Losing It by Cora Carmack Review

Posted August 12, 2013 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 19 Comments

Losing It by Cora Carmack
Series: Losing It #1
Published by HarperCollins Publishers
Publish Date: October 12, 2012 

(but first published January 1, 2012)
204 Pages
Source: Bought
Find it here:  Goodreads / Amazon / B&N



Virginity.

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has hers. Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, she decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible– a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if if that weren’t embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She’d left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.



Losing It by Cora Carmack 



My Thoughts:  By now it seems like so many people have read this book that it’s almost pointless to share my thoughts, but I’m going to do that anyway. Losing It by Cora Carmack was a fun, quick read that left me chuckling at most parts and rolling my eyes at a few parts (like the parts about Hamlet the cat – why is that in there?). 



Bliss Edwards is a college gal that is a virgin. No big deal to some people, but to Bliss – well, it seems to be all she can think about. When her friend takes her out to try and find someone to help her with this little problem, she’s all nerves…but then she sees this super-handsome guy sitting along, reading Shakespeare. She loves Shakespeare! So she starts talking to him and GOOD GRACIOUS THE GUY HAS A BRITISH ACCENT. She was attracted already, but with a voice like that, she thinks she may have found the guy to help her “lose it.” One thing leads to another and they’re back at her place – things are going as she hoped, her mind racing the entire time…until she basically freezes up and starts some seriously crazy talk about how she needs to go to the vet to pick up her cat. The problem with this? It’s the middle of the night, the vet is obviously not open, and she runs outside in basically no clothes just to flee the scene, leaving Garrick in her apartment alone to get dressed and let himself out. 


I mean, the girl is so freaked out, she freezes up and runs out of her own apartment. Y’all…(Perhaps Bliss needs to re-think whether or not she’s actually ready to be “losing it” but that’s just my opinion. I digress.)


To make things worse, when she makes it to class later, guess who is her teacher? Mr. Garrick Taylor! OH NO! Talk about awkward, right? While Bliss tries to be an appropriate student and not stare at him constantly, and while he tries to do the same, the two can’t help but feel the tension when they’re around each other. All the time. (Did I mention that they live in the same apartment complex? Because they do.) They pretend like they’re not interested in one another, but it’s just a lie. Before long, they’ve fallen for one another and THEY JUST CAN’T STAND IT ANYMORE. They need each other. 


So what will they do? Will they wait until it’s appropriate to be together, when Garrick is no longer Bliss’ teacher, or will they sneak around and hope they don’t get caught? 


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That’s Losing It by Cora Carmack in a nutshell, you guys. I mean, there’s more to it, but that’s the basic story – to begin with, anyway – between Garrick and Bliss. And it’s fun. And it’s a quick read. And it’s filled with that oozy tension that we love to read about. But as the story progresses beyond the formulaic and somewhat predictable-but-fun parts, there is some real meat to this story that I really enjoyed – no spoilers here though. 

Bliss is a big of a strange bird, I think. She is completely hung up on the strangest things that she comes off a bit neurotic at times and weirds me out a little more than once throughout the story. I’m not sure that I could personally handle being around her very much, but she has a great set of friends because they evidently didn’t mind – including Cade. Cade is her best friend, that one guy friend that is just always there and always wonderful – that one guy friend that has feelings for her that she doesn’t really notice until he’s taken that one step that goes a little too far and then everything is all scrambled in the relationship/friendship, and it’s too late to go back to just being friends. So while Cade is amazing – and he truly is – there is an awkwardness to their relationship for a large portion of the book that left me reeling. I absolutely thrive on guy-girl friendships in great stories, and this one sort of let me down with the way it was handled by these two. It broke my heart for a chunk of the story – in the end, there is some resolution, though, and for that I am grateful. I blame Bliss and her neurotic self for this in part because instead of just talking to Cade, she let things get out of control with her best friend. And to be fair, Cade didn’t help matters – he acted a bit like a big baby about the whole thing. (People, you have to talk about your feelings and let one another know how you feel. Life is short! Be honest with one another.

Garrick Taylor is sexy as heck. Good gracious, I could almost hear his accent as I read his dialogue. I could almost visualize exact the way he looked because it was described so well. He drove a doggone motorcycle, y’all. And he read books. He taught theater. And he was so cool about Bliss and all of her many hang-ups and strange ways. He even supported her relationship with Cade and wanted things to work out. I just loved him. I hope he makes appearances in the rest of this series – I REALLY DO. 

