Gifted

Breathless #1

by Savannah Kade

Tech god Christian Weaver has always loved teachers. Only, this time, he’s afraid he’s going to fall in love with one…

Christian is brilliant, wealthy … and socially awkward. While everyone wants to throw gobs of money at him to write code and develop apps, no one can tell him how to understand people.

Riley Zayat has landed her dream job, if not her dream life. She's worked too hard to give up everything for the overly forthright and too-smart-for-his-own-good Christian.

Welcome to Breathless, Georgia! Southern romance with deep roots, twisted pasts, and big dreams.  This is steamy, dreamy romance—perfect for fans of Brenda Novak’s Whiskey Creek series or Nora Roberts' Inn Boonsboro trilogy.

Can this modern-day Mr. Darcy win over a woman who has no time for him?

Read Gifted now!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Novella, Fiction, Steamy

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 6, 2019

About the author

💜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙀𝙑𝙀 𝗶𝗻 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀
🍷 find the BOOK BOYFRIEND that will stick with you
🏆 WINNER of Maggie and NEST awards / Stiletto Finalist!
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https://www.savannahkade.com/book-ser...
𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝. 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨. 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙!

Reviews

[Kristi Hudecek-Ashwill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't what I was hoping it would be. From the blurb, I knew Christian was socially awkward--and he was--but I wasn't expecting Riley to treat him like a child with special needs rather than a man who was intellectually gifted. I hated how she made excuses for him, "That's just Christian," and how she tried to fit him into this little box that he was never meant to be in. On the surface, she was openly accepting of him and in the next breath, she's slamming the door in his face (figuratively) because he said or did something that was too intense for her. I don't know where she was coming from because he did nothing wrong. Not one thing. He was being Christian because he didn't know how else to be. She made him feel like he was okay and then suddenly he wasn't. Not anymore.

Riley. Oh man, for being a teacher of a gifted class, she sure was dumb. I didn't like her at all. I thought she was superficial and petty. Her hang up with him buying things for her and spending more money on the relationship than she was just flat irritated me. I didn't like her diatribe on testing in the schools, since it had zero to do with the story. I didn't particularly enjoy her stereotyping of Southern belles, since that didn't push the plot any further, either. And the way she flipped on him made me want to shake her. Suffice it to say, she'd be doing a whole lot of groveling.

The bottom line is both characters were one-dimensional and had the emotions of paper dolls. There aren't any real descriptions of either character, although we do know she is of Middle Eastern heritage and he is a swimmer with brown hair. We find out at 87% that he has moss green eyes. Other than that, nothing. I didn't care about either one of them, although I liked him far more than I liked her.

As for romance, I love the genre. I read more romances than any other genre and yes, I do skip from genre to genre. This one failed me on every level. I love the tension that builds up between characters, going for that first kiss, the first time they do the be-bop, the first time they say I love you. In this book, we find out AFTER it's all over with. Christian kissed her, but we don't find that out until the next chapter. He spent the night at her house. Again, we find out in the next chapter. He told her he loved her. Next chapter, complete with her baseless theatrics. I'm sorry, but that doesn't work for me. I don't need a Rated R or bigger rating for that. I'm okay with a PG-13 or even a PG. But I want to be there when it happens. I don't want to see idiotic Riley languishing in the memory of it. It does nothing to pull at my heartstrings. Getting that pull is the biggest reason I read romances. I got none of that in this book. If it wasn't for the gratuitous cursing that doesn't even fit well in the story, this could be a YA romance.

I don't mean to come down so hard on any book. I know how much hard work, blood, sweat, and tears go into writing a novel, but this wasn't really a romance to me. Maybe it could be Women's Fiction or something, but not romance.

Many will enjoy it. I just didn't. I was ready to throw in the towel at 52%, but kept going, hoping something would change. It just didn't. Sadly. I had such high hopes for this book.

Oh, and this cover. The one where the man is holding a ring case behind his back. Where did that come from? It's not like it happened in the book. Give me the cover with the guy with the messy hair and the glasses any day.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon & on iBooks today (3/1/2020)! 🎁

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful story about a teacher of gifted students, her students and the very talented man she falls in love with. I have a soft spot for gifted kids.
Shame it was in need of editing.
A clean romance. There was sex but it wasn’t explicit.

[Riddhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian and Riley are the sweetest couple. It's hard not to fall in love with them. This is a great book and I totally loved everything in it.

[Natward1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have ranked this a little higher but I hated the conflict that was created and how it was handled. It was dumb and felt lazy to me. It made me really dislike Riley a lot. She created this huge deal over something that shouldn’t have been a big deal. And put poor Christian through hell because of it. He had done nothing wrong and she just abandons him. It’s fine to have an issue with the things she did, but she went way overboard just so the author could have some excuse to break them up.

