Review: Ten Tiny Breaths (Ten Tiny Breaths #1) by K.A. Tucker

Ten Tiny Breaths (Ten Tiny Breaths #1) by K.A. Tucker

Publishers: Atria Books

Published Date: Feb 12 2013

From: NetGalley

My rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:

Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them.

Four years ago Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, holding her boyfriend’s lifeless hand and listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, twenty-year-old Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. Struggling to make ends meet, Kacey needs to figure out how to get by. But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.

Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes, deep dimples, and he perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable and Trent is determined to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means that an explosive secret could shatter both their worlds.

Review:

Right from the outset we learn that Kacey is a tough nut. Her language, her attitude, her thoughts on others prove that she has trust issues. But the most constant person in her life is what keeps her grounded, to a certain extent, at least. Livie, her sister, was sick at home when the car accident happened. At sixteen Kacey's parents, her boyfriend and her best friend were all killed when a drunk driver hit their car. Kacey survived and she is understandably traumatised by the whole shocking ordeal. Hospital for a year, rehabilitation, shrinks and moving in with her aunt and uncle all take their toll. Kacey manages to continue life after the accident albeit from the bottom of a bottle, using drugs and having lots of meaningless sex. Her life was spiralling out of control. Her aunt and uncle were not role models either. Her aunt being a bible nut preaching against evil, her uncle squandering their inheritence in a card game. All in all when Kacey's uncle makes a move on fifteen year old Livie, she takes control back of her life for once and gets them away in the dead of night for a new beginning and a fresh start.

This book is a moral story. Kacey's been given a second chance at life, she just doesn't know it yet. Her primary concern is taking care of her sister, but we soon learn that it's really her sister taking care of her. Without Livie Kacey would be a lost soul on a path for destruction. Kacey wants nothing more than vengeance against those who took her family from her. It's eaten so deep inside her that its hard for her to make any kind of connection with anyone new. Her neighbours help. Storm is a lively, Barbie looking babe who has an adorable little daughter that captures everyone's hearts. On the other side of her new apartment is Trent, who literally steals her breath away. No one has ever affected Kacey the way Trent does.

What I loved most about this book is it gives us a reason to hope for something better. The small network of people that soon become part of Kacey's family are varied, sometimes troubled but mainly they are there in Kacey's life through the good times and the bad. They don't pry, they don't judge, they don't ask questions, they just get on with life and slowly meld their lives together. So the better in Kacey's life isn't the fact that she eventually earns enough money to put Livie through school, or lets the small secrets of her past gradually creep out. It's the constant knowing that others are around you when you break and will be there when you get better. After all, don't they say family doesn't equal a blood tie, its those who you let in.

The other moral behind this story is the drunk driving incident. After a night out, drunk Trent lent his car keys to a close friend who lied and told him he hadn't been drinking for a while so was able to drive them home. Trent has to live with those consequences for ever. A mistake like that doesn't just affect the ones who died, but the ones who lived and the relatives and friends. That mistakes affects families, rips relationships apart even to the point of some wishing for a way out like Tanner's brother suicide.

I was pleased with the outcome of the story, the end 30% is quite intense and I'm not sure how I feel with some of Trent's actions towards Kacey during the past or present but TTB did have an HEA.

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Review: Love Unscripted (Love #1) by Tina Reber

Love Unscripted (Love #1) by Tina Reber 

Publishers: Self
Published Date: March 6th 2010
From: Bought
My rating: 5 out of 5

Synopsis:
Ryan Christensen just wanted to be an actor. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that accepting a role in an unknown film would toss his career into overdrive. His new fame has cost him dearly; anonymity is no longer an option. His fans stalk him, the paparazzi hound him, and Hollywood studios all want a piece of him. Despite all of that, Ryan Christensen craves the most basic of human needs - to have love in his heart and privacy in his life.

Taryn Mitchell, the story's protagonist, is a realist. She's been feigning contentment, running the family pub in Seaport, Rhode Island, while quietly nursing her own internal heartaches. Her feet are fairly glued to the ground and she doesn't buy into all the hype that has descended on her tiny, coastal town. In her world, men are safe if they're kept at a distance.

Fate has other plans for these two when their paths cross one sunny afternoon. A group of female fans has attacked him, leaving his shirt torn, his face cut, and Ryan in obvious distress. Bonds between them form from the most dramatic of circumstances while jealousy, insecurity, and the stress of his celebrity life try to tear them apart.

Through all the tabloid lies, secrecy, and pressure, can Taryn's peace and Ryan's high-profile insanity live together in harmony?

Review:

I've read a few rom-com-heartache books in my time but I don't think I've read one that moved me so much as Love Unscripted. I could barely put it down and had so much fun reading it.

