Little Lies

By: H. Hunting

Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Stella Bloom

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

I don’t want you.
You mean nothing to me.
I never loved you.
I turned my words into swords.
And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall.
I said I’d never hurt her and I did.
Years later I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted when all I wanted was to indulge in my obsession.
Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of.
I used to be the one who saved her.
Over and over again.
But I don’t want to save her anymore.
I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth. 

©2020 H. Hunting (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

Wrong Narrators

The female narrator, Stella, felt all wrong for Lavender’s character. Lavender is 19 in the book, but Stella sounds like a 30 year old. She also has the strangest inflections, where she ends every sentence by raising her voice. It gets so obnoxious. Stella also was the voice of both Lainey (the hero’s mother) and Queenie (the heroine’s therapist) in previous audiobooks. So it’s odd for her to read Lavender in the same exact voice as these other characters (who also appear in this book). Teddy Hamilton kinda makes sense as Kodiak, as he can play younger. But, as a Californian myself, his fake surfer dude accent gets old real quick and doesn’t really work for Kodiak’s character.

Wow!! Just knew this book would blow me away!

Eagerly awaited for this to hit my library today and just knew once I started it I wouldn't be able to turn it off. Hunting, just has that gift of bringing you into these worlds and making you feel apart of them as if you are just watching from the sidelines waiting for the emotion and connections to unravel before you. Kodiak and Lavender were so tragically beautiful, and to see them evolve from children to young adults was magical. Hunting did warn her readers that this series (I say that because I'm hoping to see more books for the Pucked children) would be different but I still felt the huge connection to the Pucked series and the beloved characters.

Worth the Wait ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We have been anticipating the story of Alex and Violet Waters only daughter and wow this did not disappoint. A great love story. The angst was good. Not as angsty as I thought it would be but perfect for this story. The epilogue was a bit of a head scratcher. It didn't really foretell too much or elude to the next book of the series. It actually confused a bit. Otherwise, this was a delightful journey, with some great steam in all the right places!! You can't help but to fall deeply for Lavendar and Kodiak, but most of us have been in love with them since they were born

Great!

Wow. What a great book! I've been dying to get inside Lavender's head ever since A Secret for a Secret. I just knew she had to have an incredible story. Little Lies definitely lived up to my expectations. I absolutely love books about mental health because I love getting inside the heads of these types of characters. I am not someone who has anxiety so to be able to get a glimpse inside the head of someone who does is fascinating to me and really helps me learn about that kind of disorder.

Lavender is my favorite kind of character. She grows SO much during this entire book so I loved to see the flashbacks from when she was younger to her as an adult. The way she transforms herself from an incredibly co-dependent person to someone who relies on no one but herself was absolutely amazing to witness. I loved that she found her sass and that she desperately wanted to be treated like a strong, independent woman. Her putting all the men in her life in place was some of the best parts of this book. I also LOVED her relationship with Violet and it was super interesting to see how Violet was as a parent. She was always on Violet's side no matter what and I just adored their interactions.

Kody was a frustrating, but interesting character. I didn't realize that he also suffered from anxiety and I really liked how, though they both suffered from the same mental illness, they both handled it in different ways. It was a really great juxtaposition and also a really great way to show that anxiety comes in all forms and no two people will handle things the exact same way. Kody overall was a tough pill to swallow in the beginning. He was SO mean to Lavender and it broke my heart to see how he was treating her. When they did eventually get together it was sweet and funny. However, the reason I ultimately knocked a 1/2 star off was because I thought Lavender gave in a little too easily and Kody definitely should have proven himself to her a little bit more. How she got back at him though had my jaw dropping. I did NOT expect them from Lavender, but her being Violet's daughter, I probably should have.

The narration was great! I've tried Stella Bloom in the past and didn't much care for her narration, but after listening to this one I'll give her another shot. She did a really good job with Lavender and I thought that her voice was the perfect pitch for Lavender's character. Teddy Hamilton has always been a favorite of mine and while I always pictured Kodiak's voice as a little deeper, Teddy is just such an amazing voice actor that he was able to pull it off.

This book was heartbreakingly beautiful. A really amazing insight into this type of mental illness. I hope it helps others who do not much about this disorder to understand it a little better. Helena Hunting clearly researched this topic like crazy. Overall, I definitely recommend reading this one. It's a bit darker than her usual rom coms, but if you liked Pucked Off (Lance's book) you will absolutely love this one.

The Keeper of My Heart

3.5 stars

I am a huge fan of Helena Hunting's books and I was very excited when she announced that she would be writing a Pucked/All In spin off NA series. Little Lies had everything I normally love - childhood friends to enemies to lovers, forced proximity, humor, awesome secondary characters, etc, but sadly I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would.

