If you’re an audiophile, you’ll love this book – especially if you love a good old-fashioned tearjerker, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
About the Book
The “HEARTBREAKING & HEART-WARMING” Novel by NUMBER ONE Amazon-Bestselling Author Laurel Osterkamp.
Three broken hearts. Two loves of a lifetime. One unforgettable romance that will “WRENCH YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT.”
Ten years ago, Robin found true love with Jed, but then she lost him. But when Nick enters her life, she starts to believe in second chances. Yet, as she reluctantly agrees to star in the play Jed wrote for her before his death, Robin must reconcile with old wounds and long-buried emotions. As Jed’s ghost lingers in her dreams, Robin navigates through heartbreak, loss, and the overwhelming fear of moving on.
Can she find the strength to leave Jed in the past and embrace a future filled with hope and love?
My Thoughts
You’ll definitely want a big ol’ box of tissues nearby while you listen to this one. If you’ve never really figured out audiobooks, I always like to engage in a hobby, driving, or cleaning while I listen – it makes both the other task AND the torture of waiting for the story to progress go faster. I don’t mean the book was slow; it’s just that sometimes you just need to know what is going to happen – this was one of those times!
The performer, Claire Duncan, absolutely brought the story to life. The reader can make or break the story. Sometimes, if they’re good, you don’t even notice them, or they enhance the story tenfold. Ms. Duncan was somewhere in between. I’m so glad to have listened to the story in audio format.
The concept of the tale was so interesting, a love triangle, but with one member already gone, removed from the equation. As we learn more about the relationship between Robin and Jed, the more he haunts and threatens her current relationship with Nick. The quintessential example of the “perfect” dead partner that the new partner can’t live up to the memory of, it seems. But, of course, you’ll have to read the story yourself to see if everything is as it seems.
I saw lovely aspects and flaws in all three points of the triangle, which worked to make the story more beautiful and more tragic all in one. It really was as heartbreaking and heartwarming as promised. And, in some ways, I was left a little uncertain about how to feel in the end. This might be one that warrants a second read/listen before all the dust on my heart really settles.
I’m so grateful to the author and LBT for including me on this book tour, and I look forward to reading more by this author.
Who’s It For?
If you love complicated, sad romance, you’ll love this one. If you’re a fan of theater, actors, and the whole screenwriting and acting process, I think you’ll find a lot of intriguing information in this one. There is also found family, intrigue, betrayal, love, loss, and so much more in the pages of this book.
Content Warnings: Death, Lost Love, Betrayal, Adult Situations, Adult Language
About the Author
Laurel Osterkamp is the award-winning author of roughly a dozen novels, such as Favorite Daughters and the #1 Amazon bestseller Beautiful Little Furies. She is obsessed with writing and doesn’t know how to stop. In addition to her novels, she has short fiction published in literary journals all over the web, writes a monthly column for Writer’s Fun Zone, and runs her website, laurellit.com, with book reviews, lesson plans, and writing advice.
When she’s not writing (which is rare) she’s often teaching adult ESL or middle school enrichment classes, going running while listening to audiobooks, or educating her daughter about the OG teen soap opera, Beverly Hills 90210. She lives in Minneapolis with a family who loves to argue, and their cats, who love to hiss at each other. Ramona Quimby is her spirit animal.
Follow her on Instagram @laurel_osterkamp.
Links
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Next-Breath-Angsty-Uplifting-Story-ebook/dp/B0D2YJV2ZT
Audible US: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Next-Breath-Audiobook/B0DNGDWBQC?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Next-Breath-Angsty-Uplifting-Story-ebook/dp/B0D2YJV2ZT
Bookshop US: https://bookshop.org/a/25511/9781933826868
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212336698-the-next-breath
Author’s Website: https://laurellit.com/
As a Bookshop.org (US) Affiliate, I may earn on qualifying purchases. Bookshop.org purchases support local, independent bookshops. My chosen affiliate bookshop is Tubby & Coo’s Traveling Bookshop, a local, queer-owned bookshop in New Orleans.
Published by Amorina Carlton. Award-winning American author, Amorina Carlton, is currently working on her first novel. You can find more about her published work and works in progress on the home page. She also serves as the PR/Marketing Lead for Ravens and Roses Publishing, and reviews books, mostly by other indie authors, here and on Bookstagram.