The great thing about Losing It is that it was fun and quick, as I mentioned above. This is a must-read for fans of New Adult because it’s easy and fun and fans will probably like it. The downside is that it is a bit formulaic, in my opinion, and a bit predictable. Does that bother me? Not so much. To me, sometimes I enjoy a really great indulgent read that I can use to escape and just love on for awhile and this was a perfect example of that. And after I was finished, I had found a new series to love and a set of characters to follow. 

One thing that was a little bit wonky to me was the huge deal Bliss placed on losing her virginity and having sex which – I know – was basically what the book was based on. But still – it was literally almost everything she thought about, particularly in the beginning of the book. And to make the decision that she did (as the book opens) and go out scoping the clubs trying to find a random guy to “lose it” to – dude, so not smart these days! Or ever! But it made for a fun story and that’s that, I suppose. She ended up finding Garrick (thankfully), and he was quite the catch. 


Also, this cover kind of gives the impression that there is a lot of sex going on in this book – which is not so. It just doesn’t happen that way. So I think the cover is misleading and would keep people who are a little hesitant to pick up New Adult from actually reading it. Just my opinion, though. Does anyone else feel that way?

I recommend Losing It to fans of New Adult Contemporary Romance that enjoy plenty of swoons and steams, because they’re kind of everywhere in this one. Those readers that enjoy a college setting will love this one and GUESS WHAT ELSE? Readers that enjoy books that are heavy into theater will enjoy this one – these friends are all taking classes in theater, so there is a ton of talk about theater technique and theory and production and all of that (I don’t know the lingo – I’m not a theater person). I’m absolutely continuing with

this series and in fact, I’ve already moved onto the next book – a novella featuring Garrick and Bliss again. 


Sidenote: I am a little annoyed that the Garrick and Bliss on the Losing It and Keeping Her are not the same. They don’t even try to look the same. Continuity, people! This is really not the hugest of deals, but I AM a cover person after all.



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Losing It will appeal to fans of:

NA Contemporary Romance
Romance: Slowly developing. No triangle.

Setting: College

Theater
Issues: Losing Virginity

Losing It by Cora Carmack
is currently available for purchase.

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Have you read LOSING IT? 
What were your thoughts on it? 
 
TALK TO ME, PEOPLE! 
I really want to know how others felt about this one. 








 



Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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19 responses to “Losing It by Cora Carmack Review

  1. I really loved this one! I had friends in theater in college so I liked that the college aspect seemed very real. Some NA set in college doesn't seem like it's REALLY set in college because they never go to class so that's one thing I really liked about this one — they're in classes, and have school related stuff! Also, I loved Bliss' quirkiness. I can be totally awkward sometimes so I kind of related and loved Bliss. No words need to be said about Garrick because he's British and oh so swoony. And I love him. =) Great review — and I also agree about the cover! haha

    • YES! These characters actually DO go to classes, which is really nice. Another book that features college-related stuff accurately is Always Remember by Emma Hart which is the #2 of her Memories Series (I LOVED that series, but haven't finished reviewing it yet!).

      Bliss is totally quirky, yes! And Garrick is a great character, perfectly written as the swoony love interest. I didn't realize he would be British when I started the book but I loved that he was written WELL as a British character, complete with the phrases and mannerisms and such. Fun book. I have the novella on the blog tomorrow, Keeping Her, which features Bliss and Garrick, and I'll be reviewing Faking It soon. And that cover is totally misleading! I'd love it if it was changed to at least match that novella! But you know the pubs don't listen to ME. (:

  2. I'm, like, the only person EVER that has yet to read this one. I fail so badly as a reviewer! I've heard a lot of good things about it though, and I keep meaning to read it…I just never do. I feel like Bliss would be a tad off-putting for me, but I can get past that if the story is otherwise solid. Lovely review, Asheley!

    • Well Melissa, I just read it a few days ago, so don't feel bad! It's really a fun read – the cover is very misleading, making you think the book is nothing but sex when really it isn't. There is a ton of talk about it and thinking about it, but it just doesn't go with that cover, in my honest opinion. Bliss is just incredibly quirky and odd – you know some characters are – and her friends embraced it totally. So did Garrick, who is totally dreamy and I really liked him. (:

  3. I haven't read this one yet but yes, it does feel like everyone else has! The reviews I've seen have been kind of mixed but I agree, sometimes you just wanna indulge and read something quick, entertaining and predictable. So maybe when I'm in the mood for something like that, I'll check this out. Great review!

