L-L-L-Little Reviews - 4 Romances Read in the 4th Month of 2019

Gah!  This time of the school year is so busy, and with the weather getting nicer, it's harder to stay as ahead on my blog and reviews as I'd like. BUT, hey, I'm keeping up, kind of, by getting all the reviews of romances that are not part of a blog tour in this post!


First Down (Lucky Charms #1) by Michelle Sodaro:

Genre:  Adult contemporary sports romance
Release Date: February 3rd, 2017
Source:  Finished copy purchased
My rating:  3.5 stars

This is an author who used to be a good friend of mine.  She was an inspiration for me to write myself and actually I credit her for the reason I finished my first story ever the year she and I did NaNoWriMo as writing buddies.  However, our friendship suffered a couple years ago when she did not like the reviews I'd posted of her books.  In fact she told me I didn't need to bother to review any more of her books.  But this was a series I'd been very interested in, and so I took a chance and went ahead and bought a copy to read.  In the end, I feel like this book was definitely better than the others I'd read before, I could see improvements. But it started with some of the same issues I often have with self-published books, and ended with some of those same things.  In a way, I got about halfway through the book and was ready to post a review that would be really good, because I was sucked in and not noticing the things that had bothered me before. But then, towards the end, the final third or so, it changed right back to the issues.  Lots of buts in my review it seems.  So let's add one more. BUT, the banter between characters had a few really good moments.  I loved the swear jar, and I definitely loved having something taking place in my hometown of KC.  I enjoyed the book enough to bump it to a 3.5 stars, although if it had carried through the improvement to the end, I'd have probably given it 4 stars.  I did enjoy it enough that I do want to read book 2, especially since it is set with a Kansas City Royal's baseball player, my really favorite sport and team.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Josh Matthews had a childhood he would rather forget...and he never really knew what it meant to be in a family or to call a place home. His circle of friends are the closest he has come to a family as are his teammates on the Kansas City Chiefs. He is their quarterback and loves playing football. When he sees a fan holding a sign up in the first regular season game, his superstitious teammates tease him that she could be his lucky charm. Dillon Winters knows all to well how being star-struck can hurt you. She got away from her ex-husband and is working hard to take care of her daughter, Lilly. She goes to a football game to drum up business for her bar and meets Josh Matthews, who makes her realize that giving love a second chance can fulfill her life in ways she didn't even know she was missing. 


Tinfoil Heart by Daisy Prescott:

Genre:  Adult contemporary romance
Release Date: April 22nd, 2018
Source:  Finished copy purchased
My rating:  4.5 stars
  
Now, my rating on this is a depends rating.  You see, the author gave us two different endings.  Based on the synopsis below, you might think this is a bit of a science fiction/alien visitor type of story.  And you might be right. Depending on which ending you choose to go with.  Me, I loved the Believer ending, which would make it 5 stars for me.  But if she had just gone with the Skeptic ending, well, then it would have been only 4 stars.  So I compromised with the 4.5 stars finally.  From the minute I picked this one up though, I was hooked.  I wish I'd gone ahead and read it last summer right after I bought it at Book Bonanza, so that I could have stayed up all night reading it on a summer night with no school the next morning.  Instead, I waited, and there you go.  Loved the humor, the story, the angst, the setting of the story, all of it.  There was even one line that just kept me laughing out loud for quite a while after, even as I continued reading:  "The unicorn of orgasms".   

And since I got to meet the author at Book Bonanza last summer, I'll share that photo (even as horrible as I look!):

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
A new romantic comedy about love, letting go, and little green men from USA Today Bestselling author Daisy Prescott.

My father was abducted by aliens.
Or so I believed for the last eighteen years.

After my mother's death, I moved to Roswell, capital of all things alien. I’m going to find out the truth and nothing will stop me . . . except Boone Santos.

Compared to the intergalactic tinfoil hat brigade, he's a god amongst mere mortals. Too handsome for his own good (and mine), with a grumpy arrogance, and the most beautiful smile ever—he smashes my plan to pieces like a UFO crashing into the desert.

