A Bookish Escape: Finding It

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The Rules of Swoon Thursday:

"From the book you are currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering. Try to make the Swoon 140 characters so you can tweet it. Add the #YABOUND hashtag when you tweet."

Finding It
Losing It #3
By: Cora Carmack
Release Date: October 15, 2013
Publisher: William Morrow
Add to Goodreads HERE

Goodreads Summary:

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.

What Made Me Swoon:

"This was burning. The heat, the fire between us blazed, and I couldn't be close enough to him. I let one hand trail down to his lower back, and slipped it beneath his shirt to press into his heated skin. At the contact, his kiss turned frenzied, and I felt the cool porcelain of the sink bump against my lower back. I dug my fingernails into his skin, and a rumbling groan poured from his mouth. The arms around my waist slid to my hips, and he lifted my up and onto the sink. 'I should stop,' he whispered against my mouth. I hooked my legs around his waist and pulled him into me. I found that spot at the corner of his jaw just below his ear that I knew affected him and pressed a light kiss there. Then I grazed the sensitive skin with my teeth, and heard his hissing breath above me. I said, 'Don't you dare."

What Did You Swoon Over This Week?

To Add to Goodreads Click HERE

Finding It

Losing It Series

By: Cora Carmack

Release Date: Oct. 15, 2013

William Morrow PB

Mature Content

Source: Publisher

GR's Summary:

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.

Losing It Series:

To Read My Review Click Here

My Thoughts:

I loved Finding It, by Cora Carmack! As a secondary character in the Losing It Series, Kelsey came across as flighty, fun, and superficial. I was excited to read Finding It, because not only have I loved the whole series thus far, but I was also curious about Kelsey's character. Finding It, is told from Kelsey's perspective, and I feel like I really got to know who she is as a character. There is a lot more to Kelsey than she let's everyone see. She comes from wealth, and to all appearances, she has a great life, and everything anyone could ever want. She has access to unlimited wealth, she's beautiful, a talented actress, and people gravitate toward her fun loving personality. What others don't know is that she comes from a cold and dysfunctional family. Kelsey has a very low self-esteem that stems from being betrayed by her parents when she was young. She lets people use her, and she doesn't have very many "real" friends. She self medicates through alcohol, and sex with strangers to numb her pain. She is tired of her life, and decides to backpack throughout Europe, so that she can have an adventure. However, as she begins her journey, she continues to fall into the same self destructive habits, of letting people use her for money, sex, and a good time. She continues to act happy, like she's having a great time, when deep down, she is tired of it all.

Then she meets Jackson Hunt. He is a gorgeous ex-marine that has his own dark secrets, and is a bit of a mystery. Hunt meets her one night when she is partying hard, and gets sick from excessive drinking. The sparks fly when these two meet. The sexual chemistry is intense, and as they get to know each other on their trip, that chemistry all but consumes them. As Kelsey, and Hunt traveled throughout Europe, I felt like I was traveling right beside them. I enjoyed the seamless descriptions of the art, culture, sights, sounds, and people. Hunt really piqued my curiosity throughout the story. I could tell that he was hiding things from Kelsey and had his own secrets. I turned the pages at record speed, because I was anxious to learn everything about Hunt. I enjoyed how Ms. Carmack made Kelsey's character realistic. She didn't try to create a perfect character. Instead, she created a realistic one. I felt sorry for Kelsey, and understood why she used alcohol and sex to try to numb herself, and escape her problems. I admired Hunt, and loved how he took Kelsey under his wing, and tried to protect her, because he recognized his old self in her. Hunt was such a great guy. He was a gentleman; caring, compassionate, and sensitive to Kelsey's needs. He was a man of action, and he made me swoon time and time again!

Finding It was such a great addition to the Losing It Series. This series is one of my absolute favorites! I highly recommend it to readers that love New Adult Contemporary Romances. Ms. Carmack is on my author auto buy list, and I never tire of her stories. Fans of J. Lynn, Abbi Glines, and Nyrae Dawn will love Ms. Carmack's stories. If you love sexy stories, full of romance, and swoon-worthy male characters, get the Losing It Series for your library!

My Rating:

Cora Carmack has a beautiful, and unique writing style all her own. She has the ability to seamlessly combine love, romance, passion, humor, and a dose of reality in all of her stories. Finding It had all of these elements and more. It was a fast-paced, fun, and emotional read. Ultimately, this was a story of Kelsey letting herself feel, and learning how to deal with her inner demons, instead of running away from them. It was also a story where two very broken individuals found a home in each other's arms. I give Finding It, 4.5 Emotional, Passionate, Adventurous, and Healing Stars!

Preorder At:

Amazon | Kindle | Barnes and Noble| Target

My Favorite Quotes:

"When you love someone, really love someone, it's a lasting mark on your soul. There's a lock on your heart that you'll carry with you always. You may lose the key or give it away, but the lock stays with you all the same." (eARC, Loc. 2981)

~Kelsey

"He tasted like warm summer days and hurricanes, like everything I wanted and everything I didn't know I needed." (eARC, Loc. 3114)

~Kelsey

"I want to memorize the way your eyes clench shut and you bite down on your lip, so that I can sketch your expression through memory. I want to know the exact angle of the way your neck curves, and how many times your heart beats a minute. I want to know everything." (eARC, Loc. 3230)

~Hunt

"I'd thought I was exploring the world, but maybe I'd been running. Maybe I'd been running for a very long time, and perhaps he was, too." (eARC, Loc. 3507)

~Kelsey

"He explored my body like he was the very first one, and in many ways, it felt that way for me, too." (eARC, Loc. 3706)

~Kelsey

About the Author:

Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.