Mini NA Reviews: Faking It and The Score

Posted February 1, 2016 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

mini reviewsMini NA Reviews: Faking It and The ScoreFaking It by Cora Carmack
Series: Losing It #2
Genres: New Adult
Published by Harper Collins on June 4th 2013
Also by this author: All Lined Up, All Broke Down, Losing It, All Played Out, Roar, Finding It
Format: Audiobook (304 pages) • Source: Scribd
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four-stars

Content warning: because of its genre and/or because it has older characters than you normally see on my blog, it may contain sex, drinking/drugs, and/or violence.

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.

thoughts mini reviewAfter really despising the previous book in this series (and DNFing it), I couldn’t decide if I wanted to read the rest. Because this is a companion series, I was tempted! New characters but the same Cora Carmack writing I generally enjoy? Why not?! I finally decided to go for it via audio (after testing out a sample, because the narrator ruined it last time).

I have to say, this book was the complete opposite for me! The narrators were perfect and didn’t feel like young children reading books about sex. The characters were so fun and the narrators did an awesome job of capturing their personalities. I knew from the first few chapters that this one would give me a totally different experience. Thank god!

I’ve been feeling annoyed by anything resembling instalove lately, and unfortunately SOME of this fell in that category. I rolled my eyes a bit throughout but it’s because I’m bitter about romance, and have been for the past few months. I liked their chemistry from the very beginning and fake dating is a trope I looooove. It was also a case of opposites attracting, so that was fun.

Beyond the romance, Max had a lot of complicated personal and family-related things going on. Cade did too but they weren’t really addressed at all. It was focused a lot on HER and her problems, and I wish he got more attention. As far as characters are concerned, I wished for more about him and less about her.

Overall, this book was really great compared to the first. I’ll definitely continue with the series now! I may eventually try the first book as a physical copy instead, but we’ll see.


Mini NA Reviews: Faking It and The ScoreThe Score by Elle Kennedy
Series: Off-Campus #3
Genres: New Adult
Published by CreateSpace on January 11th 2016
Also by this author: The Deal, The Mistake, The Goal, The Chase , The Risk
Format: eBook (350 pages) • Source: Purchased
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five-stars

Content warning: because of its genre and/or because it has older characters than you normally see on my blog, it may contain sex, drinking/drugs, and/or violence.

He knows how to score, on and off the ice

Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn’t have the first clue about what she's going to do after college. To make matters worse, she’s nursing a broken heart thanks to the end of her longtime relationship. Wild rebound sex is definitely not the solution to her problems, but gorgeous hockey star Dean Di-Laurentis is impossible to resist. Just once, though, because even if her future is uncertain, it sure as heck won’t include the king of one-night stands.

It’ll take more than flashy moves to win her over

Dean always gets what he wants. Girls, grades, girls, recognition, girls…he’s a ladies man, all right, and he’s yet to meet a woman who’s immune to his charms. Until Allie. For one night, the feisty blonde rocked his entire world—and now she wants to be friends? Nope. It’s not over until he says it’s over. Dean is in full-on pursuit, but when life-rocking changes strike, he starts to wonder if maybe it’s time to stop focusing on scoring…and shoot for love.

thoughts mini reviewUMMM YEAH. That was perfect. I can’t even think of anything that would really make me want to reduce this rating. There are a couple of things that I didn’t like in general but the book was just too good and too addicting to give less. I never thought I could really give a New Adult book five stars, but the time has come. Elle Kennedy knocked this one out of the park.

I was kind of nervous when I learned this one was about Dean. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about his manwhore ways, but he totally exceeded my expectations. Everything about his character development was believable and wonderful. Allie was great too. I loved seeing how she finally let herself continue hooking up with Dean and growing into her plans for the future. The two of them had undeniable chemistry and lots of ~sexual adventures~ that outdid alllll of the other scenes in the previous two books.

There was one scene in particular towards the 2/3 mark that reaaaally gave me the feels. I had been romanced-out for the past few months before reading this one, so I forgot what it was like to legitimately ship a couple like there’s no tomorrow. That scene just pulled at my heartstrings and made me way too giddy as I was sitting at my desk at work.

The drama factor was relatively low, except for one Big Event. It wasn’t as big as THE MISTAKE and it wasn’t necessarily between the couple. I won’t say more, but it broke my heart for sure. I liked the jealousy between Dean and Allie before they realized what was going on between them. Their natural chemistry towards each other was just so ridiculously off-the-charts that it made them crazy at times. Usually jealously REALLY bugs me in books, but it worked here for some reason. It just made me like “HELLO you two mean more to each other than you think!”

I don’t know what else I can say about this one besides: reaaaad thissss seriessssss. I hope you’re still not on the fence, because this one is worth it.

2 responses to “Mini NA Reviews: Faking It and The Score

  1. Faking It was definitely my favorite in the series. I really enjoyed Losing It, though, but Finding It was my least favorite… and Seeking Her, I actually DNF’d. 🙁 Still, sooooo much love for Faking It! I’m so happy you enjoyed it too.

    And The Deal… Oh boy, how I LOVED that one!! I haven’t read The Mistake or The Score yet… but I’m super happy to see how much you enjoyed this one!! It’s definitely giving me a little push to start The Mistake ASAP. 🙂

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