“On the outside, you’re absolutely identical, but on the inside, it’s like you’re polar opposites.”Nick Merrick. The other twin. The quiet one. The calm one. The one always in the background.
Don’t get me wrong. I love all of the Merrick brothers and I adore Nick but he was never really featured in the other books as much as his siblings. He would appear, give his words of calm and wisdom, and then trickle out. So it was hard to really get a sense of who he was. Then came Breathless.
I think this may be my favorite of all the novellas released so far. The other two were glimpses of the past; this one took place in the present, immediately following Spark. Nick is currently dating Quinn and school has been canceled because of the fire in the library. Quinn, who I wasn’t very fond of in the past books, spends her days practicing dancing in order to avoid her family. Nick spends his days pouring over college applications and essays, struggling with decisions about his future.
When Quinn needs a ride home from dance practice, the ever gracious Nick goes to pick her up. There he meets, Adam, a friend of Quinn’s and a fellow dancer. Adam immediately rattles Nick, stirring up something inside that Nick’s been pushing away. When the two are thrown together to rescue a drunken Quinn, Nick isn’t quite sure how to act and he starts to close up, not wanting to think about what everything means.
"What’s with the twenty questions?”
Adam looked out the window. “I thought we were having a conversation.”
Yeah – if a conversation was like stumbling along a dark hallway, wondering what your hands would find if you reached out.
I loved, loved, loved everything about this novella. I didn’t even mind Quinn. I actually liked seeing a little of her home life. It gave her more substance and I could finally understand some of her attitude. I was instantly drawn to Adam. His easy-going personality and his openness about who he really is made it effortless to fall under his spell. But it was Nick and his inner struggle that won my heart. Kremmerer wrote him so honest, so confused and so torn that you just wanted to wrap your arms around him and tell him everything will be ok.
I think Adam put it best at the end, “When you’re sure of what you want, I’ll be right here.” And right here I’ll be. I absolutely cannot wait for his book next year.
I received a copy of this ebook via the publisher and Netgalley in return for an honest review.
This review can also be seen here at my blog.
