*ARC* Four Seconds to Lose - Review

Four Seconds to Lose (Ten Tiny Breaths #3)

By: K.A. Tucker

Published: November 4, 2013 by Atria Books

345 pages

Source: Netgalley ARC from publisher

(Goodreads / Amazon)

Summary:

When a gorgeous young dancer walks through his door, a strip club owner must decide whether to follow his rules or his heart in the third novel by the author of One Tiny Lie and Ten Tiny Breaths.

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 can't get distracted by romance.

Unfortunately, Charlie soon discovers that developing feelings for Cain is inevitable, and 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.

MY REVIEW:
This would be a "better late than never" review seeing as how it is an ARC, no doubt a long archived one by now. In my haste to try to complete this series, I realized halfway through reading that I was missing some information about some of the characters, which led me to discover that I skipped book 2. In the end though, it didn't matter much and it didn't take away from this storyline.

This story follows Cain and Charlie set in Miami, Florida. Cain has a disturbing past, one in which, now as a 29 year old adult he makes it his mission to try to provide a stable work place for women who choose to strip. He has hard rules: no drugs, no illegal activity, and he certainly does not have relationships with the women who work for him. Charlie has an equally disturbing past and is, for all intents and purposes, attempting to escape a life she never wanted to be a part of but didn't have a say in. But how do you make tens of thousands of dollars to start a new life in a short amount of time?

In the Ten Tiny Breaths series, all of the main characters have something in common with the same club. There's a group of friends that either work together, live in the same apartment complex, or hang out together. Charlie is the outsider of this group, but she's likable and Cain is having trouble staying true to one of his rules. The problem is that the Charlie that Cain knows, is a lie.

I was blown away by Ten Tiny Breaths. I wasn't interested to read book two, which is why I put this series on hold for so long, and I don't plan to go back to read it. But I did enjoy book 3. I mean...Cain! Hello?!

The only negative I saw was the book cover. It doesn't match up with who Cain and Charlie were in my head. Fans of NA contemporary romance will definitely enjoy this series.

Top Favorite Quotes:
He's aggressive and emotional. He's the best of both worlds.

I'm beginning to believe that the depths to which a woman could fall for Cain are endless. To a deep, dark, infinite pit with no ladders to get away, no cushions to soften the impact. No safety net. No escape.

We are simply two good people with equally flawed pasts, looking for perfect futures.

Language: 2 (medium)
Mature Content: 2 (medium)
Final Rating: 4 stars