ARC REVIEW: The Just Breathe Series by Martha Sweeney

The Just Breathe series is about a twenty-four-year-old woman named Emma Peterson who has made sure to have as much control over her life as she can since the death of her parents that occurred when she was sixteen. A fear of loss dominates Emma’s mindset when it comes to relationships of all types, especially when it comes to men and dating.

Emma doesn’t date.

Rather, she uses men for sex. She’s created eight golden rules to keep herself at a distance from men, particularly the men she sleeps with; 1. no dating or going out on dates, 2. never let them know where she lives, 3. never pick up a guy in a particular social setting that she may frequently attend or sleep with a man whom she may have the chance of running into on a regular basis, 4. never have a guy over to her apartment for any reason (her gay best friends are the only exceptions), 5. always end things before the guy starts to want more, 6. always use protection, 7. never sleep over at their place after sex and 8. always have more than one exit strategy.

When Emma’s best friend, Maggie, becomes involved with a new boyfriend, Emma’s world changes radically. Maggie’s relationship with Henry moves very quickly; faster than any of her previous relations and Emma is not excited about the newcomer to the group. On top of that, Henry’s best friend, Joe Covelli, is the first man Emma has ever met who makes her call her own rules into question. Emma embarks on a journey that tests her beyond the temptation of breaking her rules. She discovers that there’s more to life than having control.

**Please Note: the Just Breathe series contains sexually explicit scenes and is suggested for audiences 18+.'

When I started reading this series I felt like Emma was described as superhero. She's insanely perfect. Her dog is ridiculously well trained, she has a six pack, she isn't at all lazy, she owns two successful businesses, she's a millionaire, she gets up and runs every morning, she's an ethical guru, the list goes on. She was so perfect I felt I couldn't really relate to her, like she didn't have much of a personality. I found I struggled to really like her. As the series goes on, I started seeing Emma as less of a superhero, she has a lot of issues, she holds all of her feelings in and keeps people at such a distance. Even when she meets Joe, she keeps him at a distance for so long, I started to see Joe as the Superhero!

Emma's favourite word seems to be no, and this doesn't change throughout the whole series. Joe is incredibly patient, incredibly understanding, he powers on where other men would feel rejected, dejected, hurt or annoyed. And for this, he is my favourite character. Even in the last book, Emma still makes decisions that would have left me fuming if I was Joe, but he just takes it in his stride. I would expand but it's hard without spoiling the ending. At times I started to see him as a bit of a pussy, because he would never stand up to Emma or call it a day or do anything alpha male at all. But then that is why he is so good for Emma because he's the most patient man in the world!

Emma is a complicated person, she's incredibly private about her past, and sometimes her personal life - sometimes she flaunts it to all her friends and othertimes she guards it like the holy grail. Her relationship with her best friend Maggie confused me sometimes. I didn't like how it felt like Maggie and Emma would cheat but men never seem to mind if it's another woman! They have a different family/friend dynamic. Think of a family made up of best friends who don't mind seeing each other naked and peeing in front of each other.

You need to be in for the long haul with this series because there is a lot of detail, if you like detail you'll be in heaven here! For me, the books could have been much shorter. At times I felt like I'd be reading for hours and not gotten anywhere, which meant I got more frustrated when Emma was a bitch to Joe. Sometimes Emma seemed a bit of know it all, and you do get hints in the second book about what will happen in the last one and I must admit I felt a bit smug that Emma's knowledge failed her. Let's just say nobody should take that advice, unless you're ready to deal with the consequences.

There's also a lot of information in these books, it's almost like reading a health book as well. I think a lot of people will enjoy learning stuff while they read a dirty book! There are some good twists and turns in this book to keep you hooked and the ups and downs will have you desperate for a happy ending for everyone! Bottom line for me: I liked the story but I just couldn't get on board with Emma. :-(