REVIEW: ONE TINY LIE BY 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.

Purchase One Tiny Lie:

Goodreads | Amazon

~Our Review~

So, we recently posted our loving review of Ten Tiny Breaths that was focused on Kacey and I had been patiently waiting (threatening) Shelley to hurry up and read it already so we could read this one together! So we have done that now....and can I say that I have been the biggest girl crush ever on K.A. Tucker....okay, so it consists of stalking when the next book comes out...but this love has grown even bigger than it was for TTB! Yes...poor K.A., it's taking a ton of willpower to not blow up her twitter feed for our mad love of her books!

Livie is a kindred spirit because I used to be one of those people who had the best laid plans...and would have a heart attack if I didn't get an A...and was pretty shy (kind of still am, in certain scenarios) and never was the party girl in high school (okay, still am not that either, because damn booze is expensive and I am an obnoxious drunk....so I steer clear of that stuff!) But I really loved her in this book because a) she is actually fairly well adjusted compared to the stuff that has happened in her life and b) she is a very relatable college student trying to find her way exactly the way she always planned.

Livie, Livie, Livie. Our little type A girl. I think many of us identify with her desire to achieve and please those she loves. She hates to disappoint or to let anyone down, so she sets her mind to something, puts the blinders on, and just pushes to success.I was amazed at her in both books because she handled the tragedy of her parents' deaths and her sister's meltdown with such grace and was so well adjusted. It was almost a sigh of relief to see that she was normal..and not perfect. Thank goodness for Dr. Staynor and Kacey. They work together to loosen her up and show her that it's okay to make mistakes...to not be perfect. It's an uncomfortable place for her to be in but she tackles making mistakes just like she tackles success..haha!

Enter Ashton Henley. Holy hell that boy had me swooning all over my house. From his obnoxious cocky attitude to being THE GUY when he chose to be. *sigh* he was amazingly amazing. Yeah. I'm so good with words. I know. This is an absolutely perfect New Adult book, because contrary to popular belief it isn't all about sex. He is an enigma who doesn't share his secrets, but for some reason opens up to Livie. She does have to dig them out one teeny piece at a time like she is looking for the lost city of Atlantis...but as much as he proves her wrong, he also looks out for her. AND I loved him. My heart ached, ached for him. And when the dust cleared, and we knew everything about him. *sigh* 

I loved Ashton and his cocky, arrogant ways from our first delicious scene with him. I didn't even try to dislike him...he was just fun and smirky and intriguing and smart and sensitive and yummy...and then some. The more Livie gets to know him the more I like him...as opposed to Connor..where the more I got to know him the more I wanted to not like him. He was too good, too patient, too nice, too everything. There was actually nothing wrong with him (until one morning) but I just couldn't get it up for him. Too vanilla for my taste.

Secondary character wise, this little group is still awesome! Kacey and Dr. Staynor threaten to steal the show. I LOVED Dr. Staynor. He helped guide Livie as her not-psychiatrist as unconventionally as possible, and it was a cool journey. He is a pseudo-father to them now I think and he provided a lot of fun...as did Kacey. Ex-partying sisters getting you out of your shell can be quite hard on the liver! 

I loved Staynor and Kacey and Storm and Trent and...well you get the picture--the entire crew from Miami. But I loved Reagan and Grant and Ashton's friends too. They were funny and fun and great friends to Livie. They welcomed her into their group of friends and teased her and looked out for her and did their best to protect her. 

It is so nice (yeah, I'll save my "I LOVE secondary characters" speech...but it is so nice and awesome that K.A. was  able to create another group for us to get to know and love, and keep the old crew present and accounted for without it being an overwhelmingly large number of people. I loved it. I love these people, and there are sooooo many stories just waiting to be told in there! Dr. Staynor was such a huge part of this book, and I loved that too...since his presence in the last book was under much different circumstances and feelings. He was funny, and awesome and filled a much needed void for Livie and Kacey's life! (Just realized, I've already sang his praises, but he really can't have enough love so I'm leaving it in here!)

Reading these first two books in this series makes me very eager for the next ones to come out...these are great reads! In the meantime, I'd be happy to move in to the house in Miami where all of these characters live and get mixed up in all of their shenanigans!

Yes, sign me up. I will go with you. All the hotties are taken, but knowing these girls and the alpha men they attract, I don't think we'd have a problem finding someone to ogle!
The next book in this series comes out at the beginning of November (Four Seconds to Lose) so you should get this read so you'll be ready and waiting like a minion like we are! 

Shelley: 4 1/2 Stars
Courtney: 5 Stars

~About the Author~

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. 

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook