Ten Tiny Breaths Review

Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker
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Goodreads Summary:

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 unforgivable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.

I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley. Buy it for the Kindle today for $7.99 (10/2/13). 

My Thoughts:
Well I can openly admit to being behind the times on this one. Ten Tiny Breaths was released last December but was available on Netgalley as a re-release. I had seen this book frequently throughout the blogosphere, but apparently I never really took the time to stop and check out what the book was actually about!

First, I had no idea the book was being considered 'new adult', which is still a genre I don't yet believe in. Thus far new adult books have shown themselves to be a sub-category of romance novels and definitely not deserving of a category of its own. Ugh, I digress. So, assuming it was YA I felt assured I wouldn't run into too many bad things. False. Almost immediately I ran into swear words, soon followed by strip clubs, heavy make-out sessions, and eventually sex (not explicit though). I thought about dropping this book as soon as I discovered what was going to be involved, but being a review book I wanted to push through.

And I am *mostly* glad I did. Because of the above problems being against my usual allowed reading parameters, I had to drop the book one star. I also had to drop the book another star because I saw the major twist coming from a mile away, but what comes after is what made me truly love the novel.

As anyone can guess from the Goodreads and Amazon summaries, Kacey is broken after experiencing a car crash that kills her parents, best friend, and boyfriend. Ten Tiny Breaths then is the story of Kacey working through that and starting to feel again. Things are going swimmingly until The Big Twist. Most authors would kind of wrap it up nice and neat after that, but for the last third of this book author K.A. Tucker takes us through Kacey's shock, slow road to recovery, and eventual forgiveness. This part of the book is what really made it for me. Tucker didn't try to hide the clinical side of recovery from the reader, or how tough it is to forgive. Plus, the uniqueness of the twist makes the book...well, unique!!

Because of the last third of this book, I could forget the beginning with its strip clubs and swear words. It was beautiful to watch Kacey recover and forgive truly. Although I rate this book 3.5 stars I am considering picking up the companion novel, One Tiny Lie about Kacey's little sister Olivia. I will however skim that one first to see how appropriate it might be for me to read!!

Recommend to: readers of new adult, readers looking for a touching story of hurt, healing, forgiveness, and love.