Deep Breaths

by Angela Edmonds

In part one of this three-part saga, Marie is a timid 22-year-old woman with a past that would make a therapist throw up their hands, frustrated before they admit defeat and send her away. Main stream media has aided in her self-loathing; she can’t bear to pretend she loves, or even endures, the person in the mirror. Ian, a striking man with a freckled past himself, takes a special interest in Marie. He resents her self-deprecating tendencies and implores her, with his dominant and sexy demeanor, to see herself as he sees kind, soft hearted, beautiful and worth loving. From the moment he lays eyes on her his want for her is tangible. His blue-green golden flecked eyes and large, scarred, hands pry the insecurities from her body and occasionally her cloths with them. Marie’s uncertainties and anxieties chase her through the pages, clawing at her ankles, as she attempts to perceive herself as a person worthy of love. She fails, constantly and frustratingly. Quick to disregard any hope of a relationship with Ian, until, she doesn’t. She finally finds the will to overcome the obstacles, both real and imagined. Only to be metaphorically kicked in the ass, causing her to fall face first into the ditch of misery. Her world is muted, edges of vision fuzzy and a quarry of rocks settle deep in her middle. The attempts of her dearest friend and mother, to dig her from her self built crypt, are futile. She will always be, a little too big and a lot too clumsy. Shuffling her feet, with her back against the wall, a 500-foot cliff in front of her, and only a 2-foot ledge to walk upon. She has two Allow herself to fall into the void or learn to fly, and there’s not much time to choose.

347 pages, Paperback

Published August 13, 2017