Review: Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

Title: Ten Tiny Breaths

Author: KA Tucker

Source: eARC from author for review

Release Date Dec 11, 2012

Amazon  B&N

**Warning - This is a Mature YA/New Adult book. Contains sex and violence**

Side note: How freakin awesome is this cover? Tucker always has the prettiest covers.

goodreads...

Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind—all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbor with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson in apartment 1D.

Kacey doesn’t want to feel. She doesn’t. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.

But Kacey isn’t the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgiveable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.

My take...

I rambled a bit when writing this one...

When I say whoa! I mean whoa! Heaven help me this book had me all kinds of crazy by the time I got to the 'shattering' moment towards the end of the book. And by then do you know what happened? Hubs rolls over in bed and tells me to turn off my nook and go to bed. Yeah, yeah I understand it was 2am. But sheesh! Someone's life was hanging in the balance here. Doesn't he realize that fictional characters are people, too?

So we have Kacey...poor messed-up-in-the-head-beyond-any-kind-of-help Kacey. I don't even know where to start with her. Girl has so much baggage a pack mule looked at her and said no. But gosh, I hurt for that girl something fierce. Yeah she had a crazy, broken life…but she had a younger sister to look after so she stepped up and became the person her sister needed her to be. Social life be damned. And her witty outbursts are like music to my ears. Girl has a sarcastic tongue and isn’t afraid to use it. The things she calls people is hilarious and I couldn’t get enough of her character.

Then we have Trent. Oh lordy, the angels had to be singing the day he was made, cause dude is hot. Shhh, do you hear that? Oh that was just the sound of Kacey’s heart beating; her returning from the dead so to speak. Trent makes her feel things she hasn’t felt since the death of her parents. But Trent’s baggage is just as heavy. And the moment his past and hers collide…lives go beyond shattered.

You know what I loved a lot about this book? The secondary characters are just as great as Trent and Kacey. They all play a pivotal role in the story and Tucker did an awesome job with them. I actually cared quite about the secondary characters, more so than I usually do with other books. Livie, Storm, Mia and even Dan and Tanner are no back seat passengers. Their characters stand out so much in this book.

The last part of the book with Dr. Stayner I think was some of my favorite Kacey moments. Both her and the Dr were hilarious together. But during this time I was also a blubbering mess. Too. Much. Emotion. Like I said before…this book had me all kinds of crazy and I absolutely wouldn’t have it any other way.

To say I was floored with this book is a huge understatement. I was utterly in love with it. And I will let you in on a little secret…I think I am more in love with Tucker as an author writing this than I was with her Casual Enchantment series. That is definitely saying something for this book…because I adore that series. I also did a lot of bookmarking. Too many sentences caught my eye; too many quotes I didn’t want to forget.

Tucker did a phenomenal job with this book. I can’t say that enough. This whole book…from the beginning, to the middle, up until that ending…was done to complete perfection. Do I recommend this book? Abso-freakin-lutely! Ten Tiny Breaths is most definitely one of my favorites this year and will be at the top of my must reread list. You must read it and then I dare you not to gush about it.

These are just a few quotes I loved from the story...too many others to share. 

*******

To say that she's fanatical would be an understatement.  She won't come to Miami unless Jesus himself is holding a convention.

*******

"It's okay. I figured it was all a bit too much, too fast." One finger hooks into mine, buckling my knees with waves of excitement. 

I think I am going to fall in love with this man.

*******

"I'll make you whole again, Kacey. I promise you, I will," he whispers. And then his mouth covers mine.