Review: Keeping Her by Cora Carmack

Keeping Her by Cora Carmack

Book 1.5 of the Losing It series

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication Date: August 13, 2013

Rating: 3 stars

Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

What I Liked:

This book was really short, so hopefully, this review will be short! We are back in Bliss and Garrick's world! I personally loved Losing It the most, of the three Cora Carmack books I've read. I liked Faking It, but I was ready to read more about Bliss and Garrick. They were the couple I feel in love with, you know? Losing It is the best of the three, in my opinion.

Anyway! I... enjoyed this book. The first scene is so funny - Bliss trying to make breakfast, and effectively ruining it. The first scene is in Garrick's POV, and it's easily the hottest scene of the book. Bliss is so worked up over going to London to meet Garrick's family... that she needs a little helping with staying calm. Which Garrick is happy to provide. *wink wink*

So, Bliss and Garrick go to London. Garrick's father is an uptight, rich, businessman-type, and Garrick's mother is harsh, cold, critical, and not too kind. For Bliss, this book is basically about Bliss standing up for herself, in her relationship with Garrick, and in her relationship with her mother-in-law. For Garrick, it's about facing his past and taking charge of his future.

The romance, a.k.a chemistry, steamy scenes, hot stuff, whatever, is pretty much all in the first scene, but Bliss and Garrick do get mushy-gushy, touchy-feely at times. Since this book has both points-of-view in first person, we get to see Bliss and Garrick's naughty thoughts, in different scenes.

Overall, it was fun to see Bliss and Garrick back in action.

What I Did Not Like:

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading this book and am grateful for the opportunity given to me. However, there were several things that I really didn't care for in this book.

For one, I felt like this book was a little unnecessary. Okay, yes, most novellas are not needed when reading a series. And it's totally nice to see Bliss and Garrick again. But this novella didn't do much for me. It didn't really show me a side of Garrick that I never saw. It didn't teach me anything new about Bliss's character. I didn't really care much about Garrick's parents, or what Bliss was stressing about after she meets Garrick's mother. This novella didn't do anything. 

And the novella seems to be just Garrick and Bliss thinking about each other... all the time... in every scene... like lovesick fools. Okay, they are lovesick fools. I mean that nicely. But it was a little, ahem, sickening. The first scene is a very chemistry-filled, intimate scene. After that, it's a bunch of naughty thoughts about the other, or kisses, or caresses. I was kind of like, um, okay? 

And then, the last 25% of the book? Isn't even about Bliss and Garrick! We get a sneak peek of Finding It (Kelsey's book), and then a bit of Losing It. An entire fourth of the ebook isn't Keeping Her! I was kind of pissed when I saw that. 

Basically, if this book were priced at more than $0.99, I would not be buying it. There's not much to the story! And a fourth of the book isn't even the book! Ugh!

Would I Recommend It:

Ummm... not really. It's $0.99, but you could totally save your $0.99 and get a bag of Skittles. BUT, it's only $0.99, so that's not as bad as novellas priced at $2.99 and aren't worth crap.

Rating:

3 stars. YAY for Bliss and Garrick!

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