I need a tinfoil hat for my heart.

Do I believe in aliens? I’m not sure.
What do I believe? I’m not going to fall in love with Boone. Definitely not . . . 



All Broke Down (Rusk University #2) by Cora Carmack:

Genre:  New Adult contemporary sports romance
Release Date: October 28th, 2014
Source:  Audiobook purchased from Audible
My rating:  5 stars

It's been a while since I listened to the first book in this series, but I had purchased this on Audible a while back, and decided I was in the mood to listen to it.  And boy am I glad I did, this one was so good!  One thing that was really funny for me as I listened, was at the beginning when I was getting so annoyed with one character going on and on describing stuff, and then the author totally wove that moment into the story so that her spacing out was annoying or causing issues for another character.  I loved chapter 7, it was extremely hot!  And then there was a lot of back and forth between the characters that fit perfectly for the most part, enough that it didn't even annoy me when it was a usual type of issue you see.  Then something happened at the end to one of the other characters, and I'm guessing that is who one of the next books will be about, and I'll need to read it soon!  Another great book from this author!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
In life, you can't only fight for what you believe in . . .sometimes you have to fight for what you love

Dylan fights for lost causes. Probably because she used to be one.

Environmental issues, civil rights, education—you name it, she's probably been involved in a protest. When her latest cause lands her in jail for a few hours, she meets Silas Moore. He's in for a different kind of fighting. And though he's arrogant and not at all her type, she can't help being fascinated with him.

Yet another lost cause.

Football and trouble are the only things that have ever come naturally to Silas. And it's trouble that lands him in a cell next to do-gooder Dylan. He's met girls like her before—fixers, he calls them, desperate to heal the damage and make him into their ideal boyfriend. But he doesn't think he's broken, and he definitely doesn't need a girlfriend trying to change him. Until, that is, his anger issues and rash decisions threaten the only thing he really cares about, his spot on the Rusk University football team.

Dylan might just be the perfect girl to help.

Because Silas Moore needs some fixing after all.
  


Sweet Southern Secrets (Georgia Peaches #1) by Colbie Kay and Chianti Summers:

Genre:  New Adult contemporary romance
Release Date: April 28th, 2017
Source:  Finished copy purchased
My rating:  3 stars
  
I purchased this one last year when I got to meet the authors at Kinky in Kansas City, a romance author convention that sadly is going to not go on after this coming summer.  The authors of this book were the hosts of this convention.  This awesome convention is where I met Amy Daws for the first time, as well as the cover model Jonny James, just to name a few of the awesome people!  But anyway, I hadn't read these two authors before, so I purchased this book.  Now, normally I'm not the biggest fan of the baby on the cover like this one, that often turns me away. But the synopsis sounded most like what I'd be interested in reading so I bought it.  This book had the same things about it that my friend's book has that I know has to do with self-publishing.  That is where the 3 stars comes in.  It was an okay story, although I guess I didn't read the synopsis that well, because the whole baby plotline was not what I had assumed it was going to be, it went a whole different direction.  I don't know if these are authors I'll read more in the future by or not, but I won't say that I won't.  It would be fun to see where the other Georgia Peaches stories take them.  

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Dex Mitchell has wanted to play baseball for as long as he can remember. His life was going exactly as it should until a failing grade threatens it all. Dex has no choice, but to go looking for help and where better to look than the quiet girl that sits next to him. If Dex can get her to agree, he might end up needing her for a whole lot more than just tutoring.

Callie Fisher is scared, timid, and being held captive by a night that turned horribly wrong. She's happy being invisible to people around her. Except for the guy that sits next to her. He's always noticed her and now he needs her help. What Callie thinks is supposed to just be a couple lessons in the stars turns into a whole lot of unexpected. Callie never anticipated that agreeing to help Dex would in turn help her also.

These two come together when they need it most, but as the rules change can they still win the game or will secrets give them a loss?  

Nerd Blast with Giveaway: Roar by Cora Carmack

Book info:

Title:  Roar  
Author:  Cora Carmack
Genre:  YA Fantasy
Publisher:  Tor Teen
Release Date:  June 13th, 2017

Synopsis:

In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.

