Faking it by Cora Carmack-out today!

The time has finally arrived! The release of Cora Carmack's Faking It is today! As you can see, I absolutely loved Losing It and have just begun to read Faking It so Look out for the review very soon. She has also just announced that she will release novels Keeping Her and Finding It in August and October respectively. If you haven't already got your copy of Faking It, all the links you need are at the bottom of the page.

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.

ABOUT CORA CARMACK:

Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.

LINKS:

http://coracarmack.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/CoraCarmackBooks

https://twitter.com/CoraCarmack

Review: Losing it by Cora Cormack

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...

Review: Wow! What a whirlwind of a book! I started it and literally couldn't out it down. You get right in on the action straight away with bliss getting ready with friend Kelsey to go out and loose her virginity-straight to the point or what? She meets the fabulously British male lead almost straight away, no messing. I loved those first few scenes between them, it was so well-written that I could feel the slightly drunken awkwardness oozing from the page as I read!

Bliss is a character who, although she is in her final year of college, knows what she wants, lives alone and has friends whom she socialises with, but does not rely on entirely to get by on a day to day basis. I admire this in a character. I was unsure whether I liked the fact that she saw her virginity as something she must loose and was going to do so at any cost, just to get it over and done with, but thankfully she does loose this attitude some way through the novel and so goes right back up there in my estimation. I even love the fact that she has spare sheets and b,anklets for when her friends drunkenly crash at her place.

Male lead Garrick is also a strong character although he is significantly quieter than Bliss in the novel. I quite like that the male character doesn't take over in this case. It is  never really him playing with her emotions, but her blowing a bit hot and cold with him throughout the novel. I love the fact that the male is the first to declare his feelings as well-a great stand for feminism without being obviously so!

I love the supporting characters in this book too, best friend Cade is fabulous. He is understanding and yet reacting realistically when Bliss hurts him. I can't wait to find out what happens to him in follow up novel Faking it! I even love the fact that Bliss ends up acquiring a cat who is completely standoffish and only seems to respond to Garrick-hilarious.

The whole storyline is realistic and remind me of the first series of Greys Anatomy with Meredith and Mcdreamy, a good thing! I particularly love how realistically the scene where both characters have glandular fever, or mono, is written. Having had glandular fever, the writing made me feel like I was actually back there suffering again alongside the,. At the same time, is piece of the novel underlines how important swing someone when they are at their worst and not caring, actually helping them, is in a developing relationship.

I wasn't even expecting to like this novel as much as I did but I read it cover to cover in practically one go! The sex scenes were realistic without being overly graphic, the relationships between the characters, equally so, and I loved the whole idea for the storyline. I think that this is something anyone could enjoy and I can't wait for the sequel! 

A special thank you to Amanda at Onemorepage for this copy!

Top Ten Tuesday: top ten books featuring travel in some way

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

As well as women's fiction and. Bit of YA, I also love reading treble books and always find that I enjoy books featuring travel in some way so this Top Ten is really easy for me this week. The only hard part is going to be narrowing it down to 10!

1. Anything by Bill Bryson. I love his travel memories. I love reading about his opinions on the different places he has visited. He has such a dry sense of humour, they make for really run reading!

2. I left my tent in San Francisco by Emma Kennedy. This is the second 'tent' book by this writer. I liked the first book but this book was absolutely hilarious! I read it in basically one sitting and it is definitely one I would consider re-reading!

3. Twitchhiker by Paul Smith. A great tale about how one man really can get around just by using social media sites and word of mouth. Some dark parts but some really funny parts too. A surprising read!

4. The Dark Tourist by Dom Jolly. Another dark one but funny and also surprising.

5. Now for a book featuring travel rather than being about travel. Christmas at Tiffany's by Karen Swan. I expected this book to be completely about Christmas but infant the main character travels to New York in only part of the book. Her travels are split between her two friends and its a book that has stayed with me since I read it at the beginning of the year.

6. I heart New York by Lindsey Kelk. Yes it's on my list again because Angela takes a big step in travelling to New York and so it's a favourite of mine that features travel and the discovery of a new city no less!

7. Anything by Paige Toon. Paige Toon has featured heavily on my blog this month since I met her at the start of the month. All of her novels feature escapism and travel in some way. Mostly long distances in fact, and so if you are looking for a novel that features travel, you can't go wrong with picking up one of hers!

8. The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan. This book features the main character travelling to Paris for a job and it completely changes her life forever. I love books like this where the main character goes on a journey of self-discovery as well as I journey physically across the world!

9. The Valentine Series by Adriana Trigiani. The Valentine books feature travel between New York and Italy to sort out the purchase and design of shoes, how much better could it get? If you haven't read these books they would be a great addition to your summer reading collection!

10. Back to a travel book for this one Ox Travels. A collection of travel memories by various different authors all put together in aid of charity. I think this is a great idea. It's something you can pick up when you want a little bit of a travel tale and in buying it, I felt blood because I was giving money to Oxfam! I dip into this book every now and then rather than sitting down and reading it cover to cover.

