Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack

3/5

*might contain some spoilers

Losing It was an easy afternoon read with lots of oh-my-god-face-palm moments, standing true to the awkward lead characters Carmack champions. A lot of books showcase flawed leads, the most endearing of which are those who are just not quite perfect and do a series of mortifying things. Bliss Edwards in this book is definitely one of them.

One thing that really attracted me to the story was the fact that the characters are theatre majors. Having been an active part of the theatre myself when I was in university, it was refreshing to have it featured in the story. The crazy parties and head-splitting hangovers are so true—in my case anyway although I was the sober eye who saw everything and everyone and was amused by it. =)

Anyway, Garrick is the typical leading man (I actually love stereo-type characters most of the time)—an attractive, Brit-accented, Shakespeare-toting-and-quoting artist type and while I have no qualms about why innocent Bliss (oh, man the many puns that name suggests) finds him sexy, my vote actually went to Cade—the cute, boy-next-door best friend who is just the sweetest. 

I'm usually one to go for the brooding type but the way Cade was with Bliss was just so natural and endearing. Except for the initial meeting between Bliss and Garrick in the bar that night she decided to lose her V-card, there weren't that many moments when I felt that Bliss was fighting the inevitable and falling for Garrick. 

It was like, yes, they meet and become attracted and she chickens out but finds out next week that he's forbidden goods but they give in anyway. I didn't feel a lot of building emotion for Garrick. He was there and she was falling for him. I just had to go with that idea and stick with it. 

Maybe this is why the book isn't a total runaway winner for me. As a reader, I need to feel that progression of feelings by the female lead for the romantic hero—whether it's a gradual falling or a plunge-off-the-side-of-the-cliff kind. And this is probably also why I rooted for Cade because there were a few give-away moments between him and Bliss that hinted at what was beneath the surface and their long-standing history carried more weight. The attraction to Garrick could've easily happened with the bartender or some other random guy in the bar. The only thing that stands out for me when it comes to them was their little domestic life when illness hit. I liked this part but I think there could've been more.

The student-teacher romance isn't all that new but there weren't a lot of obstacles in it for them in this book really. Gabriel's Inferno thickened this plot like double-churned ice cream while in this book, it was like here-are-some-obstacles-have-a-little-fun-pulling-your-hair-and-gnashing-your-teeth-together-and-then-you're-done-go-live-happily-ever-after. But then, that's why it's an easy read. You're not going to use up a box of Kleenex or miss your late-afternoon cooking show with this. It was fun, funny and feel-good. 

And since I'm in Cade's camp, I'm looking forward to Faking It, although I'm not so sure about the kind of girl he's going to fall for. But hey, if it works beautifully in the end, then I'm sold. =)