To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.

Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.

She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.

Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Praise for ROAR

“I am typically not a fantasy reader, but Roar convinced me to read more. Cora Carmack created a beautiful world and I felt like I was transported to Pavan with her vivid descriptions of the city. I was left wanting more and I can't to find out what happens with the rest of her characters.”—Chelsea Riela, New York Public Library

“In her electrifying YA debut Roar, Cora Carmack creates a stormy fantasy full of adventure featuring a charismatic ensemble cast. Roar introduces YA readers to Cora’s signature talent for balancing authentic characters and a captivating romance, this time set in a striking new world that will sweep readers away.”—Mary Hinson, Irving Public Library and Mary Had A Little Book Blog

Excerpt:


--> The Pavanian princess stared at Cassius, her mouth open slightly. When she first walked into this room, Cassius had thought her stunning in her savagery, colder than the depths of winter. Her dress seduced and threatened in equal measure, clinging to her curves and adorned with carved skyfire crystals that jutted from her shoulders and head like the spikes of a warrior’s armor. And yet for all that careful pageantry, it had only taken a compliment to rattle her. She looked very young in that moment, very sweet, which was never a good thing for a potential ruler to be.

She donned an unreadable expression before his curiosity was satisfied, and her lilting voice turned sharp. “Flattery is not necessary. The betrothal has already been set.”

Another blast of that wintery gaze. She had unusual blue-gray eyes—wide and expressive and lovely enough to bring a lesser man to his knees. Her confident demeanor would likely have convinced most, but he had sharpened his instincts in a court little safer than a lion’s den. Tension rode her—something between unease and fear. He gripped her wrist and had the inexplicable urge to drag her somewhere else, anywhere other than the betrothal celebration that waited upstairs with his family. She was a delicate songbird, and his father was a bird of prey. They all were, Cassius included. And he couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before this little bird had her wings clipped.

She tugged her arm out of his grasp, hard. He was tempted to take it back. That was part of his nature … to take. But she fixed him with a harsh glare, and he smiled in response. Perhaps his little bird had talons after all.

Enough. She was not his little bird. A jungle cat does not care for prey, even if he wants it with a hunger stronger than any he has ever known. He pushed his more ruthless instincts aside. That would be his greatest challenge here—fighting the need to seize, command, destroy. Those were the things he was good at. The things he’d been taught since he could walk. With Aurora he would have to coax and flatter and comfort—that was his path to control.

She said, “We should probably go. They’ll be calling for us soon.”

Cassius offered her his elbow, and her body was tense as she curled her hand around it. But before they even took a step, it became clear that the voluminous fabric at the bottom of her dress wouldn’t allow them to easily walk side by side. Cassius took hold of her hand, sliding it off his arm and lacing their fingers together instead. Slowly, he lifted her hand until his lips dragged across her knuckles. The blacks of her eyes expanded, swallowing up that lovely color and adding just a touch of sin to her sweet. She jerked within his grip, trying to pull away. Chuckling low, he put some distance between them, but he did not release her hand.

It took entirely too long to cross the throne room in her elaborate attire. She had to kick the bottom of her dress out before she stepped so that it wasn’t underfoot. Cassius was willing to bet that the dress and the headpiece weighed a third as much as she did or more, but her posture remained rigidly upright and her steps smooth.

By the time they reached the staircase at the back of the throne room, her lips were open and her breathing quick. He was beginning to hate this dress, even if it did cling to her curves rather spectacularly.

“You know,” he said, “I have a knife. I’m tempted to cut off the bottom of that dress so you can walk like the rest of us.”

A smile flitted across her mouth, small at first, then widening into something playful and bright. It called to the darkness in him. “You could try. But you’d likely find that knife at your throat with my mother on the other side of it.”

“Not you?”

“If I had my way, we’d burn it once you cut it off. The headdress too.”

He smiled, and for the first time in a long while it felt almost natural.

“Perhaps we’ll celebrate our wedding with a bonfire.”