Taryn Mitchell is a 27 year old girl who doesn't take men lightly. Owner of a pub in Seaport and various other business endeavours she looks after herself and her friends around her.

When Ryan Christensen unexpectedly runs into her pub, completely freaked out by a fan mob she hides him and lets him unwind from his trauma. They have a morning of honest friendship and fun. She realises that the actor depicted in the magazines and on TV is nothing like the man currently in her bar playing pool and joking about.

She tries not to get too attached to him but she's clearly made more than an impression on him and he pursues her calmly like a gentleman. Soon she becomes part of his life - except his celebrity life is built around paparazzi, pictures leading the wrong impression and lie upon lie about his private life. Taryn tries not to believe anything she reads about him but who can deny what a thousand pictures show?

I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, emotional, heart-warming and full of heartache. The writing is brilliant. I felt every emotion going on and had more than a few moments with tears in my eyes. Taryn is a brave and compassionate lead that shows she doesn't have a bad bone in her. Ryan is sincere and kind and trustworthy. Then the breaks start hitting our hero and heroine and nothing is going to be the same again. There is also a stellar cast of side-kicks nicely woven into Taryn and Ryan's story.

Other reviewers have complained about the length of the book but in my opinion it was exactly right. You can't cut out the sheer depth that the characters expose, and you can't shorten the story any more without losing the emotional side. For me its been an absolute privilege to read this amazing book. I wonder if Ms Reber will consider a follow-on??
-CB x

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ARC Review: Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2) by Jamie McGuire

Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2) by Jamie McGuire  

Publishers: Atria Books
Published Date: Apr 16 2013
From: Net Galley
My rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:
Can you love someone too much?
Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes

Review:
Here's my review of Beautiful Disaster

This is going to be a shortish review as most people have picked up on the same points I have. This is an almost identical book but just told from Travis' point of view. A good selling tool, me thinks. Travis had a lot of love from BD so I'm not surprised that this book is already proving to be a hit. However, while this book is entertaining and raw in places I did find it lacking in others.

I won't rehash the story, either you know it or you don't. If you don't I recommend you read BD first before attempting this one.

My impressions were as follows. While reading I almost felt like the author was turning pages of BD and entering what Travis was thinking. Well that's the whole point, right? However I didn't get the impression this was written like a book, just another version of the story. What I mean is, there are events that happen and they roll along one after the other...and all of a sudden its Thanksgiving and Travis is trying to coax Abby into going to his family's home. There's no mention of it beforehand, or any thoughts from Travis before that point. No, "oh my god, how am I going to talk her into it. I've made a big mistake (emotions, smack the head, pacing up and down." So, he goes and talks to Abby, they argue and banter and then she goes along with the plan.

Everything went too smoothly. Also there were highlights that got completely left out that made me confused. The run in with Ethan at the fight when he hassled her? Just a line or too. Oh, Ethan was out of line with Abby - moving on...

Yes, this is a story that's told from another angle but it didn't read like a story in its own right. Also through Travis' eyes Abby appeared to be emotionless, unresponsive, annoying which made me wonder why the hell he was getting all uptight about. His dialogue about why Abby affected him so much didn't sit well, nor the few times he referred to his mother being the only other woman he'd ever loved.

Please don't get the impression that I didn't like the book. I really did but it wasn't as good as I expected. The storyline is still good, with its little quirks and a few extras that appear in the story and the epilogue.

I now have a different impression of Travis, completely different actually and I'm glad.
-CB x

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Review: Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

Publishers: Atria Books
Published Date: September 18th 2012
From: Bought
My rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:
Hardships and heartache brought them together…now it will tear them apart.

Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will’s past re-emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge…how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop ‘carving pumpkins.

Review:
The First 20%
We go straight into the story, now told from Will's point of view. After the sad death of Julia, Layken's mum in the last book Slammed, we are a few months into a normalish routine sort of life. Will and Layken have resumed their romance. Eddie and Gavin are still best buds with them. Kel and Caulder are still best friends and we have some newcomers into the street, namely Kiersten and mother Sherry. The antics and regular in-house jokes begin with an interesting way to swear without swearing, thanks to Kiersten.

But Will, who has now started his degree, has to be careful. The previous girlfriend, Vaughn (who dumped him after his parents died) is now in one of his classes and is desperately keen to start up a friendship/relationship again. Will closes her down, he's in love with Layken but Vaughn keeps pushing. Sadly, Will doesn't do the right thing and tell Layken about her. Instead he thinks that no harm will come of it if Layken doesn't find out, after all, it isn't as if he's interested in Vaughn.

