Just Breathe is the final installment and namesake of the Just Breathe Series by Martha Sweeney including in order; Breathe In, Breathe Out and Just Breathe. The stories introduce the reader to Emma Peterson and her friends and adopted family. Emma was orphaned at the age of sixteen, but we join her story during her twenty-fourth year of life. Since that tragedy, Ms. Peterson has managed to escape the confines of New Jersey to land in Southern California, build a new family of her own and a successful online business that has made her independently wealthy. Her wealth is focused on her new family and friends in an effort to protect them and herself from her darkest fears. Emma’s controlling nature and dark secrets manifest in nightmares that physically rack her body and obsessive behaviors that test her friends’ love and patience. The first book in the series, Breathe In, lures the reader in with an explanation of Emma’s Eight Golden Rules for dating men. These rules are an extension of her controlling nature and fear. She holds tight to the rules in an effort to keep herself safe from the pain of loss, until Joe Covelli comes along. Joe manages to cling to Emma longer than any other man before and persists in patiently convincing Ms. Peterson to break each of her rules.
Breathe Out explores Emma’s struggle with this uncontrollable desire for Joe Covelli and her experimentation with the development of any kind of lasting relationship with a male partner. By convincing herself that it’s just good fun, she’s able to rationalize all the boundaries Joe Covelli manages to break through.
Just Breathe brings the series to a close with a huge explosion of excitement, character development, drama, intensity and depth that combines to provide the perfect conclusion for an amazingly well written story. Emma finally succumbs completely to Joe’s charisma, longing and deep love for her while growing beyond her wildest expectations. With Joe, and her friends’ help, Emma Peterson finally faces her demons fully and moves forward with her own life.
While Emma and Joe are the main subjects of Martha Sweeney’s tale, the supporting cast is just as intriguing. Maggie, Henry, Jared and Nathan provide the stable foundation for Emma and Joe to build their new relationship and new family on. There are many more vital characters throughout all three books, but Emma’s closest core play the largest part in bringing Joe and Emma together at long last. Each of these supporting actors have real depth and clarity of personality. They come to life vibrantly and make the entire drama much more realistic and believable. Martha has the uncanny ability to describe the subtle human nuances of very different character traits without ever lifting the veil of fantasy. Tying all these complex, interwoven motives and human desires so seamlessly together is nothing short of literary brilliance.
Closing out Emma and Joe’s story with Just Breathe is a bitter sweet final chapter. All the surprises, excitement, tension, explosive release and human drama that Martha Sweeney manages to capture in these books has caused me to feel intimately woven into the characters’ stories and lives. They’ve become very real to me and I don’t want their stories to end. It’s far too beautiful to leave behind. Real and lasting growth takes time. Real and meaningful love takes commitment. Just Breathe finally realizes that growth and love for all Martha’s characters. Emma, Joe, Maggie, Henry, Jared and Nathan have taken up permanent residence in my heart thanks to Martha Sweeney’s extraordinary ability to write. My life is much richer with this wonderful example of life and love.