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Blurb

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

An emotional, heart-wrenchingly beautiful sports romance

4.5 stars!

Wow, what an amazing book! A beautifully written story with lots of feels, lots of heart and a great mix of sweet and sexy with a gorgeous love story.

Maddy Woodsen is a swimming champion. Coached by her father from a young age, she is about to commence his training camp in preparation for Olympic trials. But a surprise late addition to the camp brings her past, and all of the grief and torment that she has tried so hard to move on from, screaming into her present.

Maddy grew up with Evan and Will Hollister. They were swimmers just like her, and she doesn’t have one childhood memory that doesn’t contain the two brothers. Will is the oldest of the trio and when he turned 18 and went off to College, 16 year old Maddy and Evan became a couple and were together until a tragic accident left Will as the only surviving member of his family. He hit rock bottom and after overcoming his physical injuries, emotional trauma and highly publicised drug and alcohol use, he is back on the swimming circuit and attending the training camp with his old coach in a bid to win his final shot at glory.

It’s been four years since the devastating accident that took Will’s brother and parents and Maddy and Will haven’t seen each other in all of that time. Their reunion is awkward and uncomfortable, and full of all of the emotion that they have never addressed. Hints are given at the type of relationship that they had as teenagers, but it’s not until they finally face each other and start to find their way back to the friendship they had lost that we really start to see the chemistry between them. It’s always been there, but circumstances kept them apart and now they are brought back together, sharing their grief, recapturing the spark that was always been them, and allowing themselves to feel more.

“You’re the only thing that doesn’t make me want to drown,” Will says, and my hands fall softly into his hair. My lungs fill at the touch. “I think I came here knowing you were my only shot at peace.”

I don’t want to go into details about everything that happens in this story because you just need to dive in and experience, but let me say that I felt absolutely everything that these characters went through – the fun, the friendship, the sweet moments, the heartache and all of the emotion that their reconnection brings. And the love story is absolutely beautiful – emotional, meaningful, intense, natural and so, so functional, it’s beautifully written and I loved watching their relationship develop.

Our worlds have been on this slow descent, but they’ve collided together here and now. Our truths have tangled, and it’s clear now as I look at him that there is no going back for us.

The emotion between these two is so, so beautiful, and parts of this book had me in tears.

Spoiler

I hold her head in my hands, my forehead against hers, and I let myself beg for it. Because I need to hear it. I don’t think I can come back from this now – I’m too far gone.
“Please,” I whisper.
“I love you, Will Hollister,” she says, and I let my lips dust hers just at the sound of those words.
“It has been forever, Maddy. That’s how long,” I say against her skin. “I have loved you…forever.”

*sniff*

OMG, Will Hollister absolutely stole my heart. He is the ultimate tortured good guy who has been through SO much yet persevered through it all. He’s been broken over and over again, but he remains strong, and I want to hug him so badly! The story is written in dual POV so we get to see all that he is thinking and feeling, and I thought he was an amazing hero.

And Maddy is just as fantastic. She’s incredibly strong, and the way she opens up to Will, at the same time standing firmly by his side, dealing with all that happens with them, is just amazing. And she’s still relatable, and I could empathise with everything that she was feeling, and I was cheering for her happy ending as much as I was Will’s.

Ginger Scott has again given us an amazing book. She has put her characters (and therefore the reader) through the wringer, but with all the twists, turns and emotional upheavals there is also healing, and finding the strength to follow your heart and move forward. And the love story that is woven through every aspect of that is just gorgeous.

I really loved this one. 4.5 stars.

An Advanced Reader Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Hold My Breath, the author is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card.

ENTER HERE

The Escapist Book Blog is not responsible for this giveaway

About the Author

Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, The Girl I Was Before, Wild Reckless, Wicked Restless, In Your Dreams and The Hard Count.

A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com. Follow her on Twitter: @TheGingerScott

When she’s not writing, the odds are high that she’s somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork ’em, Devils).

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ARC Review Tour & Giveaway: Hold My Breath by Ginger Scott