Review: One Tiny Lie

Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents' tragic death and Kacey's self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would...and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.

Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?

As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.

Title: One Tiny Lie (Ten Tiny Breaths ~ Book 2)
Author: K.A. Tucker | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: June 11 2013
Publisher: Atria Books 
Length: 336 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Gorgeous.  Love the colors, love the leaves.. love, love, love it all.
Point of View: 1^st person, following Livie

My Rating: 5 Stars

What a complete surprise One Tiny Lie turned out to be.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Ten Tiny Breaths and I knew going in I was going to enjoy Livie's story... but wow.  This was so not how I expected Livie's story to play out.

“That’s my Livie Girl.  Make me proud.”

We of course all know Livie as Kacey's sister, she is the good girl, good grades, good manners, etc... but what I didn't expect is that it is all that good that makes her so messed up.  I can see you now shaking your head and wondering what the heck I am talking about.  Did you ever stop to think how Livie turned out so normal?  Her life was turned just as much upside down as Kacey's, yet Livie is just so... yeah, normal.  Well, on the surface she is...

I adore Livie.  She is so very sweet and when she needs to be, fiery.  She has always acted the grown up, the mature one, but on the inside she is still that same little girl from years ago.  I love how loyal she is, and how understanding, she really comes into herself as the story goes along.

“I’m sorry . . .”  She shrugs, glancing back at him.  “Gotta admit he’s hot, though, Livie.  He looks like a Mediterranean underwear model.  There’d be no coyote-ugly situation in the morning there.”

And of course there is Ashton... holy swoon alert.  Ashton is amazing.  I loved everything about him.  I loved how sweet, adorable, kind, loving, and broken he was.  I kid you not, every time he came into a scene I started smiling like a crazed, love sick high schooler.  He was just enough the bad boy that you deep down know you shouldn't be loving him, but there is just something about him that draws you in, and it never lets you go.  Is he perfect? Nope, mistakes are made.  But it is how he finally decides to take his life into his own hands that makes him the hero of this story.  This is honestly, just as much his story as it was Livie's.  He overcomes a lot and rises to it all in the end.

"I don't have all the pieces to fix this beautiful, trapped, broken man, but I do have one piece and it's mine to give... Me."

And he is funny... did I mention he can make you laugh?

“1. I’m brilliant
2. I’m charming
3. I’m hung like a thoroughbred
4. I’ve stopped all philandering
5. I’m highly skilled, as you’ve learned the other night. 

P.S. Stop staring at my hands.  I know what you want me to with them.”

I love when we get companion novels, because not only is it a way to have the storyline of favorite secondary characters continued, but we also get to see some of our old favorites.  I loved the parts with Kacey and Trent, it reminded me how much I loved them both.

I will warn you now that there is a bit of a love triangle.  No wait... don't run for the hills just yet.  Trust me, I am no fan of them either but this one really didn't bother me.  Mostly because it is very clear from the get go that Livie and Ashton need to be together.  That third side is there as a distraction, I never for a minute believed she was going to end up with anybody else.

There is absolutely no cliffhanger either so you can rest assured that everything is wrapped up perfectly.  The series is continuing, with the next book being Cain's story, Four Seconds to Lose.  Right now it is showing as being scheduled for November 2013, this seems a bit soon to me but I am hoping it is true.  You may remember Cain from Ten Tiny Breaths, he is the owner of the club where Kasey and Storm worked.  He made a little appearance here in One Tiny Lie, but we saw more of him in book one.  I'm interested to see where his story takes him.  He is an intriguing character, and I love the male point of view.

“Because you're not a one-night girl, Irish.'  Leaning in to place a kiss on my jawline, he whispers, 'You're my forever girl.”

MORE QUOTES FROM ONE TINY LIE