A Reason To Breathe (Reason Series Book 1)

These two...woo, no idea where to start. Well actually, we’ll start with how Jenn got into town and landed on Jack’s radar. She is a widow with a college age daughter, she wants to be in the mountains and become a reporter, her life’s dream. Jack is the fast Sheriff of the town she chooses. She’s there for a hot second when murders start happening....and that’s where the everything really starts. This book was fast paced, pretty much from the beginning. So much suspense and I loved it. I actually lost a lot of sleep reading this book...because I couldn’t put it down. #WorthIt So good. And these two were such a handful, I can’t even, honestly I can’t believe anyone could handle them, but each other. Jack had quite the colorful past, that gets brought up all the time, some of it in person no less. Again, I think only she could really put up with this. Know for a fact he wouldn’t be able to deal with it if the tables were turned....but she has her own handful qualities too *winks*...match made in heaven these two. Both stubborn handfuls and highly entertaining.Some om and ow shenanigans. Great storyline and suspense. These two had so much heat, raw and passionate. Once Jack kisses her, he knows she’s the one he’s been waiting for. I loved all the secondary characters, her partners in crime and her daughter. We get a great epilogue and an hea. This for sure is a book crack read, and series. So good, it will have you on the end of your seat and still unable to figure out what the is going on...more please.

Romantic suspense is one of my favorite genres and I love finding new to me authors that do it well. CP Smith is one such author. I went in knowing this was Ms. Smith's debut book and was totally wrapped up into the story almost immediately. While insta-love books aren't always my favorite, the attraction between Jenn and Jack doesn't feel forced or rushed, but a natural progression of the circumstances they find themselves in.Jenn picks up and moves her life after the sudden death of her husband and her daughter's departure for college. Living in the mountains of Colorado and being a journalist had always been her dream but her unexpected pregnancy at eighteen changed her reality. Moving to Colorado, she was hired on by the local paper and also pinged the radar of every man in Gunnison. Unfortunately, she'd also caught the eye of a killer. As the body count rose, so did her interaction with the very sexy sheriff, Jack Gunnison.A true alpha male in every sense of the word, he is attracted to Jenn upon their first meeting, and that leads him to want to protect her. The banter between the couple is witty, fun, and sexy. She's the first woman he's ever been challenged by. She doesn't just take his bossy tendencies, she fights back and more than anything, she understands his job isn't nine to five and doesn't want to change him. The man has had his choice of women since high school and when he sets his sights on Jenn, all hell breaks loose, personally and professionally.I loved the action in the story, the quirky characters found in the small town, the chemistry between the couple, the off the charts sexy scenes, and following the breadcrumbs. Ms. Smith set up several red herrings to lead the reader to think someone else was the killer and when the actual person is revealed it was a surprise. And just when you think there is an HEA in the wings Ms. Smith throws in more action. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

One of the best alpha male books I've ever read!Jack and Jenn are unforgettable and this story keeps you on the edge of your seat from the very first page!Jenn can't help but investigate anything and everything about the case she is following. She's a tough woman and determined and independent. I seriously admire her and love her character!Jack comes in with a bang and blew my mind. He is the sheriff and boy does he take his job seriously, but there is something about Jenn that sets him off. "Pain in my ass" as he so frequently puts it. He is an alpha that gives as much as he gets, but not in the way that makes you want to punch his lights out. You can feel the way he feels about her and WHY he is so protective and firm with her. That's what I love most about this book. It gave you the alpha hero you want without being over the top annoying. Jack is one of my favorite heroes because... well read the book and you will see. I FREAKING LOVE HIM!The suspenseful plot only adds to the already intense and steamy love story between Jack and Jenn. And with Jenn being as hardheaded as Jack, well you can imagine what happens when she does what she wants anyway. I loved reading the interactions between these two and I loved how quickly they developed feelings for each other. I'm all for the soul mates!This story will keep you turning the pages until your heart beats out of your chest. It's a thriller of a read and steamy as ever! I LOVED IT!5 stars! +++ HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!***note: I read this book a while back and have since read every book in the series as it is released. Seriously, you need to start this series because it's AMAZING!! Unforgettable!

I, like so many others I read in reviews, was disappointed in how closely the characters and situations reminded me of Kristen Ashley and being as she's my favorite author of all times I was offended for her.HOWEVER, I moved past that because the dialog between the H and h had me rolling, the writing was easy to follow and very well done and the story line kept me guessing until it was revealed.I read reviews about how the h was sooooo immature and it was unrealistic for a 39 year old to behave that way...hmmm...I'm 49 and have been told by many, including my own children, that I'm immature as hell so I thought she was A HOOT! And when she argued or tested the patience of the H I was laughing so loud my own husband raised the eyebrow at me. ;-)So I'm off to read about Jack's brother Max and I'm totally excited...if you love Kristen Ashley you'll like this book.

