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Ebook copies of COME BACK TO TEXAS and A DIFFERENT KIND OF FINE,  and a $10 Amazon Gift Card. (2 winners!)

BOOK SUMMARY

Olivia is Anna Wintour’s worst nightmare, and she doesn’t give a shit. She’s wanted to go into fashion design her whole life, and nothing is going to stop her fabulous plus sized self. Not even her boss from hell, or the fact that she’s the fat Cinderella of the most exclusive lingerie store in Bushwick, Ohio. She’s sworn off dating, because she is focused, dammit, and will not get distracted by anyone in college. She has shit to do and places to go, be it on her own with the clothing she makes, or with the girls in Twelve Beats In A Bar, the all-female a cappella group she’s part of.

Why do group projects always have to ruin everything?

Thierry Acosta has it all. Shortstop on Bushwick University’s baseball team, amazing grades in college, everything he could want. When he gets paired with Olivia for a group project, things are only getting better. And then his dad loses his job, and Thierry’s life falls apart. He can’t manage to get himself to practice, to class… anywhere. He’s got the scars on his wrists to prove that this has happened before, but he thought he was better. He thought he could deal with something like this. The cuts on his thighs say otherwise.

Before they know it, Olivia and Thierry’s relationship has gone from casual project partners to not-so-casual more-than-friends. But when things take a turn for the worse, can they face the growing reality of a relationship that’s become much more serious than either of them expected- or wanted?

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Review

KK Hendin is back with book two in the Twelve Beats in a Bar series and it is completely amazing. KK has a way of creating real characters that you feel you already know. I was only a few chapters into this book and was already texting my best friend and asking how she managed to get herself into a book. I mean, Olivia is awesome. Completely awesome.

Gah…why is Olivia amazing? Because she says what’s on her mind. She’s unashamed of her appearance (THANK FUCK FOR THAT). She quilts and sews. She’s sarcastic and sassy in all the right ways. She’s giving and kind and completely unselfish. I mean, I WANTED TO BE OLIVIA. or date her. or be best friends with her. It’s no surprise that when Theirry meets her that he’s also completely smitten.

Theirry’s a baseball player who comes across as perfect, beautiful, and talented. His teammates may be assholes (we find that out early on) but Theirry’s not. He’s a good guy, he’s funny, and he so incredibly quickly falls for Olivia that he’s unsure as to what he’s even doing. But he’s not without flaws, and those flaws are deeply ingrained in his psyche that he succumbs to them when life starts to get too hard. I think my heart broke during these scenes.

This book is the perfect example of how society’s perception of outward beauty is not always a match to what is in the inside. Theirry may be outwardly perfect, but he’s not. Society doesn’t seem to think that Olivia’s perfect, but I DO. I loved how KK makes you push past the usual superficial thoughts and focus on what really matters. This book is emotional, heartwrenching and uplifting. IT GAVE ME ALL THE FEELS.

Thank you for real characters & real love, KK.

[I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KK Hendin’s real life ambition is to become a pink fluffy unicorn who dances with rainbows. But the schooling for that is all sorts of complicated, so until that gets sorted out, she’ll just write. Preferably things with angst and love. And things that require chocolate. She’s the author of the NA contemporaries HEART BREATHS and ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG.
THIS MUCH SPACE is the second book in her new series, TWELVE BEATS IN A BAR.
KK spends way too much time on Twitter (where she can be found as @kkhendin), and rambles on occasion over at www.kkhendinwrites.blogspot.com.