Review: I Love Livie
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2013
After reading and loving Ten Tiny Breaths I was excited for Livie's story, even though Livie played a huge role in Kacey's book it was like reading a new character in One Tiny Lie, the essence of Livie was the same yet she was all grown up, she was a loveable fun character.Livie is starting college, that means leaving her sister and their adopted family of sorts back home but Livie made a promise to her dad that she would make him proud so there really was no other option in mind for her than attending Princeton. Livie was hoping to keep her head down and study but that is impossible when Kacey and Livie's new boisterous room mate have other ideas in mind.Kacey is worried that the loss of their parents and her own personal troubles will have had a disastrous affect on Livie therefore she recruits the psychiatrist that helped her in the past to reach out and help Livie. Of course Livie is hesitant at first and is adamant that she is just fine but Livie had to grow up too quickly and it is the job of Kacey and Dr. Stayner to make sure she lets her hair down and enjoys the full college experience. Considering on her first night Livie punches the captain or the row team square on the jaw, eats a rainbow of jello shots, gets a tattoo and wakes up to a naked man in her room I'd say she was well on her way to fulfil Kacey's wishes. :)So Livie is on track to be a Paediatric Oncologist, it has been her dream since she has been nine years old so she does not need the hot naked guy to keep appearing in her life but that's what Ashton does. He was intrigued since Livie stood up for herself and can't keep away yet at the same time for certain reasons he can't have her. Livie meets Connor and on paper her is the perfect candidate and someone Livie knows her parents would pick for her but you can't fake chemistry and Livie tries her best to feel something for Connor that isn't there.At first Ashton acts like a typical douchebag and Connor seems like the front runner but it only takes one sentence from Ashton to melt our hearts, including Livie's. Their relationship has to remain platonic but that doesn't stop Ashton and Livie getting to know each other and they can't help but expose who they really are behind closed doors away from everyone else.The romance aspect was really sweet, I did love Ashton and I always root for the broken bad boy and it comes to light Ashton had his own demons keeping him awake at night. I think that made Livie and I fall in love with him even more. I loved their relationship and the level of trust they had in each other.I really enjoyed this story, it was truly about Livie's road of self discovery. It was her time to step out of Kacey's shadow and be her own person. With that came realisations for Livie, she discovered that it was okay not to be perfect, getting a B on a test instead of an A wasn't a criminal offence. Having fun with friends and knocking back too many jello shots was acceptable and above all else choosing to be with the person your heart wants rather than who your head says is the way it should be. I loved the inclusion of the characters from book one and it made me realise how much of a great bunch they were. It goes without saying that I loved Ashton but then I am always a sucker for a misconceived lothario ;)I loved Dr. Stayner and I was so glad he was in this book, his interaction with Livie was priceless and he was so unconventional, the things he had Livie do was so funny but at the same time he was helping Livie heal, she may have thought she was fine on the surface but Dr Stayner made Livie look inside herself and really question who she wanted to be and who she was trying to please. There were some lovely teary moments between Livie and Kasey and Livie and Ashton too.Sure there were a few times when Livie's behaviour could be frowned upon or I wanted to shake her and tell her to stand up and choose what she wanted but then that comes down to her character, she was young, inexperienced and trying to navigate her way in the world on her own.If you loved Ten Tiny Breaths then you will love Livie's story. For me the writing stood out on this one, admittedly it has been a while since I read the first book but I found this to be well written and so funny, I laughed out loud several times. I truly am a fan of K.A. Tucker and can't wait to see what comes next. ~Ava*I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.*