There you have it. I would love to see what books featuring travel made it onto your list, and if you've seen anything you like the look of here, leave me a comment or get in touch via Twitter or Email!

Review! The Arcade (June) by Kitty Charles

Handsome florist Danny Huxley is a man with many secrets. Why did he leave a promising career to open a florist’s shop in Angell's Arcade? Why is he cagey about his life? And what is the hold that his ex-wife Aisha has over him?

The female residents of Angell’s Arcade are more than ready to take Danny on. Not to mention his new assistant Rachael, who’s pretty, attentive and clearly in love with him. But she’s half his age. Will Danny resist or follow the example of womanising Magnus?

Like your favourite soap, The Arcade brings you characters you love to hate – and to love. Each bite-sized episode is perfect for your journey to work, your lunch-break – or a quiet night of escapism. And it’ll leave you wanting more – with a teaser of next month’s storyline!

So what are you waiting for? Time to give into your dreams and sample the delights of Angell’s Arcade. Go on, take a look inside.

Review:Another mini review of this fabulous series by a group of authors writing under the pen name Kitty Charles! I almost missed this months episode, it came out so speedily. Just like your favourite magazine, this little gem usual comes out a week or so before the month it represents actually begins. I was especially looking forward to this months episode because I had been wanting to find out more about mysterious florist (yes who'd have thought you'd put those two words together in a book review) Danny for some time now. The mystery of who's baby it is (no spoilers) is still to be solved and I had a dark suspicion Danny could be involved somehow...

This Month's episode isn't quite as much high-drama as it normally is, but we do get to find out some seriously juicy details about Danny. The men are featured a lot more in this episode, its not just Danny who gets in on this action in June. We get to find out a bit more about chocolate shop owner Magnus as well as the bridal shop owner. They go out for casual drinks, as men who work together might, and that is when the high-drama kick up a gear. Yes, there are indeed fisticuffs. This part of the episode is extremely well written because i found myself tensing and ducking as I was reading it, I really felt like I was in on the action!

There is, as usual, some romance. Not only do we have a hint at how things around going following the romance in March's episode, but we also get to find out about Danny's past love, and who he currently has eyes for. The ending of this episode is fabulous, I think it leave less unresolved than previous episodes, but as usual, there is a taster of next month's instalment, and I am sure we are going to find out more about everyones skeletons in their closets if the teaser is anything to go by!

Another fabulous read this month! And a special thank you to the author for including my favourite pink gerberas right at the beginning of the episode!

Letterbox Love #1

Welcome to Letterbox Love, this is a UK meme, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and inspired by The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. This post is a means by which to highlight the books we get in the post and beyond, and especially to bring attention to those books which may be sat on our shelves for a little while yet that we love all the same.

I've not done a letterbox love before but I thought as I was sent some lovely book post last week I would catch myself up and give it a go this week. I don't often get very much book post but this week I was sent a parcel by Amanda at Onemorepage and was also sent a couple of books from authors that I thought I would share with you...

Losing it by Cora Carmack and The Wishlist by Jane Costello. Amanda from Onemorepage posted me these and I'm very excited about reading and reviewing!

Kept by Elle Field. The author sent me an ebook for review and also agreed to do an interview with me to go alongside the review. Look out for that next week...

Lucky Star by Josh Evans. This was another one sent to me on ebook. I'm part of the blog tour for this one. My review of this interesting looking novella will be up on 20th June. Here's the synopsis that was sent with it: Star leaves the city for nowhere, she just needed to get out. Along the way she found a new circus to join, a collective of rock n roll royalty, the coolest music scene in the world up there in the Joshua Tree....

Waiting on the sidelines by Ginger Scott. This was another ebook that was sent me me for review. It looks like something quite different as well, so I look forward to reading and reviewing that! Here's the synopsis for you...

Nolan Lennox had things figured out. Named after a baseball legend, she enjoyed being the Tomboy, her closet filled with her brother’s hand-me-downs, cut-off jeans and soccer shorts. But when her first trip to high school results in a broken heart from the first boy to ever make her heart flutter and cruel words from an older girl she once thought a family friend, Nolan starts to question the very person she thought she was and wonders if her humble upbringing can compete with the afforded luxuries of her privileged peers.

Throughout the next four years, Nolan struggles to maintain herself throughout her path of discovery, learning just how cruel teenagers can be through the pressures of underage drinking, sexuality and class. And despite how life seems to continue to work against her, she still manages to listen to her heart, falling deeper and deeper for the guy the entire town adores, even if he only sees her as a friend. Can Nolan strike a compromise between her own integrity and the boy she loves? And can she make him notice her before it’s too late?

Reed Johnson came to Coolidge High School with a lot of fanfare. The son of a hometown football legend and the brother of a local football hero, Reed wore all the pressures of carrying a town without hope into the spotlight. Thankfully, he had the talent to back it up. But when he meets a girl who makes him think twice about exactly what being a hero means, he starts to wonder if following in his brother’s footsteps might be all wrong. 

I look forward to posting my thoughts on all of these books and thanks to everyone that sent me them. I'm a very lucky blogger this week!