Finding It
by Cora Carmack
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks
Book 3 in the Losing It Series
Kelsey Summers is looking for love in all the wrong places…
Spending a few months travelling around Europe – with no parents, no responsibilities and a no limit credit card – Kelsey’s having the time of her life. But when she completely embarrasses herself in front of the hottest guy she’s ever seen, she soon realizes there’s more to life than the next party.
What she doesn’t realize is that although she’s on a journey to find herself, she will end up finding The One...
RATED: 18+ CATEGORY: MOOD:
Steamy New Adult Sweet
Romance
TRIGGER WARNING: PTSD resulting from past molestation and war.
Finding It is the third (and final) full length novel in Cora Carmack's Losing It series, and centers around Kelsey, Bliss's best friend from college, who has just embarked on her big backpacking trip across Europe. Just when Kelsey feels like she is drowning amongst the random hookups, and drunken partying, she meets the handsome and mysterious Jackson Hunt. When it becomes clear there is more than just sexual tension between the two, Kelsey's inclination is to run. But can she truly run from her feelings, and if she stays, will both of their secrets tear them apart? Finding It is probably my favorite of this series, by far. The story is interesting, the banter is great, and the CHEMISTRY BETWEEN JACKSON/HUNT AND KELSEY?!?! Sizzling. Like, I almost combusted from the sexual tension. Aside from that, I felt like the character growth was superb. I didn't like Kelsey in Losing It. It wasn't her outgoing personality, but her attitude around sex that made me uncomfortable. She forces her best friend to go clubbing for the purpose of finding someone to lose her virginity with. Despite Bliss being against the idea. In Finding It, we are introduced pretty quickly to why Kelsie is the way she is, and we see her in a spiral. Enter the mysterious Hunt, who we come to find out see's a kindred spirit in Kelsey. He pushes Kelsey's character to face some hard truths, and in the end, both of them find "it" - their home. Their peace. Within one another and themselves. It has a satisfying story arc, and conclusion, and I found myself turned around on Kelsey's character by the end of it. And despite what we learn, I loved Jackson. Finding It was a quick, yet enjoyable read for me, and I do believe you will enjoy it as well. Cora Carmack has interesting, well rounded characters, and the romance is wonderful and of course, steamy. I hope you like it as much as I did.
Hunt laughing at Kelsey because of the horrible kiss
Kelsey helping the little boy with the bully
Hunt and Kelsey's first kiss
Hunt taking care of Kelsey after she was drugged
Hunt and Kelsey seeing that they are staring at one another on train in the darkness.
Bungee jumping and that kiss
Kelsey tricking Hunt to beat him in their race
The kiss that convinces Kelsey to stay
FINALLY having sex
Hunt throwing Kelsey in the water when she tries to pants him in public
Hunt finding Kelsey in the bar, and helping her through her panic attack
Hunt's letters to get her back
Kelsey: "You remind me of God."
He laughed
Hunt: "Well, that's a new one for me."
Hunt: "If you're trying to drink away the memory of that kiss on the dance floor, I doubt it will work. That's the kind of kiss that sticks with you."
Cringing, I said
Kelsey: "You don't have to tell me that. You know, you could always help me find another way to erase the memory of that bad kiss."
Hunt: "I could do that ... but it's so much more fun to keep picturing the look on your face as it was happening."
Kelsey: "He's watching me?"
Jenny: "Like you're the last piece of cake."
Kelsey: "God, vague much?"
Hunt: "There you go, calling me God again."
Where was a desk when I needed to slam my head against it?
God, he thought he was adorable. And he was. Ugh.
Hunt: "I've got you, princess. You're safe. If you can hear me, no one's going to take advantage of you. I promise."
Kelsey: "Bummer."
He released a heavy breath.
Hunt: "You're something else."
Kelsey: "You scare me."
Hunt: "You have nothing to be scared of. I won't ... I wouldn't. I'll help you get to bed, and then I'll leave, get another room."
He thought I didn't trust him ... that he might do something.
Kelsey: "Not that. I don't think that."
Hunt: "Then why do I scare you?"
Kelsey: "Because I don't want you to see."
Hunt: "See what?"
Kelsey: "Me."
Hunt: "I told you that you could call me by my first name. You can call me Jackson."
