Garrick Taylor and Bliss Edwards managed to find their happily-ever-after despite a rather . . . ahem . . . complicated start. By comparison, meeting the parents should be an absolute breeze, right?
But from the moment the pair lands in London, new snags just keep cropping up: a disapproving mother-in-law-to-be, more than one (mostly) minor mishap, and the realization that perhaps they aren't quite as ready for their future as they thought.
As it turns out, the only thing harder than finding love is keeping it.
Elle's Take on Losing Her
The world has given us plenty of surprises, but each one has turned out better than the last. I have no doubt that this will be the same.”
Cora Carmack nailed it once again.
Keeping Her marks the return of Bliss and Garrick from the author’s debut novel, Losing It. She writes their story through the eyes of both Bliss and Garrick. I liked getting insight into the inner workings of Garrick’s mind as the couple traveled to London to meet Garrick’s parents and friends.
I can summarize my feelings about Keeping Her in just one word: SWOON.
Garrick is such a delicious book boyfriend, and you can’t help but love Bliss for all her awkward life fails. I fell in love with this couple when I read Losing It, and was beyond excited to get my hands on an ARC of their novella.
“And you’ll always be the man that encouraged me to follow through on my dreams, the man that taught me how to make the bold choices and go after what I wanted.”
For fans of the first book, prepare yourselves for a total fan-girl frenzy meltdown. This book does anything but disappoint.
“It was just me…failing at life again.”
I laughed at Bliss’ less than graceful moments. Once again, Bliss is anything but coordinated and rehearsed. Her lack of mental finesse and clumsiness does a great job of balancing the inevitable troubles Garrick and Bliss face during their stay across the pond.
“My biggest fear was that someday she would talk herself out of our relationship. That she would shake her head and listen more to her own poisonous thoughts than the words coming out of my mouth.”
I cringed as more obstacles found their way into the couple’s life. They wouldn’t be Garrick and Bliss if everything was always rainbows and butterflies. There were quite a few hiccups this time around, and a couple I didn’t see coming. I think these events caused both characters to truly question themselves and each other. As much as I fretted while reading it, I loved every single word. You can really see how the characters have grown in the time that has lapsed.
“We’re going to meet my parents. We’ll smile and talk long enough that they feel like they’ve met you, then we’re finding a place to be alone. My bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, I don’t care where. The only thing I care about is f*cking you so hard you can’t see straight.”
And last (but certainly not least), my jaw dropped when Garrick’s dialogue got a little naughty. Holy hotness. I really shouldn’t have to say much more after that. (I know everyone who loves Garrick is nodding in agreement right now).
Keeping Her is a quick read that I devoured in lightning speed. If you enjoyed Losing It, you will love this novella. Like the perfect dessert after a delectable meal, it satisfied my appetite for more Bliss and Garrick, leaving my heart full and content.
ABOUT CORA CARMACK:
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.
BUY LINKS:
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/keeping-her-cora-carmack/1115290735?ean=9780062299260&itm=1&usri=keeping+her+cora+carmack
LINKS:
Love is an earthquake. It comes
when you least expect it. It rips the ground clear away. Right out from under
you.”
The day Lia Smart met Grayson
Walker, eight years ago, was the day she fell helplessly in love with him.
Coincidentally, it was the same day Grayson fell in love with someone else:
Lia’s smarter, sexier, superior-in-every-way older sister, Alex.
Now, nearly a decade later, Alex
and Grayson are long over and twenty-two-year-old Lia has finally managed to
forget all those lonely nights she spent pining after her sister’s boyfriend. But
when Grayson unexpectedly arrives back in town with Alex for Labor Day weekend
and the two announce that they’re not only back together but engaged, all the feelings that Lia
buried suddenly come bubbling back to the surface.
But Lia is no longer the awkward,
gangly tomboy she was at fourteen. Far from it. And Grayson is conflicted by
the lustful thoughts he’s now having for her. He knows he could never act on those thoughts, however. Grayson
has always prided himself on being one of the “good guys.” But as the weekend
wears on, he’s finding this new grown-up version of Lia more and more
impossible to resist...
Heartbreaking and sexy with a
dash of humor, Sophie Swift crafts a passionate, unforgettable tale about desire,
growing up, and the kind of love that shakes us to the core.
