Book Review: Faking It by Cora Carmack

"Every girl likes a bad boy...

And Max's current boyfriend is as bad as they come. She knows her family would freak if they saw his tattoos and piercings.

So when her parents turn up unannounced Max grabs the most wholesome guy she can to play her boyfriend.

But Cade Winston is so perfect that Max needs him to keep playing the part. And the more they have to fake their relationship, the harder it gets to just pretend."

Rating: 4/5

You can buy Faking It as a paperback or an eBook now.

I really enjoyed debut author Cora Carmack's novel Losing It last year when it was first released. It's part of the 'New Adult' range of books that seem to be making a bigger appearance on our bookshelves at the moment, and I enjoyed it as a simple romance story that left me with a smile on my face. Her follow up to that book, Faking It, was released just last month, and features one of the characters from her previous novel, Cade. I was intrigued to see how much it would link with the previous book, and whether I'd like Cade as much as I did in Losing It, but I didn't need to worry as I really loved this book!

Max likes to put on a front to her parents. She covers her many tattoos, tries hard to tone down her brightly dyed hair and bites her tongue, all to keep them happy and keep her life hidden from them somewhat. When she realises they are in town, she decides her boyfriend isn't the sort you'd want to meet your parents, and begs a good look, straight-laced stranger in a coffee cup to pretend to be her boyfriend for that half hour coffee. Cade, the man Max picks, decides to play along, not realising that he'd have to play the part for a lot longer than either of them anticipated. As they spend more time together, the pair realise that they are actually more than fond of each other, and the need to fake their relationship becomes easier and easier... but with Max still with her rocker boyfriend, can she make a decision and stick with it?

As I mentioned before, Cade first made an appearance in Losing It, as the man who was loving Bliss from afar, but sadly an unrequited love. He's decided he must move on, and you do feel sorry for him when you can see his heart-breaking at the start of the book, and just hope he's going to move on. As Max becomes more prominent in his life, he starts to come out of himself a lot more and show us his personality, and I really loved him as a lead male character. Carmack splits the narrative between Cade and Max, and I really enjoyed Cade's narrative, he has a good heart and you can't help but like him a lot! He sounds rather handsome, studies hard, volunteers to help young children - he's pretty much the perfect young man and Carmack makes him sound like a dream guy, lucky Max!

Although I wasn't sure about Max at first, I really warmed to her as the book went on and she reveals a lot more about herself. She's a troubled young woman, you can tell there is something in her family past which is holding her back and haunting her, but it's a while before all becomes clear to us. I liked that Carmack holds it back for a while and makes Max a bit of a mystery. I was eager for her to come out of her shell in front of her parents though, I hated that she had to hide her true self for them, and that she could be herself with Cade. I loved the way Carmack described Max's dress sense, hair and in particular her tattoos which do sound amazing, and they really make Max come to life in your head. I liked that Cade and Max are both emotionally damaged people, but find solace in each other, it's very sweet and makes you smile as you read them growing closer.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and enjoyed learning a lot more about Cade and being introduced to Max too. They are a really fun pair of characters to read about, and I liked seeing a few characters from Losing It as well, it was just enough to link the books but at the same time, you don't have to have read to enjoy this book, Cade talks about what happened in that book just enough for you to understand his past and what happened. There's the slow-burning love story going on here, but equally some steamy scenes too, they are fun to read and certainly add another element to the book! There is a third book in the series coming soon called Finding It featuring another character we met in Losing It, so I hope to catch up more with Cade and Max in that book!