Synopsis:
Fractions of seconds can do lots of damage. One decision can ruin lives. A blink can be tragic. And loving a Hollister…can hurt like hell.
I would know.
They say the average person can hold their breath under water for two full minutes when pushed to the extremes. Will Hollister has been holding his for years. The oldest of two elite swimming brothers, Will was always a dominant force in the water. But in life, he preferred to let his younger brother Evan be the one to shine.
Evan got the girl, and Will…he got to bury all of the secrets. A brother’s burden, the weight of it all nearly left him to drown.
The daughter of two Olympians, my path was set the day my fingertips first touched water. My future was as crystal clear as the lane I dominated in the pool—swim hard, win big, love a Hollister.
My life with Evan burned bright. He gave me arms to come home to, and a smile that fooled the world into believing everything was perfect. But it was Will who pushed me. Will…who really knew me.
And when all of the pieces fell, it was Will who started to pick them up.
In the end, the only thing that matters are those few precious seconds—and what we decide to do while we still have them in our grasp.
Review:
Hold My Breath by Ginger ScottMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
There is an unwritten rule that when a friend breaks up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, it is NOT okay to date their -ex. But, what happens when the person you've loved since forever dated your brother and he DIED?
This is the emotional battle that Will Hollister has to fight. With that battle, his training, and a secret he's been hiding from the woman he's loved his entire life, no wonder Will Hollister feels like he's in another plane diving toward Earth.
These battles go in the same direction for our heroine, Maddy Woodsen. She's a swimmer who has the potential to win Gold at the Olympics and decides to take a year off from school to train and compete. The love of her life, Evan Hollister, was killed along with Will and Evan's parents in a plane crash.
So we have a dead lover/brother, a man living with "Survivors' Guilt," a girl who loved a young man who was not who he appeared to be, and another young man who is also taking time off to train and compete at the behest of Maddy's father and coach, an Olympian himself.
Lives are in knots here. There are secrets to be revealed. There is information neither of them really wants to hear but they both NEED to hear.
Will Hollister is a hero in this novel by Ginger Scott. After the plane crash, he didn't so well. His grieving process was destructive. Training alongside Maddy is exactly what he needed to get out of his pit of guilt. The responsibilities he's taken on would spread even the most devoted and organized of persons, too thin.
And Maddy? Well, she's unfortunately oblivious to the real world. And she needs someone to give her a look at what real life outside of college, and outside of training to win a medal, is like. Because Will has always loved Maddy, he will have to be the one to be honest with her about all of these things.
Overall, I enjoyed this book because of the adversity that Will Hollister had to overcome. To get from losing his entire family in a plane crash that he somehow survived, to being asked to train for the Olympics by a coach he most respects, Will Hollister has gone to Hell, then back and then into a different kind of Hell.
I enjoyed how Will treated Maddy like a smart young woman. Sometimes he coddled her but we tend to coddle the ones we love in order to protect them from physical and emotional harm.
I give this book FIVE lovable stars. The secondary characters in this novel are not be forgotten either. They help Will fill in the answers to the mysteries in this book. Will's uncle, and only other living family member, is a walking book of wisdom. Maddy's best friend and nursing school classmate is a laugh riot. Her teasing and innocent flirtations with Will make for good humor in all of the right places.
Ginger Scott has never failed in writing anything less than greatness. The emotion is always just right. The romantic scenes, whether simply sweet, or adult and piping HOT, are always spot on! She has perfected the "first kiss."
Three years and three months ago, Ginger Scott published "Waiting On The Sidelines." That novel was a lot of "firsts" for me. I have NEVER missed reading every book Ginger Scott has ever written, and I have never been disappointed with her stories. Her characters are genuine and her stories are still entertaining. And what's a book if it doesn't take you on a journey? This book succeeded in taking me on another journey outside of my own day to day grind.
I truly do appreciate EVERY single novel Ginger Scott writes.
*Full disclosure: I was given an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