Contains adult situations and explicit content. Recommended for ages
17+
Excerpt #1
Lia
“Thanks,” Grayson says, setting the bag of ice against his
hand, cringing as the cold settles into his skin. “It’s been a long time since
I punched someone in the face. I forgot how much it hurt.”
Huh?
Is
that what happened last night? Did he get in a fight?
Over
me?
No.
That’s not possible. No one has ever fought over me.
Alex.
Alex gets fought over. She has the face that launched a thousand punches, or
whatever.
I’m
just...
I’m
not worth fighting over.
He
must read the confusion on his face. “You don’t remember that part, do you?”
I
shake my head.
“How
much do you remember?”
“I...”
I start to say.
But
I can’t do this. I can’t talk about this. Not here. Not while he’s dressed like
that. Or shall I say, not dressed like that. I was kind of
hoping we could just move on like it never happened and forget about it. But
it’s pretty obvious he wants to hash
it out. Right here. Right now.
So
I take a deep breath and, battling to keep my voice steady, say, “Look, I’m
really embarrassed about what happened last night and I kind of want to just
forget about it and move on. I realize this may not be the mature thing to do
but to be honest, at this point, I’m not sure I can handle the mature thing.”
His
eyebrows furrow as he takes in what I just said. Or more like just rambled.
“You’re
embarrassed,” he verifies, “because you got drunk and called me to come pick
you up?”
“Because
it seems like every time you’re around I somehow always need to be rescued!” My
soft, tentative whispers have turned into throaty, breathy cries. “Because I’m
like some perpetual damsel in distress who always needs saving.”
When
I finish, he just stares at me, his gaze intense and searching. Then a reticent
smile makes its way to his lips.
“I
like saving you,” he admits quietly.
Of
all the things I was expecting him to say in response to my tirade, this was certainly not one of them.
“What?”
He
takes another step toward me. His proximity is intoxicating. Stronger proof
than any alcohol. More debilitating than any drug.
“I
said,” he replies, his voice deliberate. Determined. “I like saving you.”
Excerpt #2
Grayson
My chest hitches when I see her, barely visible in the porch
light, lumbering down the walkway to the beach, the blackness of the night
swallowing her up with each step.
I eye the door to the hallway.
The door to everything that happens after this moment.
I suddenly feel like my entire life will be decided by which
side of it I’m on.
This side—right here where I stand—is the side I’ve always
known. The one I have all the answers to. This is the side on which I marry
Alex and she bears my children and we buy a town house in Brooklyn together.
This is the side I always thought I wanted to be on.
And that side,
over there—through that doorway, down those stairs, onto that beach—that is the
side I know nothing about. A foreign land. With no certainties and no answers.
The side that terrifies me.
My gaze drills into the wooden door. My skin feels hot. My
mouth is dry. My fingers twitch.
And then suddenly, there is no more choice.
My body moves without permission from my mind.
In three paces I’m in the hallway. In ten juddered
heartbeats I’m down the stairs. In a dizzying montage of choppy, breathless
still frames, my bare feet stagger down the walkway, sinking into the cool
sand.
Lia stands motionless at the edge of the water, staring out
into the darkened horizon, as though she might find answers there. As though
the world beyond this shore might make more sense. The full moon casts a faint
light on the side of her face, causing her skin to glow.
The sand hides the sound of my heavy footfalls as I stride
toward her.
When my hand tightens around her arm, she is startled but
doesn’t scream. When I pull her around to face me, she opens her mouth to
protest. To continue the tirade she began in the parking lot of the bar. But
when my lips crush decisively against hers, claiming her with a consuming,
covetous kiss, everything falls silent.
Only the waves dare to breathe.
About the Author:
Sophie Swift is an east coast girl who
recently transplanted to Southern California. She writes about sexy boys by
day, and dates them by night. Her sizzling, new adult romance, OUT FROM UNDER
YOU, the first in a new contemporary series, will be released in August of
2013. She loves books that quicken her pace, music sung by adolescent boys, and
cupcakes with too much frosting. Visit her online at: www.SophieSwift.com
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00EFESK7W
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/345719
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EFESK7W
I love this book :)
ReplyDeleteThe couple's chemistry :)
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