I liked both characters up until the conflict though. One thing that made me cringe though was when Riley asked Christian if he had autism like right after they met. It just felt so out of place and unnecessary at that point. Especially because he ISNT autistic! It just didn’t sit right. Plus, later on in the book Christian is privately gushing over Riley and says he loves that she not only doesn’t mind his weirdness, but she doesn’t even notice it. But I’m like, uuhhh, doesn’t notice it?? She asked you if you were autistic after only knowing u for a few hours!! So yeah she noticed it haha. It made her seem less genuine and like, less like the person Christian is describing her to be. I’d rather have her be that person Christian is talking about.

Overall this book is a cute little read. Kind of boring and has a more middle aged feel to it. A lot of what happens is in her classroom with her elementary kids, so you can imagine how exciting that is haha. The rest is listening to them monologuing about their feelings about each other and everything that’s happening. And a few important things that happen are told from a perspective of looking back at it. Instead of having us experience it with the characters. Which is extremely strange to me. I’d rather go through things with the characters, instead of them explaining it to me like a journal. It doesn’t make for a natural storytelling flow either when only parts of the story are told like this. For example, the two are on a date, we are experiencing their date with them, but then the next thing you know they’re waking up in bed together the next day and whoever’s pov it is goes over what happened to get them to that point. It’s kinda anticlimactic and unengaging.

[Kristina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Riley brought nothing to this book...shes self center annoying twat.

most of this book is Christian trying to make her happy and she rejecting everything because of her own stupid reason, ie, oh he bought me cider, hes trying to control me with gift, girl is 3 cans of cider, it prob cost £5 relax.

them having "happy everything after" ruined this book. they should have stayed separately after she walked out on him.

[Jen Carambula · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 70%.
If you’re going to put in the blurb that a book is steamy and I read it and there’s no spice I will be mad. Also, what’s with the scenes where they have their first kiss, their first time being a recap? Like the FMC remembers that it happened instead of showing it the moment it happened. And do t get me started with the constant use of “oh she’s a southern Belle” ok we get it you’re in the south and all the girls there are southern belles. So annoying. I thought that I maybe wa some but when I could t deal with this book anymore I came here and found people complaining about the same stuff so I did what I never do… I dnf’d.
This book is a short read and even with as little pages as it has it was endless and pretty boring. Took me two days to get to 70% and could t do it anymore.

[Arooj H · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I've read. The writing is awful, the characters have no personality, and most of the relationship happens between chapters. The story is written in a weird past-tense way where characters recount important events in the book after they have happened rather than the reader going through it with the characters.

I really don't understand the 4 star rating this book has and it makes me very suspect of the reviewers.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. Quick read. I enjoyed the characters. I appreciated the fact that this story touched on children (and potentially adults) across the Autism Spectrum Disorder, while still maintaining a light and interesting read. My first time reading this author.

[Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a freebie that sounded interesting and it was although there were a couple things that really bugged me. But first, what I enjoyed. I loved the premise - a matchmaking mama who voluntold her son to help out in a gifted classroom at their local school. He himself was gifted, having skipped a few grades and made his first millions before he even graduated HS(?) because he sold an app. He worked in Silicon Valley but has since moved back to their small town to be closer to family. Christian reads as on the spectrum - he's very direct and literal, is socially awkward, highly intellectual, has sensory sensitivities when it comes to clothes - and Riley asks him if he's ever been tested, to which he replies yes but it was negative, although he concedes the test could have been wrong. And Riley is a committed, diligent teacher who grew up in northern California and studied to become a gifted teacher because she wanted to be the teacher that she never had. There's a great conversation she has with Christian about how teaching isn't intuitive for her - she pays attention and observes the behaviour of her kids and asks questions to understand what may have changed to cause them to act out. There are some really great scenes with the kids as the first half of the book is Christian and Riley engaging in her class with the kids so if you don't like kids in your HEA, maybe pass on this one.
What bugged me was the whole Southern Belle discussion and what makes a Southern Belle, which made me uncomfortable, and the biggest pet peeve what Riley breaking things off because Christian is rich and can afford to buy nice things - the straw that broke the camel's back was expensive tickets to a concert she wanted to see - and how she wanted to be an equal contributor in the relationship. Which is DUMB. I was reminded of how well the difference in financial security was dealt with in Morning Glory Milking Farm and was just annoyed here. Christian is a millionaire, you know that when you got into a relationship with him and of course he's going to be able to afford nice things and want to enjoy them and have you share in that experience with him. And then there was the fact that he said I love you first - after 5 wks dating - because she didn't trust his feelings...when a couple weeks ago, she thought to herself that Christian was direct and honest, so she trusted him when he told her things, something that she didn't experience in her past relationships.
This could have been a 4 or 5 star read given how it started but it totally flopped on the landing.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the hero in this book, Christian Weaver. He's not the kind of man you are expecting, but that's the best part of all. He's as blunt as you can be, but never in a mean way. You know exactly what he is thinking and what he says is what he means. No messing around here - he tells it like it is. He knows "his value," but isn't arrogant or conceited. Just like his manner of speaking, he is what he is. But wait! This is a totally good thing, because he isn't a player, just a good man that without wanting to has maybe found the perfect woman for him. Riley Zayat, is a teacher that he has met when he starts doing volunteer work at the local elementary school. The group of children he is helping with are "gifted," just like him, so he totally understands them. And Riley seems to understand him too. She's is attracted to him, but is conflicted because even though he is not a parent of one of the children, he is a volunteer in her classroom and she doesn't want to jeopardize her "dream job" of working with gifted children. But her two best friends convince her that this shouldn't be a problem and she begins seeing Christian outside of the classroom. The reader is totally into this couple's easy relationship, but then Riley starts overthinking the relationship and that's when things start going sideways. You ask yourself, why do people sabotage a great relationship with all their hangups. You're hoping for a HEA for these two and getting there is a bit of a roller coaster. Definitely enjoyed reading this and after being introduced to some of the secondary characters from Breathless, Georgia, you want to read the rest of the series. A stand alone book that is worth the three or so hours it will take to read. 5 stars for this book and a 10 for the hot, gifted man that is Christian Weaver!

