✲One Tiny Lie-Special Feature with K.A. Tucker✲

 

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.

Have you read the other books in the Ten Tiny Breaths Series?

 

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.

Click here to check out my review

 

Owning a strip club isn’t the fantasy most guys expect it to be. With long hours, a staff with enough issues to keep a psych ward in business, and the police regularly on his case, twenty-nine year old Cain is starting to second guess his unspoken mission to save the women he employs. And then blond, brown-eyed Charlie Rourke walks through his door, and things get really complicated. Cain abides by a strict “no sleeping with the staff” rule. But being around Charlie challenges Cain’s self-control…and it’s been a long time since any woman has done that.

Twenty-two-year old Charlie Rourke needs a lot of money, really fast, in order to vanish before it’s too late. Taking her clothes off for men makes her stomach curl but Charlie tells herself that at least she’s putting her acting and dancing skills to good use. And though her fellow dancers seem eager to nab their sexy, sophisticated, and genuinely caring boss, she’s not interested. After all, Charlie Rourke doesn’t really exist—and the girl pretending to be her doesn’t need to complicate her life with romance.

 Unfortunately, Charlie soon discovers that developing feelings for Cain is inevitable, that those feelings may not be unrequited—but losing him when he finds out what she’s involved with will be more painful than any other sentence awaiting her.

 

So we were lucky enough to score a special feature with the amazing K.A. Tucker! We are both big fans and absolutely adore K.A. and her writing! We have something special in store for you. How would y’all like some Ashton in your lives? Maybe get into his head a little? How about getting to know what he was thinking that morning in Livie’s room? Well here you have it. Enjoy 😉

One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker

Special Bonus Scene~Ashton POV

Waking up to a woman’s perfume on my pillow is something I’m used to. Usually, it’s something I enjoy. Today, though, that distinctive feminine scent feels like a kick to the nuts.  I don’t need to open my eyes to feel the body lying next to me. Or my complete lack of clothing.

Nailing the coach’s freshman daughter is one of those three-strikes-in-one kind of deals. Captain or not, I’m off the team should he ever find out.

What the hell did I drink last night? I’m not even the least bit attracted to Reagan!

I stifle a groan as a drum goes off inside my head, and decide that I’m in no rush to move, regardless. What’s done is done and I may as well get some sleep. We’ll have to come up with a game plan and—

A thump, followed by a clattering behind me tells me we’re not alone in the room.

Great. A witness. This is getting better and better.

I need to know what I’m up against. Slowly rolling my head, I crack my eyelids and find…

Tits.

Immaculate, symmetrical, perky breasts on a dark-haired girl who’s standing in the corner of the dorm room in nothing but panties, staring at me like she’s about to scream for campus security.

That face.

The second I see that stunning, innocent face, puzzle pieces begin dropping out of the haze. It’s the girl I met at the party last night.

Livie.

No… Irish.

The feisty chick that I may have fallen in love with. Mind you, I was clearly hammered.

And now I’m lying naked in bed with Reagan. Her…roommate?

Her roommate!

But why is Irish practically naked?

Damn… who cares! I’m ready to crawl out of bed and worship that tight body of hers.

            She finally snaps out of her state of terror long enough to cover her bare chest with her arms. Disappointing, but probably a good thing, seeing as all my blood is rushing to my groin and I doubt I’m getting any early morning action from anyone in this room.

I’m also not getting any more sleep if I stay here.

“Fuck.” With a deep groan, I turn to face Reagan, her eyes now open and rolling over me. “We didn’t…”

“No,” Reagan quickly confirms and relief slams into me. “You were too drunk to make it back to your house. You were supposed to sleep on the floor.” She props her tiny body up by the elbow and asks, “Dude, why the hell are you naked?”
Because this is how I always sleep. It made perfect sense… last night. More memories quickly begin falling into place. I could have made it back to my house but I had no interest in leaving Irish.  “Oh, thank God,” I mutter to myself, silently thanking that redheaded siren of a sister for being such a proficient cock-blocker, otherwise I can’t say how far things would have gone last night.

Rolling out of the bottom bunk, I stand to face the girl who dared me to get her name tattooed on my ass. I remember thinking she was amazing last night. A sharp-tongued angel. Was I really just that drunk?

Her eyes drop to take my entire body in and then they widen and avert to the window. I fight the urge to laugh. That’s right… She’s never seen a naked guy before. She doesn’t have much of a filter when she’s intoxicated. If I remember correctly, she had a lot of firsts last night. With me.

