Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker
Series: Ten Tiny Breaths #1
Published by: Papoti Books on December 9, 2012
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 262
Source: Purchased
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Rating: ★★★★★

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.

Holy.

Shit.

What did I just read?

I can’t review this book. I can’t do it. Because the absolute best part of it is a BIG. FAT. SPOILER.

Ten Tiny Breaths was good.. really good. I was laughing, giggling, lusting.. But then I reached the ~80% mark and it blew my fucking mind. I was just reading along, lalala, then a big fat school bus hit me in the face. I’m pretty sure my eyes got all wide and shocked in real life, and there’s a possibility that my mouth was hanging open too. That’s how blown away I was. And it pains me that I can’t share any of that with you guys because it’s a huge spoiler! *pouts*

Okay, I’ll give this a try.

As soon as I started Ten Tiny Breaths, I knew I was going to love it. I just clicked with Kacey. She is HILARIOUS. I was cracking up at her dark, sarcastic, sexual humour. I really enjoyed her character, I loved her kick ass attitude, I loved her devotion to her sister, and I loved drooling over Trent with her. There’s no question that this book has the BEST characters. In addition to Kacey, we have Storm. Who knew that a strip club bartender/acrobat with enormous boobs could be so awesome? Honestly, I had my doubts. But it turns out she’s an incredibly sweet, devoting, loyal friend, and an excellent mother!

But the best thing about Ten Tiny Breaths (other than the crazy insane ending that I can’t discuss) is that Kacey is absolutely insane. I’m serious. She’s nuts. And I kind of love her. It took me a while to get that though. At the beginning of the book I loved her sarcastic, snarky humour. In the middle of the book, I was getting annoyed with her for being so in denial. I just wanted to bitch slap some sense into her. But by the 75% mark, it just clicked. She’s insane. And she kept going down, down, down until her insanity was almost hilarious. I laughed at her and I pitied her. You can really see just how dark of a hole she’s slipping into. It’s a little terrifying.

An example:

This is after nine days of no communication with Trent, and she’s desperate to see him. She’s already gone through a million possibilities about why he hasn’t contacted her. He’s seeing someone else, he was in a car accident, he’s working… Now, check out her next hypothesis:

Wandering past Trent’s apartment door on my way to the gym, I freeze. I’m sure I just caught a whiff of something funky.
Ohmigod.
Trent’s dead.
I run to Tanner’s door and hammer on it until it flies open. Tanner’s standing there with his standard Batman pajama pants and deer-caught-in-the-headlight eyes. “Come on!” I grab his arm and yank him out. “You need to open 1D right now!”
Tanner uses his weight to resist me. “Wait a minute. I can’t just open—”
“I think Trent’s dead!” I shriek.
That gets him moving.
[..]
When he opens the door, I shove past him, not even considering what I’m rushing in to see. [..]
Tanner moves past me, and does a quick sweep of the bedrooms and bathroom. He even opens the closet door. When he comes back to face me, it’s with a glower. “Why exactly did you tell me Trent was dead?”
I swallow, averting my gaze. “Oops.”
Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker, Pages 189-190

Yeah… she was so desperate to see Trent that she made herself believe he was dead just because she smelled something strange near his door. LOL.

Oh, and fair warning: Kacey is a sex fiend. That’s not an exaggeration. She puts all other girls I’ve read about to shame. Sex is always on her mind and she’s always doing her best to seduce Trent!

“I’ve heard redheads were crazy, but man, no one warned me that you were sex fiends.
Trent, Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

And then there’s Trent.. Oh, Trent. He seems so perfect and sweet and Mr. Can-Do-No-Wrong, but then we realize that he’s just as fucked up as Kacey is. Maybe even more… At the height of their relationship, there were a few professions of love and “forevers” that I was unsure about, then suddenly it all made sense. And this is where the spoiler comes in that I WISH I COULD TALK ABOUT!!! Sigh.

But god.. THE ENDING. I know I’ve made it clear already, but it completely blew me away. Suddenly the book went from being a hilarious, kind of light read with dark undertones, to this crazy, insane, traumatic, disaster of an emotional tornado. It will shock you, stun you, and leave you completely breathless. And to top it all off, Ten Tiny Breaths has some really strong, powerful messages about empathy, forgiveness, and learning to cope with your past. I’ve read books like that before—like On Dublin Street—but this was a whole new level.

This book is definitely a must read. Enjoy the beginning, laugh at the awesome jokes, and then let the end shock you for all eternity.

The Verdict