Thursday, October 17, 2013

Finding It

Oooh lambies! I cannot scream "I love this author" loud enough. I'm a first time reader of Cora and I am hooked. A few more books in and I might be the creepy fan reader stalker.

Finding It - Cora Carmack
Finding It
Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find where you truly belong . . .
Most girls would kill to spend months traveling around Europe after college graduation with no responsibility, no parents, and no-limit credit cards. Kelsey Summers is no exception. She’s having the time of her life . . . or that’s what she keeps telling herself.
It’s a lonely business trying to find out who you are, especially when you’re afraid you won’t like what you discover. No amount of drinking or dancing can chase away Kelsey’s loneliness, but maybe Jackson Hunt can. After a few chance meetings, he convinces her to take a journey of adventure instead of alcohol. With each new city and experience, Kelsey’s mind becomes a little clearer and her heart a little less hers. Jackson helps her unravel her own dreams and desires. But the more she learns about herself, the more Kelsey realizes how little she knows about Jackson.
This book.... oh. *insert giggles here* . 
OK, so I loved this book. Mostly because this story right here is one of the reasons I wish I had slutted it up in college and maybe had gone to a four year and traveled abroad. Wrong? Maybe. But I don't care because if I had ever encountered anyone like Jackson Hunt or had a story like this to tell? WORTH IT. 
First of all, Cora Carmack is kind of great. She weaves a story that is written exactly as if you were sitting down and hearing about your friend's trip. It's funny, it's engaging, it's something you can relate to. We have Kelsey, who with her own bag of demons and some low self esteem, sets out to "find herself" but while doing that she's slutting it up and getting drunk. Her self discovery is actually just a series of bad choices she's using to mask the fact she has suffered actual trauma as a child and her parents are ridiculously terrible. Then you have Jackson who is a mixed bag of mystery and they come together. Full disclosure- I figured out the jig with Jackson immediately. Why? Because I read a lot of romance novels and watched my fair share of Lifetime movies. 
No shame in that. 
But both characters are flawed and battered for greatly different reasons, but together they are good. The best part is seeing how both of them, in their own way, discover that what they were doing before wasn't working so they work together to do something better. 
Or until Kelsey discovers what Jackson's jig is all about and loses her shit and cue dramatic plot twist!
But it's things like this that propel each individual character to take what they've learned with the other.... and carve out a new way on their own. Because everybody knows that you cannot have a successful relationship unless each person in it is secure, valued, and successful on their own. You can't roll a cart with a broken wheel, eventually you'll find a new cart. (Did you see that? I threw a little Dr. Phil up in there.) 
I can't tell you anymore, it would ruin it for you. But I will tell you this- LOVED this book. Love Cora, love it all. The book isn't very long, you'll fly through it, you'll get some heated scenes in it, you'll get a good love story and you'll end up wishing your husband write you letters and draw you sketches. Swearsies. 
And if you have time, check out Cora's website, her Facebook and Twitter and make a list of everything else of hers to read this winter. 

1 comment:

trish said...

"...you'll end up wishing your husband write you letters and draw you sketches..." AWESOME. I love finding an author that you love right off the bat. So much fun to go back and read all their books.

Thanks for being on the tour!