    • Quick, entertaining, and predictable – that's this one. It was a fun read and I enjoyed the novella that is the #1.5, which will be featured here on the blog tomorrow. Since I liked the both of those, I'm thinking that I'll be solidly enjoying this series and I to keep going with it.

  4. The COVER–ugh–I can't stand it. I think it's utterly ridiculous and made me not take the book seriously at all. But I was glad to have read it. It IS formulaic and predictable–but it's still fun, I really like Carmack's humor. But what is so great about this book are those characters you meet because yes, they do make appearances in her later books.

    And I am SO glad you love Cade because I KNOW you're going to love bk #2, Faking It. I preferred it over Losing It in every way. I liked Cade better than Garrick. I liked Max better than Bliss. I liked that because both Cade and Max aren't virgins, the sex part of the book isn't the central focus–dealing with the emotional aspects of a relationship are instead. And I think the writing is better too–more sophisticated. I can't wait for you to read it!

    I am DYING to read bk #3, Finding Her, because I think it's going to be the best of the 3–travel themes, bad girl protag's–squee!) Yay! Welcome aboard the Cora Carmack love train:))

    • That cover is probably the reason I held off so long on this one, H, you know me. It's awful. I do LOVE the characters, though, all of them!

      I love Cade because 1) my heart, my heart! and 2) you know how much I love guy-girl friendships. This one kind of broke me a little bit so I'm anxious to see if/how Bliss and Garrick show up in Faking It. I've already read Keeping Her (I went in numeric order, not published order) but I'll be reading it sort of soon I think.

      I think I got a little bit annoyed with Bliss – I don't often get too annoyed with characters, but clearly the girl just wasn't ready. There is so much more to a college experience than what she was obsessing over and THANK GOODNESS Garrick was as good as he was. I do think that after solidly liking both of the Garrick/Bliss books (even with the predictability), I'm definitely a fan. The two that I've read were super fun!

  5. I am a Cora Carmack fan for life. This series has grown on me a lot as I've gone along. I agree that Bliss is a strange bird, but her humor was my favorite part. Ditto what everyone else has said about Cade – his book, Faking It, was even better and I LOVE him.. Very excited for the third one as well, about Bliss's friend Kelsey.

    • You're not the first person to tell me that Faking It is better! I'm excited to read it. I like Garrick and Bliss, but I like Cade too, so I want to see if they all end up back in the same book and how that all plays out – if they don't, well that's okay, but in these companion series (if they're good) the previous characters show up some. I'm excited to read more from Carmack. Liked this one!

  6. I keep meaning to try these books, even though I'm not a fan of New Adult, so I'm glad to see you enjoyed this one. I really hope I like it too – I've been burned by so much NA that I'm wary – so I'm hoping to return to this review and compare notes!(: Great review, Asheley!

    • This one was a lot of fun – not a lot of substance to it in terms of issues, but definitely a fun, indulgent read and I do enjoy those. If you're getting burned by New Adult, I wonder what you're looking for or what it is that is burning you? The category is so large and there are so many different types of books within it that I could possibly recommend something that you might enjoy? At any rate, this one and the novella that follows it are both tons of fun. (:

  7. Lalala totally skimmed your review because I haven't read it yet, but I am excited to get to! I'm going to read Escaping Me first though like you said and then I'm going to come back and here talk to you about Losing it!!

    Tara @ Hobbitsies

  8. I read this a while ago, and thought it was a fun, mindless read. I'm a sucker for this type of set up, where one of the characters realizes the other is her teacher. I don't know why I like it. Though I LOATHE the "I'm missing something big in life until I lose my virginity plot." Thankfully this book wasn't all about that. Anyway, I agree, a fun, silly read that I enjoyed overall.

    • I don't mind the student-teacher plotline either although I've seen where some people are totally creeped out by it. This one was well-written, I think. Another great one is This Love by Nazarea Andrews – holy batman, swoon city!!! LOVE THAT ONE. And no, I can't stand that virginity plotline either. Bliss kind of thought about it every other second, so it was like – HELLO, if it's taking up this much of your life and your thoughts and giving you anxiety causing you to run outside without clothes on, you may not be ready, ya know? But yes, hooray for FUN reads like this one and I'm exciting about breaking out Faking It sometime in the near future.

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