New Release Review: With Every Breath by Lia Riley
We’re celebrating the release of With Every Breath by Lia Riley! Today’s post will have all the book information, an excerpt, my review, and a tour-wide giveaway! This new adult contemporary is just so much fun, hope you check it out!
With Every Breath (A Wanderlust Novel) by Lia Riley
Category: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publication: December 29th, 2015; Forever Grand Central
Purchase: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play
BREATHE DEEP . . . AND JUMP IN
At the ends of the earth, Patagonia is a land where ambition trumps reason and the savage summit of La Aguja lures the most determined climbers. It’s also the last spot a “play-it-safe girl” like Auden Woods expects to find herself. But she’ll lace up her brand-new hiking boots and do whatever it takes to secure a dream job at an adventure magazine . . . even if it kills her. And it just might. When disaster strikes, her only chance at survival comes in the form of the surliest, sexiest mountaineer ever to come out of Scotland.
After a climbing accident cost him his brother, professional mountaineer Rhys MacAskill is at the end of his rope. Redemption is not in his future. That is, until a terrifying storm blows a budding journalist into his tent and it’s up to him to make sure they both survive until morning. Despite the demons weighing on him, Rhys can’t resist the temptation of the charming American and one wild night just isn’t enough.
Auden and Rhys soon learn there are no shortcuts as they navigate their way between life, death, and atonement, and discover something they never expected-love. “Riley writes a captivating story from beginning to breathtaking end.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Inside Out
Excerpt:
I clear my throat and project my voice into a shouty rasp. “Sorry. I don’t mean to bother you, but—”
“What do you want?” A guy—not a very happy one by the sound of it—growls from inside.
“Sorry?” I bend closer to the nylon to hear above the deluge.
“What. Do. You. Want?”
My unwilling savior has a testy accent and a worse attitude. British maybe? No one does disdain like the English. Under normal circumstances, I’d swoon. I’m such a sucker for Mr. Darcy fantasies, but this isn’t Pemberley. It’s the Patagonian wilderness.
I lurch backward and trip over a tent peg. The flashlight slips from my grasp and hits the ground, shining on a coiled rope topped by a helmet. A mountaineer. Wonderful. He’s not exactly going to roll out the welcome mat for my inept ass, and I’m the type of girl who hates asking for help carrying groceries to the car. But what’s the alternative? Hypothermic death in a bog?
The tent unzips. My thoughts are jumbled, but there’s enough common sense left remaining to not fall to my knees and praise Jesus, Mary, and all the angels.
The diffuse light reveals the guy inside rising to his knees. Too dark to make out a face, especially when his headlamp burns my retinas. He seems very big, very shirtless, and very alone.
My nails cut into my palms, but no feeling remains in my hands. This damsel-in-distress business sucks. “My tent, see. It’s short a pole, and I can’t set it up. Can I…? Can I…?” Out with it, like ripping off a bandage. Strange my mouth can be so dry when the rest of me is drenched. I have to get inside that tent. “May I come in? Please. I don’t know what else to do.” I have nothing left to say. My social skills toolbox is empty.
A few seconds tick by. “Can’t leave you out there.” He sounds disappointed by the fact. “Come in, then, but those muddy boots stay in the vestibule.”
I step forward unsteadily, half wishing I could see him better, get a good look at the situation, and half not caring. At least I’m going to have shelter, and surviving is worth dealing with the uncomfortable situation. As I bend to unlace my boots, the glow from his headlamp reveals carved abs and low-slung pants barely hanging on to narrow hips. My throat constricts. Looks like tonight will be spent between a rock and a hard place.
Review:
[book rating=4.5/5]“After all, a little grit makes pearls.”
With Every Breath is a very fun, witty, sexy and emotional read! I loved every page of this semi-sporty, new adult romance about a writer with something to prove & a professional, yet tormented, mountain climber. I devoured this surly romance and adored both Auden & Rhys!
Auden is hilarious, I found myself relating to her every minute of this book! She has some of the most ridiculous one liners that had me laughing out loud! But she also has her conflicts which bring her on this journey where she stumbles into Rhys, the testy and burly Scottish mountain climber. Hello drool worthy! Their meeting was by chance but their chemistry was destiny. Told in dual POV, which was perfect as we get into both of their heads as they work through their own instant attraction to one another as well as battle the demons from their pasts.
Even though these two seem to fall for each other under pretty swift circumstances, and this trope usually drives me bonkers, I really loved this part of the plot. It was actually completely believable and it helped knowing that their relationship started out from sheer attraction and the guise of what is expected from an epic, one-time, South American mountain adventure and the expectations to have some life experiences, which then turned into something so much more. More being that their story is more about self-discovery, as well as learning that sometimes you do need that better-half to see the good in yourself as well as to have hope that there can be a better you. Plus, their chemistry didn’t need time, it needed to be explored in and outside of a tent on a mountain! Did I mention this is a sexy book? Because, yes! It is also really emotional and on an even deeper level where these two are so broken, but when together they finally experience that special reprieve from what is tearing them down inside and ends up making them more whole together.
I loved everything about With Every Breath, the characters, story and the setting! It had me reminiscing of some of my adventures I had in my 20’s as well as swept me away into this world! You don’t have to be athletic (trust me) or know anything about mountain climbing to enjoy this one! It had the perfect mix of adventure, wit, romance and growth. This book stands out for me from the other new adult titles I read this year and I highly recommend it for a fast, sexy and substantial read! Solid 4.5 hearts!
I am so thankful to the publisher for an eARC of With Every Breath and the chance to review as part of the blog tour, this did not in any way factor into my review, all opinions are my own.
Author Bio: Lia Riley
Lia Riley writes offbeat New Adult and Contemporary Adult romance. After studying at the University of Montana-Missoula, she scoured the world armed only with a backpack, overconfidence and a terrible sense of direction. She counts shooting vodka with a Ukranian mechanic in Antarctica, sipping yerba mate with gauchos in Chile and swilling XXXX with stationhands in Outback Australia among her accomplishments.
A British literature fanatic at heart, Lia considers Mr. Darcy and Edward Rochester as her fictional boyfriends. Her very patient husband doesn’t mind. Much. When not torturing heroes (because c’mon, who doesn’t love a good tortured hero?), Lia herds unruly chickens, camps, beach combs, daydreams about future books, wades through a mile-high TBR pile and schemes yet another trip. Right now, Icelandic hot springs and Scottish castles sound mighty fine.
She and her family live mostly in Northern California.
Author Links:
Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Pinterest
Giveaway:
A tour-wide giveaway of a signed copy of With Every Breath & the wanderlust bracelet pictured below!