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sweet, charming and delightful romance story and I highly recommend it. Whilst this is part of the Breathless Georgia series, it can be read as a standalone. As this is the first time I’ve read this Author, I had no issues picking up the back storyline of the prominent family and their other characters that live in this small southern town in Georgia.

This story centres on Riley who is a teacher for gifted children, many of whom are on the spectrum, and Christian, a highly successful volunteer who agrees to mentor in the program. Christian is a tech genius millionaire. Whilst he tested otherwise, he is also highly functioning on the Autism or Aspergers spectrum. It was a beautiful story between two people who strive to understand each other’s needs. Christian and Riley are a beautiful couple. How Christian tries to connect to others is part of the allure of this story and his inner dialogue is extremely insightful. I plan on reading the rest of the series to revisit with these characters and town again.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was able to snag a digital copy of this book for free and I am so thankful to the author for that opportunity.

I actually did enjoy this book and found it an easy read. So why just a 3 rating?

For me a "3" means that I enjoyed the book and did not find it a difficult read, but I also won't race out to get a physical copy.

I did find it easy to read and I enjoyed reading a book that includes imperfect characters. I also liked the discussion of what it means to be gifted, neurodivergent, etc. interwoven through the plot. However, Riley's reaction to a certain event, in the book, put me off a bit because without giving too much a way...if you truly can't trust the judgment of someone because of their life experience, mental capabilities, etc , it seems almost predatory to be involved with them in other ways. But that nitpick aside, I did enjoy the story and would read more books in this series or from this author.

[Elizabeth Castle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yesterday I finished Gifted by Savannah Kade. The hero is an awkward genius, and not a typical hero, though I could be wrong there, as I likely read books with more “typical” ones. He finds himself falling for Riley, a teacher who teaches gifted students, and Christian is there to volunteer, which at first he is not happy about. A love story unfolds. I have to say, I felt back for Christian as the story hit the relationship hits the skids; Riley was wrong, and glad she admits it.

Overall I enjoyed the story. Not my usual style, and not spicy, which I prefer, though the cover made me think it would be. I generally skip over the “love” scenes when they’re a bit too up close and personal. I like the scenes where it’s there, but not quiet as explicit. I think she had a nice balance. I would recommend it as a nice, light read.

[Tisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christian Weaver has always appreciated his teachers growing up. Now he is volunteering for one that seems to understand his character & social awkwardness. Basically a tech Nerd! He is willing to help the gifted children in her class with their projects. What happens when he falls in love with the kind, caring teacher.
Christian can easily write code for companies. But can he learn to understand people.

Riley Zayat has landed her dream job, but can she win an amazing life with a hard working, wealthy nerd.
Can she trust Christian when he says he loves her. Or will she just believe its to soon. Because he's never been in love before. Can Riley & Christian have a future together.
Southern roots & manners but can the twisted pasts & big dreams become one happily ever after. Just wish there was another steamy love scene

[Hayleigh Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian is “volun-told” by his mother to assist in a gifted program at the local elementary school. Possibly on the autism spectrum, he’s always been gifted himself when it comes to computer programming and technology, but struggles with social interactions. Still, he’s drawn to the teacher who oversees the program, Riley, and finds himself enjoying his time with her and the kids.