Kelsey: "Does that mean I'm no longer most people."
He nodded.
Kelsey: "So what am I, then?"
Hunt: "I'm still figuring that out."
Kelsey: "I don't know what home is anymore."
Hunt: "I think home is wherever you are happiest."
Kelsey: "What is home's not a place you can ever go back to?"
Hunt: "Then you find a new home, a new place that makes you happy. It's not a once-in-a-lifetime deal, Kelsey. People find home in new places, new dreams, new people all the time. Home should feel effortless, like gravity."
Hunt: "Don't think too much. Just decide on something you want to do. The first think that pops into your head, and do it."
I wanted to kiss him.
There was absolutely nothing I wanted more. My eyes found his lips, and if ever gravity had ever been pulling me in one direction, that was it. I pulled up on my tiptoes, balancing a hand on his shoulder. Before I could ever get close, he cleared his throat and took a step back.
Just do anything but that, apparently.
Kelsey: "Why won't you kiss me? You did it last night. Why not now?"
Hunt: "I wasn't thinking things through last night."
Kelsey: "And you are now?"
He nodded
Kelsey: "And what are you thinking?"
Hunt: "That I want to keep you."
Kelsey: "Do you have a death wish?"
Hunt: "I promise it's going to be fine. We're not going to die. We can jump together if that will make you feel better."
Kelsey: "Oh, I didn't mean the jumping was going to kill you. I meant I was."
Hunt: "You can kill me after the jump."
Hunt: "I might have to find you a new nickname. I don't think you're proper enough to be a princess."
Kelsey: "You know the nice ones always have a naughty side. Mine just happens to outweigh the nice by a lot."
Kelsey: "Why do you care?" Hunt: "Why wouldn't I care, princess?"
Kelsey: "Because I'm horrible. All I do is screw things up. Including you. You should be running as fast as you can in the other direction."
Hunt: "But who will carry you when you fake-twist your ankle?"
I choked on a laugh, which turned into a sob, and I covered my face with my hands before he could see me fall apart.
Kelsey: "See? Horrible."
Hunt: "You're not horrible, Kelsey. You are vibrant and beautiful, and you burn. Burn so vividly. Fires can damage, but they're also beautiful and vital and they can purify and give the chance to start fresh. You're not horrible. Not at all."
Kelsey: "My brain is too foggy with sleep to pick which way to kill you, but give me five minutes and I'll figure it out."
Hunt: "Kelsey -"
Kelsey: "Sharks. I would like to give you a few paper cuts and feed you to sharks."
Hunt: "I don't think there are sharks in Switzerland."
Kelsey: "Then I will find an aquarium."
Hunt: "My imagination didn't do you justice."
Kelsey: "Imagine me naked a lot, did you?"
Hunt: "Only every other second."
Kelsey: "You want to hear it? Fine. It's a simple story really, about a pretty girl who was pretty stupid. She let a man touch her because she was scared to say no, and then she told her parents because she was scared to say nothing. Then they were scared to do anything that might ruin their pretty little lives, so they told that girl that it was nothing. That just being touched wasn't enough to fight for. Too scared to prove them wrong, she kept going like it was nothing, and she let more people touch her, never knowing that she was handing out pieces of herself. Or, hell, maybe she knew deep down, and she just hated herself so much that she was glad to be rid of them. And life wasn't pretty, but it also wasn't scary until she met a man with two names who touched her without taking and made her miss the pieces she had lost. And now things aren't just scary, they're fucking terrifying, and I can't do it. I can't live like this, knowing all that I've ruined and that it can't be fixed."
Hunt: "I didn't think I would feel this way."
Kelsey: "What way?"
Hunt: "Like life is worth living again."
Hunt: I know there's no excuse for what I did. I could explain the ways I reasoned with myself. I could explain that I needed the money, the job. I could explain that I waited because I was worried about you. But the real truth is that I just didn't want it to end. I knew you'd leave when you found out. And I just kept telling myself ... one more day. But if there's anything I learned with you, it's that one more day was never enough.
Kelsey: "Let's go home."
He kissed me again with the same detail, the same intricacy I saw in his sketches. Fire raged everywhere our skin met.
Hunt: "I'm already there."
Check out the rest of the Losing It series
Комментарии