Suddenly, I have the overwhelming urge to be all of her firsts.

And I’m fully aware of how wrong that is, given my circumstances.

Specifically, the one named “Dana.”

I push that thought aside with a dark chuckle. “What’s wrong, Irish?”

Her head snaps back and I can see the confusion in her eyes. “What’d you call me?”

Oh, this is going to be fun. I lean an arm against the ladder rung. Despite her lack of clothing, it’s not hard to keep my eyes on her face because it’s so damn beautiful. “You don’t remember much from last night, do you?”

She starts shifting from one foot to the other. “If it explains why we’re all in a room together and you’re naked…then no.”

I step forward.

Like a cornered mouse, she presses back into a small space between the dresser and the wall. I watch her eyes dart to the sheet sitting on the dresser—the one with my initials monogrammed into the top left corner. In seconds, she’s covering the front of her body with it.

I take another step, fully aware of the fact that I’m acting like a complete asshole. “Don’t worry. We agreed last night that I’m not marriage material.”

She sets her jaw stubbornly and I catch the flash of fire in those crystal blue eyes. “Well, at least I was still semi-coherent, then.”

I exhale as a conflicting wave of exhilaration and disappointment crashes into me.

There she is.

This fucking sucks.

One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*ARC Given to Blog for Honest Review*

5+++ “Jell-O Thief” “Irish” “Livie Girl” “Freedom” Kisses!!!!

OMG OMG OMG! Are you FREAKING kidding me. You’ve got to be. I loved TTB…loved it…and I was thinking, wow…it’s going to take a lot to top those emotions that you get with Kacey and Trent. HA! In my face. Big time. This book surprised me in all the best ways possible – if you think you know what to expect…you don’t, so just hang on. Oh my angsty goodness, I had no idea I was going to get as swept off my feet with this book as I did…but wow…okay…focus Lisa, you can do this.

So One Tiny Lie is Livie Cleary’s story (if you haven’t read Ten Tiny Breaths…stop the presses immediately, read it ASAP and then hop on One Tiny Lie…sound like a plan?) My Sweet…young…innocent…naïve…Livie. The girl is a saint – I mean, really, do you remember all that happened with Kacey? Of course you do…and somehow Livie survived loosing her parents, surviving her head case sister (and I say that with all the love in my heart because Kacey is the most awesome head case on the planet 🙂 ), the drama with her Aunt and Uncle, moving across the country, new school, more drama with Kacey….and she keeps up her record of never getting anything less than an A. REALLY?!?! Hello world, I feel like a complete and utter failure at life when compared to her perfection. But Livie has an excellent reason and motivation behind her perfection…seven little words… “That’s my Livie Girl. Make me proud.” The last seven words her father spoke to her. Are you crying yet? Cause I teared up typing it, let alone when I read it for the first time. *sigh*

“You’re too perfect, Livie. Everything you do, everything you say. You can do no wrong. If someone slapped you across the face, you’d apologize to them. I can’t believe you don’t deck me for some of the stuff I say. It’s like you’re not capable of getting angry. You could be the love child of Mother Teresa and Gandhi. You’re…” Kacey pauses as if searching for the right word. She settles with, “Too fucking perfect!”

So Livie is off to college, dealing with Dr. Stayner’s outlandish tactics at breaking out of her perfect shell, and of course Kacey’s assistance in this process…and what happens her first night out? She gets to experience a lot of firsts…shall we count them?
1. She gets totally wasted on Jell-O shots – first night at college is also her first time getting drunk! Woo!
2. First toga party – what a way to kick off the school year! 🙂
3. She had her first kiss ever – well, ‘had’ is a very loose term, it was kinda ‘stolen’ – there was a lot of thievery going on at the time, we’ll just call the kiss collateral damage
4. She got her first tattoo – and it was video taped for posterity and culpability purposes
Needless to say there were other epically awesome firsts had throughout the night and the next morning, but those are the top of the list and the only ones I wish to divulge without spoiling. And…it gets better.

‘I’m attracted to my drunken one-night stand, who also happens to be an unavailable whore and my kind-of boyfriend’s roommate and best friend.’

The aforementioned ‘stolen kiss’ was stolen by a Jell-O thief (told ya the kiss was collateral damage) – and let me tell you he can steal anything he wants from me as long as it involves a kiss in return. ‘…this tall, giant Adonis with dark wavy hair, tanned skin, and a body to tempt a blind nun…had his tongue in my mouth.’ Umm….with that description, I’m not seeing the problem Livie. Say thank you to the party gods and keep shooting those Jell-O shots and pray for a repeat.