Every time he mentioned the wedding, she tensed. It was, of course, already agreed upon and signed in ink, but he had plans that would not succeed if she remained reluctant.

They ascended the first few steps slowly, the beaded fabric of her dress pulled taut around her legs. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and charge the rest of the way, but he distracted himself with studying his surroundings instead. The hallway they were leaving behind was filled with paintings and statues of the Pavan Stormling ancestors. At the hallway’s end a massive, gold-painted statue of the current queen stood in a decorative alcove. Once upon a time, there might have been altars to the old gods—places to pray for good harvest or fertility or even luck—but those days were long past. Too many years of unbridled destruction and unanswered prayers.

No, Stormlings were the gods now. It was Cassius and the people like him who either answered prayers or ignored them.

“You said you faced a blizzard on your journey, but you did it without an affinity.”

He squeezed the hand he still held. “I did.”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, scraping at the white paint that covered her skin. She asked, “Would you tell me about it sometime? The blizzard?”

He angled his head to smile at her again, and she looked away. Shy. So many pieces to her puzzle. “On one condition.”

“Which is?” He had expected her to be like most of the well-born ladies of the court in Locke: sirens with claws and teeth or frightened little mice, made to be gobbled up by this world. Aurora seemed neither vicious nor weak, but she was working so carefully to show him a façade that he could not pinpoint exactly what she was.

He had to know. It was his curse, the reason he thirsted for the thrill of a storm. He had to know how things worked, had to know why. And the girl in front of him was no different. In fact, the need to unravel all her secrets was stronger than he’d ever felt because she would be his. And he had a feeling that conquering her would prove more exhilarating than any storm he had ever defeated.

Rather than giving her his condition, he released her hand and wrapped an arm around the slim circle of her waist. She tried to step back, but her feet tangled in her dress, and she gripped his tunic to stay upright.

There it was. A thread of fear in those eyes. He could have stopped then, but he had little self-control when it came to these things. It was not enough to see a measure of her emotions on her face. He wanted them all. So he pushed a little more. “You might be patient enough to fight with this dress, but I am not. Let me get us to the top of these stairs, and I promise to tell you whatever story you want to hear.”

She jutted her soft chin out and said, “You have a deal.”

The paint had begun to wear away on her lips, revealing rosy skin underneath. Was the rest of her flushed beneath all that powder? He dragged his fingers back and forth over her side, feeling hard ridges beneath the heavy, embellished fabric. “Corset?”

She sucked in a breath, and he knew he had shocked her. Innocent. He collected each morsel of her identity like a scavenger in the jungle. He saw just a sliver of panic before she hid it away and met his gaze.

Brave little bird.

“It will have to be like this.” Before she could change her mind or reason could catch up to his own actions, he bent, winding his arms around her thighs, and lifted. She was tall but slight, and he held her tight against him so that her hips pressed against his chest and her stomach hovered in front of his face. She gasped and braced a hand on his shoulder, reaching up to balance her headdress with the other. He could not see her face like this, but he imagined she was scandalized. He chuckled. “I suppose I should have given you some warning.”

He risked offending her or word getting back to her mother through the guards that followed them. Both of which paled in comparison to the risk of his father hearing of his actions. He was a child, poking at a fish with a stick, rather than reeling it in the way he was supposed to. But he could not seem to help himself.

With some measure of urgency, he started up the stairs. Her body swayed toward him, her beaded dress scraping against his chin. This close, he felt her breathing speed up. The hand on his shoulder migrated to her chest, doing her best to cover the cleavage that was only just above his line of sight.

His instincts said to push again, but this time he reined them in. He kept his head down and quickened his feet. Again, the movement made her sway toward him, harder this time without her hand on his shoulder as a brace. He turned his face to the side, and her belly pressed against his cheek just for a moment before her hand was back at his shoulder, righting her position.

He took the last few steps at a pace that was nearly a jog, and when he reached the top, he looked up at her face. Her mouth was open and soft; he knew by the rise and fall of her body against him that her breaths were ragged, and in her eyes was a gleam. Not fear. Not panic. Not even anger.

