Review: Finding It by Cora Carmack

Finding It by Cora Carmack
Series: Losing It #3
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Source: Edelweiss
ISBN: 9780062273284
Release Date: October 15, 2013
Pages: 216

Goodreads | Amazon

Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find where you truly belong . . .

Most girls would kill to spend months traveling around Europe after college graduation with no responsibility, no parents, and no-limit credit cards. Kelsey Summers is no exception. She's having the time of her life . . . or that's what she keeps telling herself.

It's a lonely business trying to find out who you are, especially when you're afraid you won't like what you discover. No amount of drinking or dancing can chase away Kelsey's loneliness, but maybe Jackson Hunt can. After a few chance meetings, he convinces her to take a journey of adventure instead of alcohol. With each new city and experience, Kelsey's mind becomes a little clearer and her heart a little less hers. Jackson helps her unravel her own dreams and desires. But the more she learns about herself, the more Kelsey realizes how little she knows about Jackson.

I was pretty excited to read Finding It. After reading Losing It and Faking It I thought yes this is going to be a great book. Why wouldn't it be? I loved the previous books, but the problem is that I despised the main character.

Kelsey was not a likeable character in any sort of way. She was whiny, annoying, and manipulative throughout the majority of the book. She whined throughout most of the book about not having sex and Hunt rebuffing her every move.

He didn't look at my face. He didn't look at my body for that long. I was kind of offended. My girls, Marilyn and Monroe, were definitely offended.

You know, you could always help me find another way to erase the memory of that bad kiss.”

And talk about making it easy to seduce Hunt. If I couldn't do it in Italy, someone should take away my vagina because I didn't deserve it.

In Cora Carmack’s previous books the characters were all relatable. They had their awkward moments that were hilarious, but everything that was great about those books was absent in this one. There was only one or two times in the whole book that made me laugh. At the beginning when Kelsey started kissing Tamas and he licked her face had me laughing so hard, but the rest of the book it was pretty much this:


I just couldn't respect a main character who faked an injury to get some guys attention. She just seemed desperate for attention and an overall spoiled brat. And when she wasn't whiny about Hunt not sleeping with her she bitched about her family controlling her (while gallivanting around Europe on Daddy’s dime of course). Kelsey was aware of everything she did and I just wanted to slap her for most of the book.

I had no problem playing the ditzy blonde to get what I wanted, but I hated that I was living the stereotype unintentionally at the moment.

There was a moment when I actually felt something for her other than disdain, but it washed away as quickly as the pity came.

My Rating:

Review: Faking It by Cora Carmack

Faking It by Cora Carmack
Series: Losing It #2
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Source: Edelweiss
ISBN: 9780062273260
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Pages: 248

Goodreads | Amazon


The second book in a fantastic New Adult series from Cora Carmack, the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of LOSING IT.

Grad school isn't what Cade Winston thought it would be. He's barely doing any acting and he still sees his best friend, the girl who broke his heart, with another guy on a regular basis.

When Mackenzie "Max" Miller sits across from him at a coffee shop, it's like she blew into his life with the force of a hurricane. She's the complete opposite of any girl he's ever dated - brightly dyed hair, tattoos, a piercing, and a request. She wants him to pretend to be her wholesome, boy-next-door boyfriend for an hour so that her parents don't meet the real guy she's dating. Maybe it's the weeks without acting or maybe he's lost his mind, but he agrees to play the part.

Only neither of them planned for Cade's acting and charm to win her parents over so completely. Now they're insisting he come visit for the Christmas Holidays. Max still has a boyfriend, Cade is still heartbroken, and neither of them is the other's type. But the more they fake it, the more it begins to feel real.

I really enjoyed Cora Carmack's first book Losing It and couldn't wait to read the next book. Faking It was even better! I liked Max and Cade so much more than Bliss and Garrick. Their relationship was fun and they challenged each other.

Cade got his heartbroken by Bliss in Losing It. I felt so bad for him in the last book. He just seemed like a heartbroken puppy. Faking It picks up a few months since Bliss told him she doesn't reciprocate his feelings and he isn't handling it too well. Max's current flame, Mace, is the drummer in her band and he obvious isn't the meeting the parents type, so she gets Cade to pretend to be in love with her.

Max's parents are very controlling and have high expectations. They are very conservative and try to bully Max into doing what they think is best, which of course is the opposite of what Max wants or needs. Max had a long journey to come to terms with the fact that she can't be who her parents except and for her to confront them about it. But Cade pushes and encourages Max to be true to herself and talk to her parents about it.

I think why their relationship worked is because even though it was fake, they developed a strong friendship. They each pushed each other to be better. They may seem like complete opposites, but they really did complement each other. The ending was much better in this book as it was more realistic. Losing It ended almost with a too perfect happily ever after. Where Faking It does have a happy ending, but its perfect because it's real.

My Rating:

Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack

Losing It by Cora Carmack
Series: Losing It #1
Source: Bought

Virginity.

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has hers. Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, she decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible-- a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier

Somehow after reading Jessica Sorensen’s The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden I have been sucked into the world of New Adult books. I just can’t stop reading them. They don’t have a lot of substance for me, but they are just such an entertaining, light, and fluffy read. I’m more of a sci-fi girl, but I guess there will also be a soft spot for chick-lit like books.

I did really enjoy this book. There were parts where I would burst out laughing. I loved how the main character, Bliss, was quirky and very relatable. I couldn’t stop laughing at the beginning of the book when she is with Garrick, freaks out, and tells him that she has to pick up her (non-existent) cat at the 24 hour vet and books it out of her own apartment.
The main love interest, Garrick, was completely swoon-worthy. He was charming, sexy, caring…everything you would want in a guy. But he did have his not so great moments. I didn’t like how he came across as jealous and overprotective of Bliss at times.

While I liked how the author wraps everything up nicely at the end, I felt it ended almost too abruptly. But the next book, Faking It, is out in June, and it centres around Cade!!

My Rating: