Review: A Single Breath by Lucy Clark

Eva has only been married for eight months when her husband, Jackson, is swept to his death while fishing. Weighed down by confusion and sorrow, Eva decides to take leave of her midwifery practice and visit Jackson's estranged family with the hope of grieving together.

Instead, she discovers that the man she loved so deeply is not the man she thought she knew. Jackson's father and brother reveal a dark past, exposing the lies her marriage was built upon. As Eva struggles to come to terms with the depth of Jackson's deception, she must also confront her growing attraction to Jackson's brother, Saul, who offers her intimacy, passion, and answers to her most troubling questions.

Will Eva be able to move forward, or will she be caught up in a romance with Saul, haunted by her husband's past? Threading together beautiful, wild settings and suspenseful twists, A Single Breath is a gripping tale of secrets, betrayals, and new beginnings.

Paperback, 320 pages

Expected publication: April 8th 2014 by Touchstone (first published March 27th 2014)

Terri's Thoughts:      

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher Touchstone via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  The expected publication date is April 8th 2014.

This was a story about love and deception and the fallout when the two collide...

The majority of this story is about Eva dealing with the grief of the loss of her husband and this guides the plot.  While her grief is natural I found that at times I could not identify with it, in particular, when secrets about Jackson's deception began to come to surface.  I felt that she should have felt more anger and less confusion as she learned about the events that unfolded.  That being said it was this confusion that carried the plot along to its conclusion.

I loved the character of Saul as he struggled to protect Eva from the secrets that he was aware of.his genuine want to protect Eva from the very beginning when he did not know her was an admirable quality.

While I was able to predict the outcome of the story I did find that there were just enough skeletons in the closet to be revealed throughout the story to keep it going at a good pace.  There was also a good cast of supporting characters to keep you invested.

Overall a pleasant read.