Review: Ten Tiny Breaths

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.

Title: Ten Tiny Breaths
Author: K.A. Tucker
Publication Date: December 11 2012
Publisher: Papoti Books
ISBN: 0991686004
Length: 262 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US / Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Stunning! The colors are amazing, one of my favorites.
Point of View: 1st person, following Kacey

My Rating: 4 Stars

“Just breathe. Ten tiny breaths … Seize them. Feel them. Love them.”

What an emotional and enjoyable read!  It pulls you in right from the start and you are tangled up in the story as it all slowly unravels.

You quickly learn that Kacey and Livie's parents were killed in a car accident four years prior and they were taken in by their Aunt.  Her Aunt's husband however is not the best of people so they are forced to flee in the middle of the night and have ended up in Miami.

Since the accident Kacey has tried many coping mechanisms, drugs, alcohol, sex... all in a way to forget what she has lived through.  Now she has turned to kickboxing, she takes her anger out on the sandbags at the gym.  She never lets anybody close to her and hasn't had any real romantic relationships in years.

“Isn't it exhausting?"

"What?"

"Keeping people out.”

Kacey and Livie move into an apartment complex and she soon meets her next door neighboor, Storm.  Storm has a little girl, Mia, and she is probably the sweetest little girl in the world.  Livie starts watching Mia regularly and through this Kacey slowly starts getting closer to them both.  Then she meets Trent, another new neighboor that recently moved in next to her.  Trent has an immediate effect on Kacey and she finds herself drawn to him.  She hasn't had these type of feelings for a long time and they take her by surprise.

“For two years, I haven’t given anyone the time of day. Now, here I am, day one into our new life, and I’m ready to straddle this guy on the washer.”

And of course there is a twist... in fact it is a pretty big one!  The only reason I am giving Ten Tiny Breathes four stars instead of five is because of the twist.  It's not that it's not a great twist it's just that I had it figured out pretty early on.  Granted I still enjoyed the twist when it happened... I simply would have liked to have had that shocked moment when it did happen.  I think there were just too many clues given...

“I want to make you smile. For real. Always. We're going to go for dinners, and see movies, and walk on the beach. We'll go hang-gliding, or bungee jumping, or whatever you want to do. Whatever makes you smile and laugh more. Let me make you smile.”

All of the side characters help to make this story beautiful.  They become a close knit set of friends and they all help each other out when needed.  Storm is a strong caring woman and even though she is not that much older than Kacey I felt she really took her under her wing and even felt a motherly vibe from her.  Livie is just perfect.  She pushes Kacey just enough to help her open up but knows to not push her too far.  She challenges Kacey and that is exactly what she needed.  My favorite of them all is of course Trent... *sigh* Trent is wonderful.  It helps that he is described as sex on legs... tall, handsome, has a tattoo and rides a Harley.  *swoon* But he is also caring and supportive of Kacey and he is so sweet with Storm's daughter Mia. 

"And you must be Princess Mia? I've heard about you."

Her lips pucker and she leans out just a bit further from Storm's cover. "You have?"

He nods.  "Well, I heard about a Princess Mia who likes ice cream.  That must be you, right?"

She nods slowly and whispers, "Did you hear that, Mommy?  People know I'm a princess!"

I would strongly suggest this book, even though it faces a lot of heavy emotional situations there are also plenty of laughs and smiles.  You really do care about the characters and you experience all of the emotions they go through.

I am also very excited to say that when I was writing this review I found that there is going to be a second book in this series! I can not even describe how much this excites me!  It appears that the title will be One Tiny Lie and it will be a new story from Livie's point of view.  It is due to be published in April 2013.  This is so very exciting.

“I can feel his very existence as if it's wrapping its hand around my soul, cradling it, trying to protect it from harm and I'm terrified.

Terrified because I don't ever want the feeling to end.”

MORE QUOTES FROM TEN TINY BREATHS