Review: Breathe, Annie, Breathe (Hundred Oaks #5) by Miranda Kenneally

Title: Breathe, Annie, Breathe (Hundred Oaks #5)
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Series: Yes
Finished or ARC: ARC
Source: I won it

Goodreads: Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can’t escape the guilt that if she hadn’t broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she’s at war with her body, her mind—and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms…and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.

Review:

The first thing that really hit me when I read this book is how far along the characters from the first book, Catching Jordan, are. Jordan is now the coach for Hundred Oaks football team and the Health teacher. Sam is an SEC agent for the Titans. I hope in the next book see more of them. Then there is Matt Brown and his fiance, Kate, from Things I Can't Forget. Matt is a big part of Annie's goal. What I hate is that he went for a literature degree, and now he's not doing much with it. (Well, maybe he's writing a book that Kenneally didn't tell us about). I'm happy he's engaged to Kate though. 

Anyway, I loved this book. Annie is a great character and running a marathon for her dead boyfriend is amazing. It's sad how he died, but it's amazing what Annie is doing to honor him. What I hate is how she feels guilty about what happened. It's like when a person feels horrible for something bad that is not directly related to them, but they find that one little thing that gives them enough reason to feel guilty. I don't like people who do that to themselves.

The dynamics of Franklin, TN, really has affected the characters of the Hundred Oaks series. There was Parker, and how the Christians of the town looked down on her lesbian mother, which in turn turned Parker into who she was. Then there is Ty, who didn't like hand outs since he was poor. And now Annie, with the way her friendship with her former best friend turned out. It's sad to see what did happen to their friendship, but what really ticked me off was Annie didn't express how she felt about her situation with her friend. 

Jeremiah. I'd probably have a relationship with him like the one Annie did. I'd love him for how free and fun-loving his personality is, but I would be deathly afraid he's going to get himself killed from what he does to earn money (no, it's not the Mafia or stripping). His relationship with Annie is a complicated one. Yes, complicated. I said it. Annie has issues and Jeremiah has issues. Jeremiah is more willing to fight through his than Annie is, but Jeremiah helps her get through them. What I loved is that he is willing to do what Annie wants to do without pushing her. 

There is much comedy in this book. It's mostly Jeremiah, but every now and then Annie thinks of something funny.

I loved (can you tell how much I love the Hundred Oaks series?) how besides the characters from the first three books, we get to see the characters from the previous book, Racing Savannah. Tie-ins, they are great.

Now I have to sit and wait a YEAR for the next one, Best Day Ever. Though I'm disappointed this doesn't include the title character's name (like Catching Jordan, Stealing Parker, Racing Savannah), at least I know her name and her love interest's name: Maya and Jesse. You can find them here: Hundred Oaks Peep Diorama 

Rating:

The Big Kahuna

Cover: 

Not a fan of the clouds for the background.