I knew it was going to be a rough ride, but I didn’t account for the fact that the dedication at the start of the book would be the beginning of the emotional rollercoaster. Becka Mack’s fifth and final book in the Playing for Keeps series, Breathe with Me, has been out for a few weeks now, and I finally had the time to read it (in one sitting, may I add) and finish the series – or did Breathe with Me finish me?

Cara Hunter is a self-made woman. Driven and fearless, she’s never lost a battle. In fact, the only time she’s fallen to her knees was, well…for him. Emmett Brodie might be one of hockey’s hottest players, but the moment he sees Cara, he’s reduced to a single word: hers. And he’ll stop at nothing to change her last name. With a love as all-encompassing and fierce as theirs, they become the ultimate power couple and the backbone of their family. But when they decide it’s time to have a baby, they discover their journey to conceiving will be anything but easy. As they face off with infertility, a battle that strips them to their bones, they’ll see just how unshakable their foundation really is. They thought they could survive anything together, but how do you survive when you’re barely breathing?

Content warning: Breathe with Me contains themes and topics surrounding infertility, pregnancy, grief, foster care, adoption, and mental health. It is an emotionally challenging read, even if these themes are not triggering for you. This is also an adult romance that features many smut scenes and explicit scenes. I highly recommend checking in with yourself before and during the read to ensure your mental and emotional well-being.

I have been waiting for Cara and Emmett’s book, as have. lot of readers, and I did not feel disaapointed even by a smidgen with Breathe with Me. It gave so much, and really showcased a side of life that is scary, taboo, and invisible to many. Its immense impact and emotion can be partly attributed to the fact Becka Mack has been through a similar journey to Cara, and mentions as such in the dedication. This experience serving as a foundation to the novel makes it so intrinsically understandable. It is turn that you never know what someone else is going through, and that you should never say things like “be lucky you don’t have kids” or “we got pregnant without even trying”. The conversations and dialogue Cara hears are so distressing and heartbreaking, even for me. Even the strongest, most mentally resilient people would struggle to withstand the constant chatter and exposure to babies, pregnancies, and such happy news of baby annoucements when they are fighting to concieve, and I think Breathe with Me brings that truth to the surface and into mainstream discussion in a respectful yet direct way.

I really liked seeing the history of Cara and Emmett’s relationship unfold, and seeing how that love they share has been so fierce and all-consuming from the first look. This love, of absolute certainty and genuine devotion, feel almost rare in the romance I have read, but I know it isn’t. These are two individuals who are extroverted and not afraid to love loudly and proudly, as is evident by their core position in their found family dynamic. It doesn’t make their love any better or worse than others, but it is so refreshing to see this kind of unconditional love and undying devotion in tandem with such a heavy, all-consuming conflict such as infertility.

Breathe with Me is the perfect ending to a truly perfect series in my eyes. There is nothing I would change about it. We get so much love, support, honesty, and realism in this book that will mak your heart feel raw and tender, but it is so worth it for the incredible story and even more amazing characters. I highly recommed Breathe with Me and the whole Playing for Keeps series to all romance readers out there. From Consider Me to Breathe with Me there is not a single flop.