Want.

He could work with that.

Copyright © 2017 by Cora Carmack  
About Author:

Cora Carmack is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of New Adult Romance and YA fantasy. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages around the world. Cora splits her time between Austin, TX and New York City, and on any given day you might find her typing away at her computer, flying to various cities around the world, or just watching Netflix with her kitty Katniss. But she can always be found on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and her website www.coracarmack.com.

Represented by the fabulous Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary.

WEBSITE: http://www.coracarmack.com/
TWITTER: @CoraCarmack
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6535659.Cora_Carmack
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/CoraCarmackBooks

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/coracarmack/

Photo Credit: Matt Tolbert

Giveaway:

--Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- 10 Winners will receive a Copy of ROAR and Swag Bundle (Everything Pictured, Poster and Coloring Sheet) by Cora Carmack.

 
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Audiobook Review: All Lined Up (Rusk University #1) by Cora Carmack

Book info:
Title:  All Lined Up  
Author:  Cora Carmack
Series:  Rusk University #1   
Genre:  New Adult Contemporary Romance - Sports
Published:  May 13th, 2014
Source:  Digital download from public library

So, Cora Carmack is not only an author I'd heard that I needed to read, she is one of the authors that will be at NOLA StoryCon in two weeks.  So I have been working on reading her books, or rather, listening to the audiobooks.  I did really enjoy this book for the most part.  There was so much about the main character that reminded me of myself.  First, she's not a fan of football, me neither.  Second, she doesn't like the part in a church service where everyone turns around to greet each other, or at my churches, you "give peace".  I hate that part.  As an introvert, I am never comfortable reaching out and shaking a bunch of other people's hands, and if I go to shake someone's hand, and they are busy reaching to someone else, then I feel really stupid.  So it was definitely fun to read and know that she and I had some personality quirks in common.

This book was told from the viewpoints of the two main characters, Dallas, the football coach's daughter, and Carson, one of the football players, soon to be a star player.  Dallas comes from a small town, where her father was the football coach there.  He got the job at this college, and so Dallas went there to get the good deal on school.  She wasn't too excited about it, first of all because her ex-boyfriend was one of the star football players there, and he really was a jerk.  Dallas is unlucky enough to run into him at the first party she goes to with her best friend at the beginning of the year.  But she also runs into Carson at this party.  And they kind of click.  At first Dallas doesn't know exactly who Carson is, that he is a football player.  But once she finds out, she is mad.  She is afraid he was using her to get to her father.  Of course they do get past that, and then they have to decide just how much they can go public.  I mean, it's possible their relationship could be a problem for her father, or Carson. And when there is a picture taken that shows something totally out of context. Things do get kind of bad.  

They are able to work through their issues, and it does work out in the end.

I enjoyed it, it wasn't a perfect story.  I kind of saw what was going to go down at the end, and it was something that annoys me whenever a character in a book does it.  I won't say what it is for now, don't want to spoil anything.  But it was a pretty good read/listen.  Very quick, and kept my attention all the way through.  

Audiobook Review: Finding It (Losing It #3) by Cora Carmack

Book info:
Title:  Finding It  
Author:  Cora Carmack
Series:  Losing It #3  
Genre:  NA Romance
Published:  October 15th, 2013
Source:  Digital audiobook download from public library

While this was probably not my favorite book of this series, it still was pretty good.  In fact, it started out with one of the best lines ever:  "There was no room for unhappiness when squeezed between two sets of washboard abs.  New life motto, right there."  p. 7.  Later in the book there is another awesome line, "If I couldn't seduce him in Italy, then take away my vagina, because I didn't deserve it."  This book was a lot of fun for the most part, but really was kind of slow.  It would go on for chapters about basically the same night, and not that it doesn't work, but sometimes there was just too much detail and thoughts, and I was needing more action, more story.  Overall it was a good read still, but it was a little too slow for me.