CP Smith was recommended to me ages ago by a friend of mine who said I would love this author’s work. I finally got around to picking up a few of her titles and Damn! I’ve so far read 2 of her books and absolutely loved them!I have one clicked another of the authors books (Property Of) and I will be reading that as soon as I get through my review list.Okay, so I am a huge fan of Alpha men and I love having suspense and mystery in the books I read… a serial killer on the loose back drop is exactly the kind of thing I love.Yes, there were a few things that were unrealistic (every guy in town thinking they were in love with Jenn was a bit much) but that’s one of the reasons we read, right? To escape reality and enter a place where anything is possible and if you can let go of reality and go with the flow then I find reading becomes more than just words on a page, It becomes a whole new world where anything is possible.Along with loving the suspense, I also love having a twist I didn’t see coming or not being able to guess who the killer is and ‘A Reason to Breath’ delivered this.The characters were really likeable; Jack was a very bossy alpha male who knew what he wanted and walked right on in and took it. Jenn was sweet and a bit naïve to the effect she has on men and a genuinely nice person who only really saw the good in people.I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to read more of the authors work.

Ok, I have some problems with this book. There were parts that I thought worked really well, but there were a lot that didn’t, and unfortunately, the negatives kinda ruined it for me.3 STARS FOR JACK & JENN'A Reason To Breathe' is the story of thirty-nine year old widow, Jennifer Stewart. When her husband dies, she moves out to Colorado to fulfil a childhood dream of living in the mountains. Her job as a journalist leads her to meet Sheriff Jack Gunnison at a murder scene.Long-story-short, it’s insta-lust/love, and both the search a whirlwind relationship and the for a serial killer begin.“Jesus, what are you doing to me?” He whispered.“Nothing,” I gasped, when his tongue circled my ear.“Baby, if that’s nothing, you’re gonna kill me when it means something.”Ok, let’s do this methodically. What did I like?- I liked Jack.– I liked the plot twists.– I liked the steamy sex.– I liked the idea.Now, what did I not like?- I didn’t like the slew of appalling grammatical errors.– I didn’t like that this was basically a cheap copy of a Kristen Ashley book.– I didn’t like that Jenn acted 19 instead of 39. And I didn’t like how irresponsible andstupid she was at times.So, yeh, as I said, I liked Jack. I just have to mention, I loved the surname Gunnison. I don’t know, I just found that really super sexy. So that worked for me.“If Jack Gunnison were pursuing me, I’d walk slow.”Jack is totally alpha male. In fact, he’s a little pathetically alpha, in all honesty. Like, Jack and Jenn have known each other for one day and he’s ready to knock out all other men in the town for just looking at her. But nevertheless, he is sexy and he is the best thing to come out of this book.'He should have a warning label on his back, “Proceed with caution; smile will dazzle you.”'He’s dedicated to his job, he takes no s*** and he fights for what he loves. He’s super bossy, as Jenn finds out pretty quickly, but he’s got a smooshy soft centre, too.“I’m not 9-5 suit material; I wear jeans; I hunt bad guys, and I rescue damsels in distress.”One thing I don’t get… the author writes the story like everyone in the town of Gunnison knows everyone. It’s one of those small town communities where everyone knows everyone’s business. So how did Jenn live there for four months before coming across Jack or even hearing anything about him?! He’s the Sheriff! And he’s hot as all get out! You’d know if a man like that was in the vacinity. And as soon as she has met him, he’s everywhere she goes and everyone is talking about him. Because obviously he’s bedded every woman in town and every female within the surrounding counties fancies the pants off of him… yada yada yada. But our little Jenn has never come across him until now. This is just one example of how things were poorly thought out.“Oh come on, is he really as good as everyone says he is? I don’t trust those other women to tell me the truth.”“What have the others said?”“That his bat is huge, and he knows how to swing it.”The plot is fast paced and action packed. It’s as much crime/mystery as it is romance. I didn’t guess the ending at all. I was way off base, which I think was the point, as the author does drop a few clues which I think were supposed to be red herrings. Well, that worked. I got it totally wrong. And I must admit, at the end of the book, I was pretty nervous as I flicked through the pages. So props for quite a climatic ending.“Thank you for giving me what I though I’d never have … A reason to breathe.”Now… moving on to my dislikes. Unfortunately.Jenn. No. Just no. I really didn’t warm to her. At one point, Jack locks her in a cell. Well, best place for her in my opinion. The woman is a danger to herself and everyone else around her. I’m sorry but there is no way on earth that you’d just go around on a jaunt with your buddy in search of a serial killer!! And if you do… well, you deserve everything that’s coming to you!I also didn’t like that she was so oblivious to all the men swooning at her feet. I mean, there’s being humble and modest and there’s being blind and oblivious!