“I was managing okay, thought.” He pauses. “And then the most beautiful girl on this planet punched me in the jaw.”
A small half-giggle slips out. “You deserved that, Jell-O thief.”

Gah…I’m getting bogged down, but I swear…one of the best ‘first meetings’ I have ever read…I was hooked from that point forward. And believe me…it got better…and better…and better. I was all over the board – so shocked my jaw hit the table…laughing so hard I was crying…and then of course crying and clutching my chest because I was so torn up…GAH! The ANGST people…I tell you, I was not prepared. TTB was a very emotional read for me, and I did feel some angst, but not like this. This was a level of angst I really wasn’t ready for. And all because of one…freaking…man.

“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.”

I am literally overcome with emotion at how amazing Ashton Fucking Henley is…tears in my eyes, lump in my throat, butterflies in my belly and the insane desire to kidnap him and keep him all to myself. He’s amazing. There is no other way to describe him. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to not like about Ashton, but the fact that you can see past all that is wrong to all that is right, is what makes him that much more amazing. If Kacey was a head case, Ashton is a train wreck. A beautiful broken train wreck that only needs one thing to make him better….Livie. OMGEEEE! His feelings and emotions for her…they just take my breath away. You. Have. No. Idea.

‘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 do with them.’

The connection that is built between Ashton and Livie is beyond words for me. It wasn’t insta-love, but there was always something there for them, and they both knew it. But it wasn’t easy…it’s never easy. Oh and the ‘surprise’ factor I mentioned…well try this on for size…there’s a love triangle. Actually, it’s kind of a square, but not really? I dunno what shape you wanna call it, but I was super excited for that aspect. It all ties in with the super angst I wasn’t expecting either. And then to really boggle my mind and make me fall in love more, KA Tucker throws in some of the funniest shit I’ve ever read…perfect example…

‘My nervous giggle is the only answer I can give him. Forget? My brain went blank. I forgot about my problems, his problems, and the potential zombie apocalypse. If that’s what orgasms do, then I can’t believe people ever leave their houses. Or cars.’

First of all…#truth on the power of orgasms, for the record. Second of all, it’s out of context – but trust me when I tell you I was hysterically laughing for like 10 minutes after I read this. Oh you want another one…try this this golden nugget from Kacey…

“Sometimes you’re as graceful as a one-legged flamingo in a pit of quicksand.”

And this happened multiple times. The wit, the humor, the sarcasm – it was all spot on for me. Loved it.

So, if Kacey’s head is full of turmoil, sadness and pain….Livie’s head is full of purpose, hilarity and confusion. It’s hard to remember that Livie is 18 years old…but she doesn’t act like it. Not even close. That’s part of what and why Dr. Stayner is around and doing what he is doing – Kacey needed to be put back together, Livie needs to be set free. And going thru the process of being on her own for the first time in her life, working things out, making mistakes and figuring out who she wants to be, is a phenomenal journey.

‘If there is one mistake I will never regret for the rest of my life, it is Ashton Henley.’

“Irish, if there’s one thing I’ve never been able to forget, it’s a single second with you.”

I have a bad habit of figuring out books…I just do…not once in reading OTL did I ever stop, sit back and think about what was going to happen next. I couldn’t have even if you asked me to. Mainly because I was so engrossed in the story, I couldn’t stop reading long enough to think about what was going to happen next. And then of course there’s the fact that even in my wildest dreams I never expected Livie and Ashton’s story to play out like it did. It was natural and fluid, logical…every aspect of this book from the plot to the characters was beautifully put together and I really can’t think of one thing that didn’t work for me. Brilliance…every word of it was engrossing, powerful, sheer brilliance. And…if you can’t tell I loved it.

‘Once all the confusion, the pressure, and the lies were gone, I was left with nothing but choices. Small, large, easy, hard – all of them mine to make. For me.’

Clearly I could babble all day long about all things TTB and OTL. These characters are absolutely amazing…and if KA Tucker doesn’t stop writing the most amazing tall dreamboat men, I might loose my mind. Oh wait…cause Cain’s story is next and lord knows I love a deep dark mysterious man like a fat kid loves cake. Bring on Four Seconds to Lose !

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Born in small-town Ontario, Kathleen published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader and the farthest thing from a genre-snob, loving everything from High Fantasy to Chick Lit. Kathleen currently resides in a quaint small town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.