Faking It: Cora Carmack
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.
"Yours made you Golden. Mine just made me angry."
"Your pain made you strong, It made you passionate and alive. It made us both who we are."
"Golden Boy & Angry Girl."
I liked Losing It, but I loved Faking It just a tad bit more. Cade was wicked hot and fun; Max was the perfect bad girl for him. Whoever said opposites don't attract obviously haven't met Max and Cade yet.
"There's actually this other girl."
"Another girl, huh? What's she like?"
"A total mind fuck, that's what she's like."
I loved that Max is essentially your "bad boy" in this relationship; Cade on the other hand is essentially your "good girl" only in male form. She is a sassy as hell spitfire! Max isn’t afraid to go after what she wants and makes no apologies for her love em' and leave em' attitude. Our heroine is fearless, until she has to come face to face with her parents and her past. On these occasions the walls go up, Mackenzie comes out to play and gone are the tats and feisty girl we have come to know and love, in her place is a very subdued version of Max who replaces ripped up clothes with turtlenecks that cover her tats. Max can never do anything right, her parents don't approve of her boyfriends or her music, heck there isn't much about Max they approve of overall.
"You're Golden Boy. You're good at everything. You're sweet, gorgeous, and probably stop to help little old ladies cross the street, If you can't compete, the rest of us are completely fucked."
Therefore, when Max's parents show up unannounced she has to act quickly and what else is there for a girl to do but find a fake boyfriend. That's where our hero comes in. After confessing his love to Blaire and losing her to Garrett he is ready to try and move past her. Cade is an actor and Max may be just the distraction he needs to move on. Plus, he gets the added bonus of helping a girl out especially one as hot and unique as our heroine...that is as long as she agrees to one real date. Max knows her parents will approve of Cade, with his all American clean cut look and charming personality. Golden Boy is exactly the type of guy Mackenzie's parents are looking for when it comes to Max and getting her life back on the track they feel she should be taking. The problem with that is Cade has other ideas. He is extremely attracted to the vibrancy of the real Max, while her family however wants their blonde cheerleader bombshell of a daughter, Mackenzie, back. This sets off a whirlwind of events and emotions that causes each of our main characters to act out in both good and not so good ways.
"And he...he reminded me of music. Of the way singing made me feel. Like I was falling and flying, freedom and fear."
I absolutely adored Golden Boy and Angry Girl, and even though I got frustrated with them on a few occasions, their story turned out to be a beautiful one. There were many lost and damaged moments filled with uncertainty between the two of them. Max is scared of any kind of emotion that resembles love or commitment, and after seeing the love Blair shares with Garrett, Cade finds himself wanting the same thing except he can’t find it within himself to take what he wants. I swear everyone but these two saw how perfect they were for each other. Our main characters balanced and complimented each other without even realizing it. Now if only they could push past that damn baggage to see what is right in front of them all would be good. These two were a roller coaster of ups and downs, however, it wasn't too overly dramatic and angsty. Faking It had the perfect mixture of drama and humor to hold my interest.
Cade and Max entertained me with many swoon worthy moments, some not so swoon worthy, and their overall sexy chemistry. In the end, I would say that they have become one of my favorite couples.
Thank you to William Marrow Paperbacks for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of Faking It in exchange for my honest opinion.
1 comments
I can't wait to read Faking it!! I loved Losing it so much! And I love the new blog design!!
ReplyDelete