The story is told mainly from Lavender's POV and switches between the past and present. I really wish that we would have been inside Kodiak's head more to better understand his actions. I thought the anxiety scenes were quite powerful (though I'm not sure how accurate they are) and felt they captured the dependency (and toxicity) of Lavender and Kodiak's relationship very well. The pacing of the book didn't quite work for me though and the present day chapters in the first half felt really repetitive. The back and forth drama didn't really make sense and the art class scene was especially ridiculous and unnecessary. I also could have done without the OW drama that kept popping up.

I think the disconnect for me was after all the angst and build up, the resolution felt really anticlimactic and rushed. I was glad Lavender didn't give in right away, but I needed more grovel. Their sexual chemistry was scorching, but the voyeurism and dildo scenes felt somewhat out of place (though very sexy). I wish there had been more time spent showing Lavender and Kodiak reconnecting. Everything seemed to move at warp speed toward the end and the time jumps leave the reader to fill in a lot of blanks. I was rooting for these two to find their way back to each other, however, and the epilogue left my heart happy. Even though I didn't love this one, I'm still looking forward to seeing what's next in this series.

Overall 4 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 3.5 stars

I both read and listened to this one and the narration by Teddy Hamilton and Stella Bloom was wonderful. I love both of their voices and they complement each other well. Definitely recommend the audio if you read this one.

CW: anxiety, panic attacks, attempted kidnapping, bullying

Beautiful. So freaking good.

Narration was excellent on both ends. Surprising but very touching storyline on trauma and mental health and how broadly it can impact. Lavender grew into a very strong heroine who stayed true to herself. Kodiak was trying at times as the hero, but we knew he came from good people so there had to be a reason for his temporary assholery. I loved that we got some time with them as a couple and it wasn’t just a quick HEA in the final pages. We got to see them grow and face real life challenges. Their connection was palpable from their beginning and I loved the idea that others could see that they were soulmates before they were even old enough to know what that meant. I also loved hearing about the Puck series parents and seeing how close they still are and that all their children were raised to be close to one another. What a freaking treat this book was. Thank you HH!

a new favorite

omg this book was so unexpectedly amazing the authors go so indepth with the characters and story narration was perfect lavenders and Kodiaks love story is not your typical love story and they talk about co dependency which i can relate to and how unhealthy it truly is. such a great book

Loving Little Lies

I really love this book. I would like to know if there will be another book about Lavender and Kodiak as an adult living on there own.

All the feels

Loved the story line it gives all the feels. Every emotion pours through all the characters. Narration was great though I loved the male POV so wish there was more of his voice. Beautiful story and grab the tissues.

stella bloom kinda ruined it

I would like to think stella bloom is the perfect narrator for this book because her voice really hits the nail on the head with how annoying the heroine is. not even teddy hamilton could make this audio book better.

Brilliant

brilliant narration and great story. This can be a standalone but I would recommend listening to the original series anyway!

What can I say except wow

I’ve known Lavender since she was a baby, seriously.
This is a story about soul mates and true love. They’ve been together their whole lives. Yes, it’s been awkward. Yes, they’ve hated one another. When I say hated, down to the bottom on their souls love was always there. I love these characters and the twists in this story. A big fat 5 stars from me.

Took some time

Took some time to get into but we’ll worth it. Go on give it a go

A Soulmate Romance That's Not Simple.💘😢🥰

Little Lies
By: H. Hunting
Audiobook 🎧
Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Stella Bloom
Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
(Read Using Kindle Unlimited)

Lavender and Kodiak have grown up together, both struggling with crippling anxieties but from different things. He's so clever that he expects perfection from himself. She's shy, and an incident when she was 6 yrs old has scarred her. She's extremely coddled and protected afterwards, understandably!

Their codependency grows as they age until the decision is made to keep them apart. This breaks them both.😢 They don't see each other again properly, except for one bad night, until college!

This was a lesson in how mental health can lead to bad code pendent behaviours, hero & damsel type complexes being twisted into something ugly!😔

Are they going to be strong enough, as individuals in adulthood, to have a real friendship or relationship?🙏🏼😍

This was such an interesting, complex, and heartfelt story. Soulmates who found each other at far too young an age to understand, cope, or for it to be healthy! The other relationships surrounding them were fascinating, too. Especially her twin, River.🌈

Debbie, 1970, UK

Kodiak and Lavender

I enjoyed this but there was a touch too much of the second hand embarrassment that made the original series so tricky to read at time. But I loved how Lavender grew into herself and I also kinda love how obsessed with each other they were.

😍

It took me a while to recognise the grown up version of these characters which I suppose shows that it stands well on its own merit.

A great start to a new series.

Favourite Book

I’ve listen to this book multiple times love the story and the narrator’s are great. Love Teddy Hamiltons voice I go looking for books with him doing the narration now.