Faking It (Losing It #2) by Cora Carmack

“…sometimes you don’t know what you’re looking for until it’s already knocked you flat on your back.”

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.

Personal Thoughts:

Faking it is a novel companion of Cora Carmack novel, Losing It. In Losing It we’ve met Cade as the best friend of the main character in Losing It, Bliss. And beside being her best friend, Cade also has feelings for Bliss but unfortunately wasn’t returned by Bliss. Now in this novel, Faking It, will see what happened to Cade after Bliss reject him in Losing It.

“Pain changes us. Mine made me want to be perfect, so that no one would ever want to leave me again”

So Cade is now living across country, trying to move on by busying himself with studies and his acting career. Then one day while waiting for his client in a coffee shop, he was approached by a girl named Max with a proposal for him to pretend to be her boyfriend that morning. Intrigue with Max and the awkward yet funny circumstances they are into, he agreed to act as her boyfriend and meet her parents that day. They both thought it will be just one time set-up but things doesn’t exactly fall as Max’s plans. Max’s parents like Cade in an instant and invited him to join them the next day in Max place, which starts a pretentious relationships between Cade and Max.

“Living is hard. And every day our feet get heavier and we pick up more baggage. So, we stop and take a breath, close our eyes, reset our minds. It’s natural. As long as you open your eyes and keep going.”

I don’t really give much attention to Cade from Losing It. I like him as Bliss’s best friend but I never consider him as a leading man. nor a competition to Garrick. He’s just a secondary character that wasn’t really developed in the first book. But when I found that he is getting his own story in this novel companion, I’m curious what’s really the deal with the guy. I wonder how the author will expand his story and develop his character.

Unfortunately though, I wasn’t sold by how the author develop Cade in this novel. Though I enjoy reading his charming and sweet personality, I still find him lacking of real traits to really stood out as a character. Maybe it has something to do with how Max describes him, which basically crafted Cade as a perfect character that just makes him too good to be true. Yes, he is swoon worthy but it also makes him too unrealistic and cliché. Sometimes I don’t mind the character being too perfect, but with a plot like this which also falls to be far-fetched and cliché it just too much already.

As for Max, she is quite different which normally defines characters I root for, but I got a problem connecting to her in this novel. With her family background and sad past, I want to empathize to her, I want to feel her struggles and pain, but it didn’t happen. At first I thought the reason why I can’t feel Max emotions is because of how Max is blocking her pains by showing a tough appearance. With her tattoos and though act I thought she is just perfectly building her wall for everyone, even to the reader like me. But then as one of the narrator, Max is also giving readers free access to her thoughts and feelings. So why I am not feeling her? When Max is revealing her sad stories and painful memories, I still can’t feel the emotions I’m supposed to be feeling. I’m not exactly expecting to cry for her, but when I can’t even sympathize for her, it is not normal. Like I don’t care for her at all, which is something not good for a reader like me. I just struggle connecting to her.

As for Max and Cade relationship, their setup as pretending couple is actually funny. With their awkward first meeting and once in a while banter, the story has funny and entertaining moments. I enjoy reading those parts compare to their intimate and supposed to be sweet moments.

Looking at him, I knew this wasn’t the kind of fear that sent you running for the hills. It was the kind of fear that made people jump off cliffs and climb mountains- the kind of fear that told you something miraculous was waiting at the end of it, if you could only get there.”

While there’s nothing really completely new with the story as far as the romance goes, I think Faking It is still a completely enjoyable book. If you like Loosing It, you might like this novel companion from Cora Carmack Losing It series.

Losing It (Losing It #1) by Cora Carmack

“Sometimes, it’s the scary things in life that are the most worthwhile.”

Love.Romance. Sex. There’s a first time for everything…

As far as Bliss Edwards can tell, she’s the last virgin standing, certainly amongst her friends. And she’s determined to deal with the ‘problem’ as quickly and simply as possible.

But her plan for a no-strings one night stand turns out to be anything but simple. Especially when she arrives for her first class and recognises her hot new British professor.

She’d left him naked in her bed just 8 hours earlier…

Personal Thoughts:

When Dianne tweeted last Friday that Losing It is available from NetGalley, I automatically visited NetGalley’s website to request a copy. I really thought it was the second book of the series. Once I downloaded the eGalley to my Kindle, that’s when I realized that I made a mistake. Because Losing It is in fact the first book of the series, which I already read last February. As of I know, the book is still a self published released when I first read it, then it becomes a hit and picked up by Ebury UK publishing. The paperback was released into market last March. The one I requested from NetGalley has a different cover than the copy I’ve read months ago, which is why I assumed it is a different book. Anyway, to refresh my memory about the book, I decided to do a quick re-read which turns out more than fun than what I remember in reading the book the first time.

The story is about Bliss who at the starts of the novel wants to lose her V card. With her best friend Kesley, who seems to make it a mission to help Bliss with her V card problem, they went out to a bar to hunt some guy who can help Bliss. There Bliss met Garrick while he was reading a book in a crowded room. She thought it was a style to pick-up some girl, which obviously works in her, but turns out Garrick is just honestly spending time reading. Garrick happens to be a British with an accent that can easily draw girls attentions. Bliss and Garrick had unexpected chemistry right away, which leads them both to Bliss place that night. But the night doesn’t end perfectly as there are some disasters courtesy of Bliss. But the night disaster is nothing compared to what Bliss and Garrick find out the day after. As it turns out that Garrick is Bliss new Theater professor, something more complicated than Bliss bargained for.

Bliss is a fun character to read. Her inner thoughts carry humor and wit. All the awkward and funny situations she keeps falling into makes this book so much fun and hilarious. Her awkwardness and clumsiness is endearing and pretty crazy. She rumbles a lot which usually irritates me since I’m not a fun of character who talk to much more than she thinks, but in Bliss case I welcome her blubbering as it is so fun to read.

Garrick is British with a freaking accent to die for. I love playing accents in my mind while reading and there are lots of in here, so I adore Garrick. Though accent aside, what I like about Garrick character is the way Cora Cormack make him plain and simple. He is a normal guy, with a few issues but not damaged or overly portrayed with dark past or anything. Not much hidden drama around him which is a bit refreshing compare to what I’ve been reading lately, even in contemporary novels like this one. Garrick is a genuinely nice guy who simply cares about bliss. His protectiveness is not over the top in any way, which is more sweet than irritating.

“Some relationships just end. Like a star, they burn bright and brilliant, and then nothing in particular goes wrong, they just reach their end. They burn out.”

The plot was definitely something that is already used before, I already encountered some contemporary novels with same story line, but Losing It has its own unique way of delivering a common plot. Yes, it had cliché moments, simple and predictable plot but it is was such a fun read that you can forgive all the clichés, and don’t mind the predictability. It was highly entertaining and the best part is it didn’t try to be something that it is not.

“We want what we can’t have. It’s human nature.”

For a debut novel, Cora Carmack successfully deliver a fun, sweet, and romantic story in Losing It. It is a quick and light-hearted read that will put a smile on your face, and your heart melting and giddy.

* This review is based on an eBook I received courtesy of the publisher, Random House UK, Ebury Publishing via NetGalley.