CAN’T HARDLY BREATHE
Series: The Original Heartbreakers #4
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Gena Showalter
Release Date: August 29, 2017
New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter returns with an irresistible Original Heartbreakers story about a woman who’s never felt desired and the man who wants her more than air to breathe…
Bullied in high school, Dorothea Mathis’s past is full of memories she’d rather forget. But there’s one she can’t seem to shake—her longstanding crush on former Army Ranger Daniel Porter. Now that the sexy bad boy has started using her inn as his personal playground, she should kick him out…but his every heated glance makes her want to join him instead.
Daniel returned to Strawberry Valley, Oklahoma to care for his ailing father and burn off a little steam with no strings attached. Though he craves the curvy Dorothea night and day, he’s as marred by his past as she is by hers. The more he desires her, the more he fears losing her.
But every sizzling encounter leaves him desperate for more, and soon Daniel must make a choice: take a chance on love or walk away forever.
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Daniel, having served multiple tours of duty, had come back a hero.His life had meaning, hers didn’t. He and two of his friends had started a security company right here in Strawberry Valley. He took care of his ailing father, and in his free time he dated a plethora of city girls.
Dorothea knew about the girls because he’d stayed at the inn every time a date had ended…successfully.
Her flush returned full force as she considered the other five rooms he’d wrecked since his return…all the pleasure he’d been having…all the pleasure she wished she could experience.
Not with him, of course. With someone she liked and respected. Someone who liked and respected her, too, despite the fact that she was still too round for society’s unhealthy standards, a lot too freckled and trapped in a dead-end job.
Daniel Porter would never qualify.
Dorothea found him attractive, yes, but to her, appearance would never outshine personality.
My man must be my equal. She had a lot of love to give. She’d even grown to like herself…kind of. Maybe. Fine, she was trying to like herself.
Avoiding Daniel’s gaze, she said, “No, you stay. I’ll go.” Words her mother had drilled into her shouted inside her head: the customer comes first. “I’ll finish your room later.” She rolled the vacuum toward her cart.
“You live here, right?” he asked. “You own the inn?”
“I… Yes.” Technically she lived in the attic. The more rooms she had available for guests, the more money she would make. At least in theory.
Money was the number one reason she cleaned the pigsties herself, rather than hiring a maid. She was saving her pennies to turn every plain, ordinary room into a themed paradise. Then Strawberry Valley residents would happily pay to stay just for fun.
Again, in theory.
So far she’d decided on six themes. (1) Four seasons—the weather, not the hotel chain. (2) An enchanted forest. (3) A techno dance club. (4) The underwater world of Atlantis. (5) A royal palace. And (6) an inner sanctum, aka a superhero’s wet dream.
Also up for consideration? A beach hut, an igloo, an insane asylum for her more daring patrons and a desert oasis.
With twenty-three rooms in total, she needed other ideas fast. And more money. A lot more money.
Maybe, when the transformations were completed, the feeling of accomplishment would finally chase away her anger and bitterness. Maybe she would feel alive. Happy.
“If any part of your stay was subpar,” she said, “I will personally—”
“No, everything has been great.” He looked over his shoulder and winked at her. “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to get into trouble with the boss.”
Every pulse point in her body leaped with excitement. He’d winked at her. Her!
I think you’re perfect just the way you are.
Red alert! She would not read more into his words than he’d intended. Not this time. He was a flirt, plain and simple. Always had been, apparently always would be.
“Why would I get in trouble?” she asked.
“For not finishing the room.”
Oh. Right. “Well, as long as you plan to come back to the inn, I won’t fire myself. Not because I’m desperate to see you or anything,” she added in a rush. “I’m not.” Dang it! “I mean, I’m always glad to see you here. I mean, I just want your money.” Okay. Enough!
He laughed, his amber eyes twinkling.
Air caught in her throat and sizzled. He had the sexiest laugh on the planet. His entire face softened. He pulsed with new life; fresh and vibrant, he was the epitome of spring.
Then he frowned, as if he couldn’t believe he’d found humor in, well, anything.
Her brow furrowed with confusion. Why the doom and gloom?
“In that case,” he said, his tone flat, “I think I’ll stay another night.”
“Really?” She licked her lips. “What about your girlfriend?”
He stiffened. “She isn’t my—”
“No, don’t tell me. I’m sorry I asked. Your love life isn’t my business.”
“I live in Strawberry Valley. My love life is everyone’s business.”
His wry tone made her chuckle, and he stiffened all over again. Great. What had she done wrong this time?
