Monday, August 26, 2013

Keeping Her: A Losing It novella by Cora Carmack

Synopsis
Garrick Taylor and Bliss Edwards managed to find their happily-ever-after despite a rather . . . ahem . . . complicated start. By comparison, meeting the parents should be an absolute breeze, right?

But from the moment the pair lands in London, new snags just keep cropping up: a disapproving mother-in-law-to-be, more than one (mostly) minor mishap, and the realization that perhaps they aren't quite as ready for their future as they thought.

As it turns out, the only thing harder than finding love is keeping it.

My Review
This novella corresponds with "Losing It," and doesn't have any connection to "Faking It" other than it being the same characters.

So this synopsis gives away the fact that Garrick and Bliss are now engaged.  Bliss and Garrick are traveling to London for Bliss to meet Garrick's family. Bliss is utterly terrified of this...but in true Bliss fashion, why wouldn't she be terrified? What she doesn't know is that Garrick is secretly terrified as well.

They get to London and again, in true Bliss fashion, there is mishap after mishap while they are there. Complete with a monster-in-law, London-based job offers, and pregnancy scares that all put Garrick and Bliss' relationship on the rocks.

I'm glad that Cora Carmack wrote this novella. After reading it I felt a greater connection to the relationship between Garrick and Bliss. I feel like "Losing It" had left a lot of irons in the fire that needed to cleaned up. Luckily, this novella took care of a lot of it for me. It was still left open for another possible book in the future, but things were really tied up by the end of it.

Plus, it's only 99 cents, so what's not to lose with it?

A word of warning though. If you a percent reader like me (you continually check to see how far you are in a book....this is one reason why I always loved paperbacks because you have the visual, but now I'm getting used to the percent completed on my Kindle), you'll think there is a ton more book left, and you flip the page and it's over. There is a snippet for the next full novel in the series, "Finding It," and a snippet from both "Losing It" and "Faking It."

If you liked "Losing It' even remotely, you'll enjoy learning a little bit more about Garrick and Bliss and the constant craziness that is their lives.

Purchase Link
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Her-LOSING-Novella-ebook/dp/B00CD36FHE/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2

Up Next: "Real" by Katy Evans


*PS - "Finding It" by Cora Carmack will be reviewed soon. This is another book in the "Losing It" series that follows Bliss' friend, Kelsey, on here travels all over the world. 

Faking It by Cora Carmack


Let me start by saying that I wasn't planning on reading this book at this time. I had started another novel and was planning on finishing that one first, but once I started reading "Faking It" I had to continue reading until the very end.

If you haven't read my review of "Losing It" yet, go and do that now:
http://www.katies-book-korner.blogspot.com/2013/07/losing-it-by-cora-carmack.html

After you read that review, you'll realize that I wasn't overly excited about continuing this series....but I'm one of those people that if I don't necessarily love the book, but you make it into a series and you have me intrigued, even slightly, I'll probably continue to buy your books to find out what happens and see if I end up eventually falling in love with the characters. Wow....I just gave away my biggest weak spot to authors....bad idea, Katie.

Anyway, but in this review I mentioned that I actually felt a bigger connection towards Cade's character than I did to Bliss and Garrick. I said that I would love to see Cade's story expanded upon because I felt really bad for him when his love for Bliss wasn't returned.

So then I pick up "Faking It" when I was bored one day and didn't have my other novel with me. Mistake #1. IT'S CADE'S STORY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This was exactly what I was asking for!

Before I get too far, I'll post the synopsis for "Faking It" to give you an idea of where I'm going with this. 

Synopsis
Mackenzie "Max" Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

My Review
Seriously, this book was amazing. Pure and simple. The character development of Cade and Max is incredible. Max is really just looking for someone to love her for who she is, but she's absolutely terrified that she'll eventually screw it up like she has everything else in her past, and she really just wants the acceptance of her family. She meets Cade, who had a strong attraction to her right away. But Cade isn't so sure about Max, just because Max is the polar opposite of Bliss. But Cade cares for Max so deeply that he loves her unconditionally, and pushes her to come out of her shell with her family and become her true self with them, and in turn, help Max begin to trust herself with relationships. But Max isn't the only one being helped throughout the book. Max makes Cade a better person. Cade learns that he's lived too safe for too long in his strive to be perfect at everything. He learns that he needs to live a little, and in that growth learns that he never really loved Bliss like he thought he did....he only thought he loved her because he knew that he could have the perfect life with her that he'd been striving for. 

Throughout the book I found myself really rooting for Cade and Max to make it. I found that both the characters really brought out the best in each other and helped each other grow through their on problems to create a strong relationship between the two of them. 

I felt like this was exactly the book I was looking for in this series. I felt a strong connection to both characters and found that they were written perfectly to each other. Though they both had their issues, in the end they both loved each other unconditionally.

And for those of you who loved "Losing It," you get a little bit into the relationship of Garrick and Bliss and where that is headed.

I honestly would love to see Cora Carmack create a side series following Cade and Max. I would buy the crap out of that series for sure!


So in the end, I would give this book a solid 5 stars. Though I wasn't a huge fan of "Losing It," it would probably be easier to understand Cade's point of view on some things if you had read it, though I wouldn't say it's completely required. Definitely a must read though. 

Purchase Links
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Faking-It-Losing-ebook/dp/B00AV6HX6W/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-3&qid=1377567837

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Faking-It-Losing-Cora-Carmack/dp/0062273264/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1377567837&sr=8-3&keywords=cora+carmack 


Up Next: Keeping Her: A Losing It novella by Cora Carmack