Unlike in book 2, Faking It, we were back to just one narrator like in the first book, Losing It.   The main character this time is Kelsey, she was Bliss's best friend in the first book.  After graduation she wasn't sure what she wanted to do, and while we know that Bliss and Cade went on to go to graduate school.  Kelsey goes to Europe to try to decide what to do.  She comes from a rich family, and so she is able to just go and travel as she wants.  When we start the story she is heading out to an underground club with friends from the hostel where she is staying in Budapest.  At the club she is surrounded by hot guys, who don't speak but a few words of English.  As the first quote I shared above shows, she was okay with that.  But when one of them goes to kiss her, and it is a horrible, horrible kiss, things get a little bit off track.  Especially when she sees a really attractive guy across the bar who has noticed the horrible kiss and is laughing at it.  She goes over and talks to him, irritated that he is acting the way he is. When she ends up leaving the bar alone later, he seems to be following her, almost stalking her.  He walks her back to her hostel, saying he only wants to see her home safely.  At another club another night, she runs into him again.  This club is like a giant swimming indoor swimming pool.  When she decides to leave the guys she's with and hang out with the guy, Jackson, who has shown up again, her drink gets drugged.  He takes her out of the club, back to a hotel, and takes care of her.  There's definitely sexual attraction between the two, but Jackson refuses to give into it.  Of course this irritates Kelsey, as she is not used to being turned down by guys.  

Kelsey is over in Europe to not think, to get away from the things that make her unhappy. The bad memories of things that happened when she was younger. Something that was part of the reason she became the way she is with guys, all about a good, but casual time.  Jackson tells her that she hasn't really had an adventure yet, only drinking and picking up guys.  And when she thinks maybe she should just go home and face her father, he convinces her to give an actual adventure, with him, for a week, a chance.  So she does.  They travel to several places, Germany, Italy, Switzerland.  And in each country they have lots of fun, and also seem to get closer and closer.  But not only is Kelsey hiding her problems, it seems that Jackson has a secret as well.  Now, it was pretty clear to me from the very beginning what his secret was, but that's okay.  The story still worked.  At one point, they choose to give into the attraction and try that.  Until the secrets come out, and things change.  In the end, Kelsey must decide if she should go home, if Jackson deserves a chance even after his secret, or if she wants to start a new life without either of those things in Europe.  

I definitely enjoyed the book, the main issue was the slow pace of the story.  Kelsey's skeleton in the closet was one that definitely made me emotional to read about, and totally made sense for why she became the way she did.  I feel like she should have figured out Jackson's secret herself sooner.  And also that she freaked out a bit too much in my opinion. But yeah, I know that is part of what gives the story suspense.  I look forward to meeting this author in October at NOLA StoryCon.

Audiobook Review: Faking It (Losing It #2) by Cora Carmack

Book info:
Title:  Faking It
Author:  Cora Carmack
Series:  Losing It
Genre:  New Adult Contemporary Romance
Published:  June 4th, 2013

This was my latest audiobook that I downloaded digitally from my public library.  I started reading/listening to this author because she is going to be at the NOLA Story Con I'm going to in September.  And this will be another book that I'll have to own so that I can get it signed when I get to meet her!  You don't have to have read the first book, Losing It, to enjoy this one however. The main character in Faking It, Cade, was a best friend of the main character in the first book though, so you do get a little bit of background on him from the first book if you would like.  

As I said, the main character is Cade.  He is working on an advanced degree in acting, and has recently moved to Philadelphia.  The same place that his best friend/crush moved to with her boyfriend, their former teacher.  He knows that he has to get over Bliss, but doesn't really know how to do it.  He's just had coffee with Bliss and her boyfriend Garrick, and is sitting in the coffee shop alone, when fate sends the other main character, Mackenzie, or Max as she prefers to be called, into his life.

Max is a bit of a rebel.  She's in a band, and dates guys with names like Mace.  She's in the coffee shop with Mace, when she gets a phone call from her parents saying that they have dropped into town to surprise her for Thanksgiving.  Max usually has time to prepare for seeing her parents, cover her tattoos, change her hair color, take out her piercings.  But as her parents are just about to show up at the coffee shop, she has to come up with something quick.  She tells Mace she'll have to keep him away from her parents, and he goes away, definitely okay with  not having to meet parents.  She sees Cade sitting at a table, and he looks exactly like the clean-cut type of guy her parents would love.  And this is where they have their "meet-cute".  

