Just Remember to Breathe By: Charles Sheehan-Miles

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Just Remember to Breathe
(Thompson Sisters #1)
By:  Charles Sheehan-Miles
Pub:  November 12, 2012
Cincinnatus Press 
EARC, 199 pages
Source:  Author/AToMR



GR's Summary:

Alex Thompson’s life is following the script. A pre-law student at Columbia University, she’s focused on her grades, her life and her future. The last thing she needs is to reconnect with the boy who broke her heart.

Dylan Paris comes home from Afghanistan severely injured and knows that the one thing he cannot do is drag Alex into the mess he’s made of his life.

When Dylan and Alex are assigned to the same work study program and are forced to work side by side, they have to make new ground rules to keep from killing each other.

Only problem is, they keep breaking the rules.

The first rule is to never, ever talk about how they fell in love.

My Take on this Journey:


This is the story about college students, at Columbia University.  The main characters are Alexandra (Alex) Thompson from a well to do family in San Francisco, and Dylan Paris, from a poor, broken family, in Atlanta.  They met on a school trip to Tel Aviv, in their junior year of high school, and fall in love.  However, distance and circumstance separate them from one another.  As the years pass, fate throws them into each others paths once again.  The magnetism between these two characters is undeniable.

This novel is told through dual narration.  The reader gets both perspectives, and is able to see into the broken hearts of these two wonderful characters.  The author brings so many elements into the story, that are real aspects, that our men and women in the service deal with, when they return from war.  Death, guilt, post-traumatic stress disorder, nightmares, pain, agony, loss, self-victimization, depression, disabilities, and drug addiction, are all issues Dylan needed to overcome.  

There is a lot of overwhelming sadness throughout this novel.  The reader will want to reach out, and tell Dylan, "You're going to be okay."  The heartache that Alex has had to endure at Dylan's hands, is also heart-wrenching, though not intentional.  Dylan's family life was dysfunctional.  Consequently, he had low self-esteem, and he felt unworthy of love.  He carried guilt for everything that ever went wrong in his life, always carrying the heavy burden of responsibility on his own shoulders.  Alex couldn't stand up for herself, because of her overbearing parents, always trying to control every aspect of her life.  She had to gain the strength to stand up for herself.

These two characters had a lot of obstacles to overcome.  They had wonderful friends that helped them find themselves, and encouraged them to build strength, while facing their deeply routed problems.  This is a multi-faceted novel, with an array of characters that are essential to the dynamic of the story.  Just Remember to Breathe, is a fully rounded story, with so many life lessons, with twists, peaks, and valleys.  

I really feel that readers will be able to relate to this book on so many levels, and some levels they'll never want to have to face.
I give Just Remember to Breathe, by Charles Sheehan-Miles, 4 soul-searching, heart breaking, madly in love, long distance Stars.     

Purchase At:  Amazon/Barnes and Noble

About the Author:  Charles Sheehan-Miles

Charles has been a soldier, nonprofit executive, short order cook, IT manager and run a restaurant. He doesn't believe in specialization. He currently works as a communications and outreach specialist for a law firm representing disabled veterans.

Charles lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife Veronica and their two children.

Charles':  Website/ Goodreads/Facebook/Twitter