Gifted may be my favorite book I’ve read all year. In Riley and Christian, the author creates complex characters with depth and backstories, and their relationship feels genuine with real issues, rather than the contrived, typical tropes you struggle to get a break from these days. I’ll definitely be picking up additional works by this talented writer.

[Carla Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good read!

Let me first tell you that I totally enjoyed this book, not only was it a complex relationship due to the MMC (Christian) intelligence, money and struggles but the FMC (Riley) preconceived and precondition world/relationship views. It was (to me at least) an interesting view and very educational when it comes to the mind of someone that has not only a brilliant mind but that is socially challenged or awkward, possibly on the spectrum. Navigating through that and his counterpart ability to understand him, makes this a great storyline. I loved it really, not steamy at all like the description says though. It’s a good and fairly clean read. I’d say spicy level one of five. Loved it and recommend it.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book about two geeky super intelligent people who are very attracted to each other. Both Riley (a special needs teacher for gifted children) and Christian (an IT specialist) are very endearing characters and I really enjoyed their interactions. Christian is very socially awkward and his internal dialogue was so amusing, it made him all the more likeable. Riley was lovely though lacking in self confidence and self worth but it made her all the more relatable. It was a sweet, clean romance though sexual relations are mentioned (not in detail) and I rate this book a 4.5*

[Mzlegz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riley and Christian were too funny to watch...literal laughter. I loved Christian’s brutal honesty and straightforwardness. How refreshing to take someone at their word but I did cringe at his social graces...well the lack of them. What he didn’t know, he tried anyway. Just being thoughtful and selfless worked in his favor!

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Darlene]

Beautiful story!

Loved this story! It grabbed my attention from the minute I read the blurb! Christian reminds me so much of one of my kids. The relationship between him and Riley was amazing and I hope my child finds someone to love them like Riley. I loved the story especially Christian's point of view, but the entire book was beautiful and so lovely. Gave me all the feels and I need more of this couple!

[Anet Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet story concept but the 3rd act breakup...

This story was very sweet and beautiful and I loved the fact that the characters were people who were socially awkward or limited but the female character should have known better than to have such a bad reaction to something so simple in the 3rd act breakup having already mentioned that she had studied different types of behaviors and social awkwardness. That part just didn't make sense.

[Kayla Harless · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book and the look into Christian’s different abilities! This has helped me see how it’s possible to have a relationship despite these different abilities. Also it was wonderful seeing how Riley took the differences and was able to effectively communicate and make a life with him!

Thank you for this! Also I would love to pick your brain on the research you did for this book!

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a Georgia girl so any book written based in a town in Georgia is amazing! However ever I love Savannah Kade so that is a bonus!
I love that the town names mentioned are real towns local to me! while Breathless is fictional other towns mentioned are in fact real!
I love that Savannah wrote a book about someone a little bit different and not "normal"
I love that the book gets it's HEA in the end!

[Stephanie Bolen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not steamy still good

Fade to black mostly with one love scene. Not anything anyone in their right mind would call steamy. But it is heartwarming and a really cute story with an autistic main character, insta-love, and just a dang good story. I cried. There needed to be more groveling. But there was a lesson about really listening and paying attention that most everyone can use to improve their relationships.

[Caila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed this romance, and the small town feel, but I couldn’t get on board with the conflict at the end of the book. It was miscommunication at its worst, and it caused me to dock a star. Overall, a really sweet romance. I like that she is a teacher, and that we get to actually see that job, and how big of a role it played in their relationship. It felt real!

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good story about two young people that meet by accident(maybe by mother interference) and they fall in love. They are not emotionally ready they fumble and they figure it out. It is the journey they take to get there just read it yourself because the obstacles are many and something lots of people don’t have to deal with.

[Dulcie Armbrister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different in a good way

I like the fact that Ms. Kade stayed away from the ordinary, run-of-the-mill characters; Christian is not your normal stereotype millionaire. It was exciting to see what he would do next or respond in a situation. Loved that this romantic novel was different from those I've read in the past.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Determination and trust is the key

I love how Savannah has spin the story of Riley and Christian! I love the way Riley helps the gifted children to reach their potential. I hated it when she was running away from Christian. She understood how Christian's mind works and yet she freaked out! Christian shows to be a saint here!!!

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

good story

Christian has moved back to his home town and his mother has volunteered him to help in a class for gifted children that is where teacher Riley meets him and is taken by his thoughtfulness with the students also by him as well Christian liking her is out of his element being socially awkward at times this all makes for a wonderful story with excellent characters.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Christian, and I started out liking Riley, but then she got irrational. She worried about the stupidest things, and I couldn’t relate at all, so it just felt like the conflict was made up just to have a conflict. It was so unrealistic! Insisting that people fall in love on a specific timeline and panicking because he fell in love sooner just makes no sense at all. Ugh!