if they can heal one another together or if their deepest fears will tear them apart.

My Opinion

Catch My Breath is another one of those reads that kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen. It's one of those romances where the characters have a jaded or traumatic past that is hidden and because of that the author drip feeds and hints at what has happened to them, building intrigue and suspense that keeps you turning the pages rapidly without being able to stop. However, despite saying that and although I did enjoy reading this books, parts of it did frustrate me and I hard time with some of it, leaving me with the overall feeling that it's an okay read.

I found it really hard to get into Catch My Breath. I felt the start was really fragmented and jumpy and the way the characters pushed each other away and pulled them back gave me whiplash. One minute they were all over each other and the next they were either angry or saying nothing could happen. I can handle this a few times but not to the extent it happened in Catch My Breath as it took part of the believability out of the book for me. The times also jumped around a little and I felt that everything could have flowed better for an easier reading experience.

However, saying that, the book did pick up and I'm glad I hung in there. The writing started to flow better as the relationships became more solid and the time linked from one day to the next seamlessly. By the end of it I thought the writing had improved drastically and although I found myself wishing the start could have been like it too, it shows the potential of this author. I think this book was a grower more than anything.

One thing I liked was the information was withheld for quite a while with only little hints at what had happened. I liked that they both had a past and were still struggling to ope with it but found each other despite it. On the other hand though, I couldn't understand why Alastair kept giving orders when Lia had issues with possessive, controlling men. They way she just took them frustrated me and due to the amount of times she reinforced the point about what happened with her ex, it didn't seem very realistic.

There was one thing that really pleased me with this book and that was that it didn't throw all of the British stereotypes that Americans think we do into one book. There was some banter surrounding British slang which was playful and flirty and by no means annoying like with other books I have read. It's one thing that worries me when I see a novel et in England by American authors but Lynn Montagano pulled it off.

Overall Catch My Breath was a good read. It definitely grew on me and I'm glad I stuck with it. It had its faults but in general it was a good romance that kept me entertained.