Book Review June 1st
Ten Tiny Breaths
by: K.A. Tucker
★★★★★ 5 Stars
Blurb: 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.
What is there not to love about this story…. Kacey and her younger
sister Livie are on the run from the hell that is their past. Kacey is not
truly dealing with the loss of their parents in a car accident to which she was
also involved. Having been stuck in the wreck for quite awhile while her
family, boyfriend and friend slowly slipped away from her has left her in
pieces. Kacey tries to keep herself together for her sister Livie who she runs
away with after a handsy uncle tries to feel up Livie. The two run away to
Miami where their story really begins.
After the accident, Kacey used sex, drugs and even violence
to deal with her pain. Now though, she kicks the living crap out of a bag on a
nearly daily basis surprising the guys around the gym with her anger, muscles
and determination. Luckily Kacey gets to
know her new neighbors, one Storm her next door neighbor with a young daughter
Mia whom Livie immediately bonds with. Initially Kacey makes rash judgments
about Storm. But low and behold, Storm is not one to back down and she shows
Kacey that she is more than her tits and a young mother. There’s also Trent the
hottie an apartment over, with a bike no less, who gets all Kacey’s gears
moving both in a good way and a bad way, which she fears.
Kacey gets a job working with Storm at an adult club working
behind the bar. As ironic as it seems, the environment here helps her open up
and in some ways begin to enjoy life. Hell she learns smiling at her patrons
will get her bigger tips, so after a while, gone is the drab girl with sad eyes
and a tortured soul. Kacey is ridiculous when it comes to compartmentalizing
her feelings. She is filled with so much anguish, pain and heartache that
though it swirls around her constantly she hides it away so even she does not recognize
it.
Through Trent, Kacey is able to live and love. She opens
herself up in ways she never imagined and begins to have hope for the future. Her scars hide the horror she experienced, one
she faces everyday she looks in the mirror. She is filled with hate towards the
world in some ways but mostly towards the guilty party who drove into her families’
car that night years ago. While she carries around reminders of her pain and
loss, she harbors immense hatred. Trent on the other hand brands himself with
tattoos of forgiveness and overcoming, something Kacey needs him to begin to
understand. As corny as it sounds, Kacey eventually learns to break free from
her self-imposed shell. Though, she may not thank Trent right away, without him
appearing in her life, Kacey would never have become whole again. It is also through Trent we meet the elusive,
if not mad, Dr. Stayner. I won’t give too much away but he’s a trip and him and
Kacey interacting (more like her beating his ass) was both humorous and life
altering.
Overall
I love love love Ten Tiny Breaths. This was my second time
reading the story and I still loved every moment. Ten Tiny Breaths encompasses
so much it’s hard to even begin to write a review. There’s love and loss
obviously, but there’s also heartbreak, heartache, growing up, finding
yourself, dealing with the past, overcoming the past, learning to live and so
much more. Kacey and Livie are both victims of a horrible accident. Together
they help each other survive but it’s not until Trent busts into their lives
that he shows them how to LIVE in the now and be thankful of the past not regretful.
No comments:
Post a Comment