“I’ll be alone tonight,” he said, looking anywhere but at her. “Apparently I hover over my dad when I’m home, so he’s asked for another night off. But I swear to you, this room will be clean in the morning.”
She snorted. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “Doubting Dottie.” A pause, then, “Would you like a cup of coffee before you go?”
“Oh, uh, no, thank you.” While she no longer viewed Daniel through the wounded eyes of high school betrayal— he’d been a nice boy doing a nice thing for a vulnerable girl in desperate need of a white knight—she’d endured too much heartbreak over the years to risk getting to know him better and reigniting her crush.
Look at the way she’d reacted to him already.
He appeared…disappointed? No, of course not. A trick of the light, surely. “Well. See you around, Daniel.”
“Yeah. See you around, Dottie.” He returned his attention to his toiletry bag, dismissing her.
Irritation had her snapping, “My name is Dorothea.”
Before he could respond, she stepped into the hall and closed the door with a soft snick. Hands trembling, she hooked the vacuum to the cart and rolled the cargo to the supply room…where her younger sister Holly was smoking a cigarette.
Nightmares didn’t really come to life. Nor did pornos. Not that she watched those…very often. But dang it, this had to be one or the other. The sexiest man on the planet had just strode into the room. He was shirtless, sweat glistening on his eight pack—and his name was Daniel Porter. The Daniel.
I love an underdog heroine with a backbone and who’s full of sass and witty banter. I love a broody hero that goes after what he wants with single minded intent. I love Gena Showalter’s humorous writing. I love a delicious slow burn. And I LOVED this book! SO HARD.
Dorothea Mathis was a heroine that was impossible not to love. I remember being intrigued by her in The Hotter You Burn and she completely stole the show here. Bullied in high school, she still feels the remnants of it with her self esteem. But the one memory that truly bruised her heart was of the boy that she fell for in high school that proved to her that while nice guys exist, she’s never going to be the one of the pretty girls that gets his attention.
Now she’s older, wiser, and no longer the naive girl she once was. A failed marriage only served to drive home the point that a passionate love is something that will always allude her. She tried chasing her dreams but her choices led her back to her small hometown, licking her wounds, running her family’s failing inn, and trying to regain the trust and love of her snarky and grumpy teenage sister. The last man she expects to darken the doorstep of her inn is the one boy that she never forgot, that now grew into a man that makes her heart beat even faster in her presence.
Former army ranger Daniel uses women to escape memories. A sweaty nights between the sheets with no strings attached is his version of therapy. He’s always had a thing for the beautiful Dorothea, but she refuses to be just another notch on his bedpost and that only serves to intrigue him more.
This book had some of the most delicious banter I’ve read in a while. It was humorous and sexy and ridiculously fun. I loved how hard Daniel chased and I loved the way that Dorothea really made him work for it. She may be the underdog, but she’s no pushover. She’s got sass for days but her vulnerability served to make her so incredibly endearing. I couldn’t get enough of these two.
There’s also a slew of secondary characters that are introduced that I’m already hooked on, line and sinker. Especially the womanizing bad boy, Brock.
“I saw you bend over earlier. Yours are tighter, doll.” His gaze swept over her, his eyes twinkling. “Tsk-tsk. Haven’t been to church in a while, have we.”
I absolutely adored this slow burn romance. I loved watching Daniel fall harder and harder even if he refused to acknowledge the fact. I loved watching Dorothea really come into her own and grow into a sassy, confident woman that finally goes after what she wants.
I’m absolutely giddy for more in this series. GIDDY. Yes, it’s slightly campy, but in the best possible way. It was steamy rom com perfection. If a feel-good romance with plenty of laughs, amazing banter, and swoon for days is what you’re craving, Can’t Hardly Breathe will deliver in spades. I loved every page of it.
Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the spellbinding Lords of the Underworld and Angels of the Dark series, two young adult series–Everlife and the White Rabbit Chronicles–and the highly addictive Original Heartbreakers series. In addition to being a National Reader’s Choice and two time RITA nominee, her romance novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan (Red Hot Read) and Seventeen magazine, she’s appeared on Nightline and been mentioned in Orange is the New Black–if you ask her about it, she’ll talk for hours…hours! Her books have been translated in multiple languages.
She’s hard at work on her next novel, a tale featuring an alpha male with a dark side and the strong woman who brings him to his knees. You can learn more about Gena, her menagerie of rescue dogs, and all her upcoming books at genashowalter.com or Facebook.com/genashowalterfans
Thank you so much! Jessica, InkSlinger PR