Heather Allen

Heather Allen writes fantasy romance for younger readers, often using the sea as both setting and source of transformation. Just Breathe opens the Just Breathe trilogy with Ever Harding, a teenager whose life changes when she discovers a hidden connection to mermaids. The story links that discovery to family secrets, unfamiliar abilities, and a choice between the world she knows and a community beneath the water. The 2012 novel is followed by Barely Breathing and Forever Breathing, which continue Ever's developing identity and relationships. Allen's own connection to Florida and the ocean informs the series' coastal atmosphere, while the trilogy format gives her room to move from first discovery toward larger questions of loyalty and responsibility. Her storytelling combines everyday concerns about trust and belonging with a supernatural mythology built around water. For readers, the appeal lies less in a distant invented realm than in the idea that an ordinary shoreline can conceal another history and another version of the self.