Lake and Will still haven't slept together and it's a big thing for them. They've held off in respect for Julia but now is the right time and they're both eager to forge into the next stage of their relationship. They plan it, down to the very hours until they're together.

But plans such as these really go ahead without complications. 

The Main Characters
We see a slightly different side to Layken in this book. She's still vulnerable from Julia's death. She does come over as slightly immature. That is until you get to the awful part where she walks into Will's bedroom and he's with Vaughn. Ultimately she shows courage, and what she asks from him is not an unreasonable request. I did expect her to kick up screaming, which she did, but once the anger had subsided she became quite wise.

Will continues to be sound and solid, albeit making a very unsmart decision and driving Lake away. After the accident he does show the reader what he is capable of and while he is still a young twenty-something, his family life means everything to him.

The Story
I enjoyed how much these characters had progressed since Slammed. They've interwoven their lives around one another and when something terrible happens to one, it happens to them all. They prove that family isn't bound by blood, it's bound by those around you. Will and Lake learn valuable lessons in Point of Retreat. Mostly about their relationship but also about coping with young boys, Eddie's surprise confession, and also friendship with childhood friends doesn't necessarily last into adulthood.

The End?
Great final happy ending.

Overall
I knew this book would be great and I was so glad to finally hear from Will's POV. His poetry is amazing so I knew the book would carry his narrative well. This book is still sad, and has some really annoying moments when you want to knock their heads together. But individually you feel the character's pain just as we did in Slammed. But all of the character's kicked their doom and gloom into touch and came out on top. I'm so glad I read this book!


-CBx

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Review: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Publishers: Atria Books
Published Date: November 13th 2012
From: NET GALLEY
My rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:
I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

Review:
The First 20%
From the initial first few pages you get the gist that Nastya's hiding a huge secret. I found it a little difficult to relate to the characters or even find some semblance to piece them together. It actually took me until the teacher announced it in class to realise that Nastya doesn't talk. The narrative is very clever and is told from two point of views, Nastya and Josh's, and at first Josh came over as being a random character with only a few references to the girl who dresses like a russian whore. The incident with the shoe in the pavement was when the threads started coming together.

The Main Characters
Nastya isn't a likeable character in the beginning because she doesn't like herself. She's a complete loner, only wears black, slutty clothes at school and hides away when she's at home. She bakes cakes and biscuits alot and runs around her neighbourhood at nighttime. Gradually we're given sneak-peeks of who she is as a person and you start to grasp that her secret, the reason she puts up such a barrier against the world, is going to be awful. Her relationship with Josh comes along so randomly when she turns up at his house one night. She doesn't talk so can't answer any of his questions. As her barriers fall thanks to good friend Drew I wanted to constantly give her a big hug. In the end, after her self-destructive mechanism she is an absolute heroine in the truest sense.

Josh is someone that we all knew at school. In my head he was such a big, assuming, but quiet character. He didn't take any crap off anyone, he didn't mix well with others for the sake of it either. He was like a thirty-something in a teenagers body. His past constantly drives him and he's so afraid underneath his armour.

Drew, again, is someone we all know. A typical man-whore. Parties, drinks, then sleeps with any girl. Except when you get to know him you realise that its all just a lie. And there's a reason why he keeps his persona so open and out there. There's nothing like being spurned by love. Drew warms to Nastya, even though she gives him no reason to. He tries his moves and fails. But then he's so invested in trying to crack her that he and Josh form a united front and agree to help her.

The Story
The narratives keep the story flowing well. As Nastya becomes bolder around Josh and Drew her ability to keep up her pretence fades and she does become a nicer person. We're drip fed little morsels of Nastya's tragedy. Josh confesses much of his history all at once. But in hindsight it does open the book up once you know why one of them is so screwed up. Josh and Nastya try so hard to not have any physical relationship and when they succumb it ends up ten times worse between them. In fact it backfires completely. But most of the book you just feel so sorry for them and the shitty life hand they've been dealt.

The End?
Of course it has to get worse before it gets better, and it gets a lot worse for Nastya when she finally faces the murderer. I think the story reached its pinnacle but what I loved was Josh and Drew at this point. Their unreserved feelings for Nastya were so heart-warming. And in the final conclusion it ends where it should. A happy place.

Overall
To begin with I thought I wouldn't get on with it. This book is not a happy one. There aren't too many laughs or funny moments. And the premise is actually very dark right from the first page. Two screwed up teenagers who try to get along with life, and no hope of seeing a way out of the dark. The relationships flowed naturally, nothing forced. The family element was pretty special. But they coped so well in the end. It made me glad that they were glad!! Yes, this is a very good story, stick with it!

-CBx

 

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