Publication Date: July 8, 2025
For fans of Liane Moriarty and Maria Semple, this contemporary debut novel weaves together romance, mystery, and adventure as a woman travels to the Grand Canyon seeking answers after uncovering an old family secret.
After crashing into a devastating revelation, Cyd’s tranquil life on the Florida panhandle is further upended when she receives a letter announcing an inheritance from an estranged aunt. The inheritance contains mysterious “items of a personal nature” which Cyd must collect in person halfway across the country. In a last attempt to salvage her deteriorating marriage, Cyd agrees to travel with her husband on what he promises—and she questions—will be the trip of a lifetime.
As they set out, a hurricane threatens their hometown. Soon, fueled by the growing threat of the storm and the tension brewing between them, the couple’s long-suppressed problems erupt. Cyd digs deep for the courage to continue the journey on her own, unsure if either her home or her marriage will survive.
Once in Phoenix, Cyd learns the strange details of the inheritance and a decades-old family secret. But what was the whole truth? Clues and instinct lead Cyd to Sedona and then to the Grand Canyon. She descends into the vast chasm alone searching for answers to newly raised questions and age-old mysteries. She steps off the beaten path, literally, knowing she must make peace with her pain-filled past and her uncertain future.
In the span of four days, Cyd Carr’s life undergoes a radical change. Her marriage. Her beloved community. Her family history.
Author Jayne Mills details a woman’s quest for answers in Bottom of the Breath. From a car crash in Florida, where she learns of her husband’s infidelity, to an attorney’s office in Arizona, where she learns of an inheritance, Cyd is bombarded from all directions.
It’s not until she sorts through her aunt’s correspondence that Cyd discovers a family secret. While at her aunt’s home in Sedona, Cyd is inspired to travel to the Grand Canyon, where she spends time processing her thoughts.
The title of the story connects to Cyd’s breathing and meditation method, which helps calm her. Her enlightenment in the canyon enables her to find peace.
Bottom of the Breath unlocks the power of forgiveness applied to both present and past events.
Jayne Mills is a financial advisor who has secretly nurtured a lifelong dream of writing a novel. She expressed her literary aspirations through Financial Wellness Monthly, a newsletter combining her interests in finance, yoga, and meditation. Additionally, she developed a program called The Wealth-Wellness Connection, designed to help people better understand their complex relationships with money. Jayne holds degrees in journalism and finance and is a registered yoga teacher. In recent years, her favorite way to vacation is as the navigator in a custom van (she hates talking maps) on a quest to visit every national park with her partner (he knows better than to ever let her drive) and their Border Collie, Elvis. She lives peacefully in St. Augustine, Florida.