“Nothing, Babe, just wondering how many men are gonna fall in love with you before you notice.”“What are talking about, Jack? Honestly you talk in riddles sometimes.”And lastly, I really felt like I was reading an NA romance, with Jenn. For starters, her husband, who she married when she was eighteen, has just died a year ago. And she really doesn’t give him a second thought as she falls into bed with the sexy Sheriff.At one point Jenn is banging on about her high IQ. Not that I’m convinced, but if she really was gifted with a higher than average IQ, as she claims, then she certainly missed out in the common sense stakes.There were just so many things about Jenn that bugged me.However, she did have a few better moments. Her banter back and forth with Jack did make me smile at times.“Jesus, I fell for a woman who can admit when she’s wrong, swear to Christ I didn’t know they existed.” Rolling my eyes at him, he glared back me, so instead of verbalizing my thoughts I kept them to myself. So on behalf of women everywhere, I will silently say, WHATEVER!!!Now, about this being a carbon copy of a Kristen Ashley novel… Urgh, this irritated me. If I hadn’t read KA’s 'The Gamble', then I probably would have enjoyed this story more, but fact remains, I have and the similarities made me so mad. Seriously?! The author even thanks KA at the beginning of her book…'To Kristen Ashley, whose books helped me through a tough time and inspired me to write, thank you for being you, and writing books, I’ll never grow tired of.'You can’t just compliment an author in an attempt to take the sting out of you ripping their work off!! So amateur and tacky. This was one of my biggest issues with this book. Something I really love is originality in a book, and this just failed on every level in that respect.Now, my biggest issue with this book was the errors. Oh. My. Christ. This author needs to learn how to use commas, semicolons and full stops. The book needs a serious run through the editing mill. Every time I tried to let myself get lost in the story, I was dragged out of it by bad grammatical errors. I found myself re-reading sentences because the lack of commas made it impossible to work out how they were supposed to be read.'So not simple, well-done Jennifer, Jesus that man is overpowering.''But I’d be lying to myself if he knocked on my door tomorrow, I’d be thrilled of course he was alive, but it would be a lie to go back to him…'The author has an annoying habit of flicking back and forth between past and present tenses within the same freakin’ sentence.'I became a mindless idiot when he touches me.'She/he (she, I assume) also totally rapes the semicolon on many occasions and there were some laughable spelling mistakes, too.'I pushed my hands threw my hair.''One time I needed that women to have her phone on her; I’d found it sitting on my kitchen counter.'God, if you follow my reviews you’ll know that I hardly ever write really ranty reviews and I really hate to just beat on writers, because I know that every book we read is somebodies baby. Somebodies work of art. I always try to be completely honest, whilst not slagging anybody off and keeping the tastes of my blog followers at the forefront of my mind. But I really feel like this was a sloppy, lazy effort from this author and I have to say, having read some great reviews, I was extremely disappointed.I’ll be quiet now, but I wouldn’t recommend this book.Have you read it? Tell us what you thought?‘A Reason To Breathe’ Statistics• Steam Rating (out of 5): ♥♥♥• Ending: HEA• Length: 312 pages• Narrative: Alternates between Jack and Jenn’s POVs.• Series: ✗• Can this be read as a standalone? Yes• Themes:MurderMystery• WARNING. This book includes…Sexual content. Murder. Kidnap. Violence.• Writing: PoorReview by Smitten's Book Blog

I really enjoyed this book. The best part was the lack of drama between the two main characters, the straight-forwardness of their relationship, the lack of petty misunderstandings that plagues many other romance stories. More than anything though, the murder subplot was actually really interesting and didn't feel like something chucked in just to pad out the book a little.After a couple of dramatic subplots that made me decide to categorise this as a romantic-thriller, there was a wonderfully prolonged and satisfying happy ending, which, although probably unnecessary, was just delightful for my inner romantic. As a bonus, the sex scenes were deliciously steamy. I will definitely be reading the sequels.

A really great story. I liked the fact there was a murder mystery as well as a smoking hot relationship.I felt like the only thing that ruined it for me was the bonus ending. It got a little bit weird.Other than that the characters and story was great.

Really enjoyed the story between Jack and Jenn. The story has a twist which I didn't see coming. Jack is an alpha hot male who is the Sheriff who meets newcomer Jenn, a sexy journalist and sparks fly with lots of steamy sex. People keep comparing or referring to Kristen Ashley's books which I think is a but unfair, yes, there is a kidnapping, but, I thought this book by C P Smith was fab, certainly didn't want to put it down and the other two books in the series just get better!!