Sarah Moon is a laid-back, small-town girl living the high
society life in Chicago with her real estate developer
husband Jack. While Jack spends his days working long hours
to provide a posh life for the couple, Sarah works from
home as a cartoonist on her strip about Shirl -- Sarah's
sassy alter-ego.
Jack and Sarah met while she was in college in Chicago.
They fell in love, got married and then Jack got cancer.
Sarah devoted her life to helping Jack recover, only to
find that once he did, their marriage did not. Desperate
for a baby, the couple started fertility treatments to make
Sarah's dream come true since Jack's fertility was impaired
by cancer treatments...or so she thought.
One eventful day, Sarah decides to drop in on Jack at work
only to find that Jack has clearly regained his virility in
the arms of another woman. Devastated, Sarah flees Chicago
for her small-town roots and to figure out where her life
went off the tracks. While back in her hometown, Sarah's
life becomes even more complex when she discovers she's
finally pregnant with Jack's babies. Of course, the story
wouldn't be complete without the appearance of an old love.
Wiggs' writing is smooth and effortless as she tells
Sarah's tale. The storyline was eventful, emotional and
created empathy...all good qualities to carry a reader
through to the end of a great book!
Chicago cartoonist Sarah Moon tackles life's real issues
with a healthy dose of sharp wit in her syndicated comic
strip Just Breathe. As Sarah's cartoon alter ego, Shirl,
undergoes artificial insemination, her situation begins to
mirror Sarah's own difficult attempts to conceive. However,
Sarah's dreams of the future did not include her husband's
infidelity: snag number two in Sarah's so-called perfect
life.
With Chicago—and her marriage—in the rearview mirror, she
flees to the small Northern California coastal town where
she grew up, a place she couldn't wait to leave. Now she
finds herself revisiting the past—an emotionally distant
father and the unanswered questions left by her mother's
death. As she comes to terms with her lost marriage, Sarah
encounters a man she never expected to meet again: Will
Bonner, the high school heartthrob she'd skewered
mercilessly in her old comics. Now a local firefighter,
he's been through some changes himself. But just as her
heart is about to reawaken, Sarah discovers she is
pregnant. With her ex's twins.
It's hardly the most traditional of new beginnings, but who
says life and love are predictable… or perfect? The winds
of change have led Sarah here. Now all she can do is just
close her eyes… and breathe.