Max asks Cade to pretend to be her fake boyfriend just for the day, long enough to show her parents and help keep them off her back.  It takes a more permanent turn when they invite Cade to come to Max's apartment to share their dinner.  Which Cade is fine with, as it gives him an excuse to not go to Bliss's house for dinner and have to watch her be happy with Garrick.  

As you might expect, there is more than just the fake relationship between Cade and Max.  Both of them feel an attraction to each other.  Max fights it more than Cade, though.  She fights it enough that when their friendship might be able to become more, it sends her running away from Cade, trying to keep anything from going any further.  At least until she gets a bit of an ultimatum from her parents that could mess up her plans to continue with her band.  Her band that is getting close to possibly taking off.  All of this will require an extension of their pretend relationship, and will lead Cade to help Max face some things in her past that she really needs to figure out and help move on with her life.  

Once again I fell in love with the characters.  The bit from Max's past totally made me cry, and made a great emotional aspect for the story.  Once again I'm going to greatly recommend this author's book!

Audiobook Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack

This was my next audiobook that I downloaded for free from the public library.  And while the way the guy looks on the cover is a little creepy/pasty pale for me (yes I know it's part of the story that he's so pale because he's British), the guy in the story was definitely a good one!  Cora Carmack is another author I've heard a lot about, along with Colleen Hoover, in the New Adult genre of books.  And I have to say that this book did not disappoint.  I loved it, and can't wait to read the other books in the series, as well as more books by her. 

Now, the title of this is the same as an ARC I told you about a couple weeks ago that I had emailed and begged the publisher for, Losing It.  However this is a different author and story, even though there is the small smidgen of similarity in that both are about a girl who is still at a virgin at an older age. 

In this one, the main character is a college senior named Bliss.  Bliss is a virgin, and her best friend has helped her to decide that it is time for her to get that out of the way.  So they decide to go out and find her the perfect guy at a bar at the beginning of the book.  At the bar she first sees the bartender, who is cute, and seems to be flirting back with her.  When she heads back to the bathroom, she notices a cute guy sitting by the pool tables reading Shakespeare.  She's a bit tipsy at this point, using alcohol as a way to smooth away her nervousness at this big step.  She teases the guy that the only reason he would be reading Shakespeare at a bar is to try to pick up women.  When he responds, with an English accent no less, she ends up staying and talking to him, and finding that maybe this guy, his name is Garrick, is who she will pick for her first.  They end up taking his motorcycle back to her apartment, because he had locked himself out of his own, and was waiting for the locksmith to come.  Things are getting very hot and heavy, everyone is pretty much undressed, and suddenly, Bliss freaks out, and leaves him, claiming that her cat is at the vet and she has to go pick it up.  She runs out of her apartment and goes and hides around the corner of the building, watching the door of her apartment to see when he will leave.  About 10 minutes later, he does finally come out.  And she's horrified to see that he just walks over to the building across the way, he lives in her apartment complex! 

Then she goes into school the next day, she's an acting major, and things get worse.  Turns out that Garrick is her new professor.  At first they try to fight it, with Bliss trying to avoid him so that she won't be embarrassed.  But soon the two of them figure out that maybe they can't fight it.  Of course, she still doesn't give away about the sex thing with him.  She waits.  And in the end, will it work out with him?  Or will she keep running away from all that scares her about the act.  Will Garrick be able to put up with all the pushing away she does?  And what about her guy friend, that decides to confess he does like her as more than a friend. Will she try seeing how things go with him?

It was a very sweet story, and I liked most of it. Although Bliss did annoy me at some parts.  Things she did that I can't imagine doing, things that messed things up in her relationship with both Garrick as well as her friendship with the other guy.

A sweet read, and I look forward to reading/listening to more books by Carmack in the future.