Rowena’s review of Faking It (Losing It #2) by Cora Carmack.
Hero: Cade Morgan
Heroine: Max Miller
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.
I must be getting old or something because I can’t remember much of what happened in Losing It. I know that Cade was in it and that he was Bliss’ best friend. I know that he was in love with her but she wasn’t in love with him. And I remember that he moved to Philly after he and Bliss graduated from college and kept the torture going, longer than he should have.
Faking It is his story and what a delightful treat it turned out to be.
Cade knows that he’s in a rut, he’s not happy with the way his life is shaping up to be and his best friend’s boyfriend just told him that he’s going to propose to her. That would normally be happy news but not when you’re in love with your best friend. When Max Miller comes storming into his life, she’s just the distraction that Cade needs to help him move on from Bliss. Max is as different from Bliss as night to day. Max is in your face and she needs Cade’s help. In Philadelphia, Max is bright, she’s colorful and she’s confident but all of that comes to a crushing halt when her parents show up in town for a surprise visit.
Max’s parents don’t know the colorful Max. They know the good girl Max who doesn’t have piercings and multiple tattoos. They love that Max so when Max finds out that she has minutes to look presentable, she rushes to Cade’s table with the crazy idea to ask Cade to pretend to be her boyfriend.
The whole scheme really takes off and goes on a lot longer than either of them intended. I didn’t think that I would like this book as much as I did because I’m not normally a fan of lying. Keeping secrets and well, all of that kind of stuff. But Cade and Max were so much fun to get to know and seeing Cade come out of his shell and make that attempt to get over Bliss for good was great. I enjoyed the relationship that blossomed between Cade and Max. I loved the way that they were with each other, the way that their feelings came upon them slowly and over the course of the book and I really liked the way that Cade took on that big guy at the bar for Max. Oh man, I loved that part the most.
Cade was everything that I hoped he would be in Losing It and Max was such a great heroine for him. I didn’t really understand why it was so difficult for Max to just come clean with her parents about who she really was but I really enjoyed this book anyway and am really looking forward to reading more from Cora Carmack. I definitely recommend.
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
This book is available from William Morrow Paperbacks. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
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