Surviving tragedy is often harder than being a victim of it. 
 Ten Tiny Breaths (Ten Tiny Breaths, #1)TEN TINY BREATHS, a New Adult romance by K. A. Tucker is a solid tale of loss, redemption and forgiveness. 
 Kacey Cleary survived the car accident that claimed the lives of her parents, boyfriend and best friend. She overcame bone shattering injuries and fought through the crushing depression in order to be there for the sole remaining member of her immediate family--younger sister Livie. Kacey is plagued by nightmares of the crash--being trapped in the car holding hands with her dead boyfriend as the heat left his skin, hearing the gasping breaths of her mother fade into nothingness. It's been four years since the drunk driver stole her family away, but she can't escape the revulsion she feels when another hand touches hers. 
 Kacey and Livie are on the run from her aunt and uncle--mostly her lecherous uncle who has taken an unnatural interest in fifteen year-old Livie. Relocating to Miami, Livie's outgoing spirit draws the friendship of Storm--a bartender/stripper, and mother of young Mia. Through Storm, Kacey takes up tending bar in the strip club, as is not-so-subtley stalked by their attractive neighbor, Trent. 
 Trent is rather relentless in his pursuit of Kacey--shattering her every boundary against intimacy. It seems that he's going to get her to come to terms with her PTSD, but an abrupt separation nearly destroys their fledgling relationship. In the meantime, Kacey's anger issues are getting harder to hide. 
 Just when a reconciliation seems about to happen, a new curve lands Kacey in the psych ward. And Trent? He's not who he seemed to be...at all. But, the betrayal of Trent is small potatoes in comparison of the plot arc. Through his deception, Kacey and Livie are able to claim their inheritance that they had thought was squandered by Creepy Uncle. And Kacey's aversion to intimacy is overcome--in fact, Kacey finally receives the help she needs to get past her anger and begin living a life of hope. 
 In the end, Kacey learns to forgive the drunk driver who killed her family--and forgive herself for actually surviving. It's a redemption for her, and others, that leads to a HEA we want and in the best way possible. 
 I really enjoyed it--and think readers of contemporary romance will find the story strong and uplifting.