Little Lies

By: H. Hunting

Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Stella Bloom

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.

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

Love It, No Lie

I can’t freaking believe how good this is! I mean, seriously, the next generation of these families now finding their own HEA in a very Hunting-esque way is funny, sweet, sexy and highly entertaining. Dare I say I liked this better than her original series? Yep, it may just be my favorite book from this author so far. Loved. It. The audio version was perfection. Loved. It.

So good!

This book is a rollercoaster of emotions and incredibly beautiful. I love Lav and Kody and River too.

Omg.. AMAZING!

I was so hooked on this story that I literally got nothing done except listen to this! It was such a good tie in for everybody, thank you so much for writing it, and look forward to many more stories!

loved.

will definitely ready anything that is a spin off or part off the pucked series. this one did not disappoint. love the characters and their complexities and history and present. intense at times but definitely a good listen. great narration. i saw on a previous review someine aaid something about stella bloom's voice not being age appropriate. i thought she did great. would rather hear a mature voice then a girly one. please keep the stories coming, want to know about all these hockey player's kids lives and where they go!

Beautiful.

I enjoy this book so much, it’s an automatic reread for me. It’s amazing how the author can write spin off of a beloved series and continue to make the characters lovable. Little Lies is everything my soul needed at the moment, seeing Violet and Alex as parents is fantastic. A wonderful love story with some heartache, absolutely worth my time.

Love, love, crazy love.

There is sometimes that you meet your other half and it’s not the right time. That pull to each other is unbearable and you can fall into obsession. Mix that with two people who struggle with anxiety the emotions are even harder to go through.

This book is my entire heart. This book always speaks to me on this deeper level. The moments of the feelings of anxiety are so vivid. If you have struggled with it those feelings like you want to rub your skin off can be haunting to read on a page. But it is very easy to fall into bad habits when anxiety is peaked.

Lavender is the most amazingly strong and beautiful heroine that has been written in a long time. She is the one who slays her own dragons. That is so paramount to this story.

The love was never a question in this it was more with learning to deal with the overwhelming consumption that love can be.

Narration was exceptional.

Childhood best friends-to-enemies-to-lovers

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Audiobook Rating: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (0-5)
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Childhood best friends-to-enemies-to-lovers—Lavender Waters and Kodiak Bowman have so much history and love.
🤩 College-age, new adult romance.
🤩 These narrators are two of the absolute best for characterization and portraying all the different feels. It was extra delicious having to wait a few chapters to hear Teddy’s voice.
🤩 Totally LOL about the smutty audiobook in the car.
🤩 Amazing personality types, mental health, and neurodiversity representation.
🤩 Besides all the way back to their childhood friendship, I think I fell in love with young adult Kodiak at his protectiveness of Lavender. “There’s a do not touch policy on this one, so find another set of t!ts to eye f$ck.”
🤩 This one has all the deep feels, so be prepared. My heart burst in tears at the infinity and the “I lied.” It’s an angsty slow-burn & so worth it.
🤩 Oh, my heart. The heart-wrenching longing in this one hurts.
🤩 So much side character love. How lucky is Lavender to have Josiah as a friend?! Such beautiful gay man representation.
🤩 Hello duct tape and dildos—the steam is fantastic!! Thanks for keeping it super fun even in all the angst and deeper topics.

What I’m Wishing:
💫 Nothing at all. I was listening to get caught up and ready for the release of Shattered Truths--coming in two days!!

Cute story

Cute coming of age story and falling in love with your best friend. Nice easy listen.

Kodiak + Lavender are everything

I love this story.

The things that Kodiak and Lavender go through, which we get to see in the flashbacks of dual timelines are perfect insights into how far they’ve come. The passion, the heartbreak, the anxieties that they both face are written so well.

I love hearing this story. The narrators did just a great job bringing out the animosity and aggravation but also the love and pain both Kodiak and Lav experience.

Their voices lend the emotions perfectly. This story is so good, but adding that emotion brings it to a whole new level.

I’ve read this book probably over 5 times — this is my first listen and i could literally just keep listening. I love it so much. These narrators did a fantastic job.