Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Keeping Her Release Day Launch



YAY Keeping Her (Losing It #1.5) is officially out today! *Throws confetti* As a huge lover of Garrick and Bliss I'm so excited to be part of the release day launch!

Goodies you'll find in this post:
  • The first chapter of Keeping Her
  • Some Garrick POV from Losing It
  • My review of Keeping Her
  • A giveaway!



Synopsis:
"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."






First Chapter of Keeping Her & Losing It Garrick POVs



Review


Firstly, thanks to William Morrow Books/HarperCollins Publishers for this eARC <3

Date Read: August 7th 2013
Release Date: August 13th 2013
Publisher: William Morrow (HarperCollins Publishers)
Source: ARC (via Edelweiss)
Genre: Contemporary
My rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

“You make me happy.” 

Keeping Her definitely is at the top of my list for being one of the sweetest books I’ve ever read. As a huge fan of Carmack’s debut, Losing It, this follow-up novella to Bliss and Garrick’s story is one I’d been pining for since the end of Losing It really… And when Carmack announced that she’d be writing this novella to give us a glimpse into their “happily-ever-after” I was jumping for joy. After finishing this, all I can say is: ALL THE FEELS AND I NEED MORE!

More than a year after Bliss and Garrick’s meeting, it’s time for Bliss to meet the parents and be introduced to Garrick’s life before he arrived in the States. Which means Keeping Her is set in London, England and I just imagined everybody speaking with an English accent which was incredibly hot and I just really want to go to London more than ever now. To say that Garrick’s life prior to moving to the US was different is an understatement.

Bliss Edwards is one of the funniest, most relatable MCs I’ve ever read and I just love the voice Carmack’s created for her. I adore her clumsiness and the way she thinks – her freak-outs are hilarious and very relevant in the light of events. Her insecurities were something I could really relate to and portrayed realistically. She’s definitely matured since Losing It, allowing herself to feel a lot more rather than analysing everything – all thanks to Garrick. I loved how she’s still got that little streak of over-analysis in her though as it’s what makes Bliss who she is.

“Wait… did they have stairs? I should have made him detail it all for me. Maybe I should wake him up and ask him now about the stairs. And for a description of the entire house.” 

*Swoons* Garrick Taylor omg being in his head is AWESOME! Seeing and FEELING his love for Bliss just moved me so much. Oh oh oh and he talks dirty and it’s insanely hot. Most other books I read, guys talking dirty sometimes gets a cringe from me but from Garrick it was so sexy. I think the beauty of that is because he doesn’t do it all the time, Carmack doesn’t exploit it so when he does say those things, it’s a shock and very exciting to see this other side to him. And going on from that I’m bowing down to Carmack for not using any swearing to make her point that it’s a guy POV. I get so annoyed when books (especially “new adult”) with male POVs have excessive swearing or crude/vulgar language like they have to make a point that guys need to swear to appear masculine/manly. NO JUST NO. There are heaps of great guys out there that don’t swear every 5 seconds. So thank you Cora Carmack for not doing that with Garrick’s POV. I’ll admit I wondered what his thoughts would be like and although there is some profanity it’s not excessive and I really felt like I was in Garrick’s head.

“I never would have thought I could feel such peace while my heart hammered and my skin burned, but that’s what she brought me.” 

Despite Keeping Her only being a novella, I thought Carmack delivered the plot perfectly. The challenges of meeting the future in-laws, the difference in lifestyles, the worries of whether Garrick’s family/friends would accept Bliss, problems that Garrick and Bliss would face themselves in the future. They all fit comfortably in the 100 pages. But left me wanting for more *sigh* I was also happy to see Carmack’s writing had improved. While Losing It had great writing style, there were some inconsistencies with flow, but I think those got smoothed out in Keeping Her. Also, any author that manages to incorporate multiple Harry Potter references and use them as snark is a winner in my eyes.

“You’re right. Realistically, I’m a Ravenclaw.” 

Now all I have to say is… WHY COULDN’T THIS BE A WHOLE BOOK? Oh wait Carmack would probably have to put them through some angst/turmoil which my feels probably wouldn’t have been able to handle BUT STILL I want more Garrick *sobs*

“I could imagine each one of them wrapped up in their thoughts, contemplating their dreams, falling in love, getting news that changed their entire world.”

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Buy Keeping Her


Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Her-LOSING-Novella-ebook/dp/B00CD36FHE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376267729&sr=8-1&keywords=keeping+her+cora+carmack

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/keeping-her-cora-carmack/1115290735?ean=9780062299260&itm=1&usri=keeping+her+cora+carmack

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About Cora

 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.

Find her at the following places:
Blog: http://coracarmack.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CoraCarmack
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoraCarmackBooks



Publisher Links:
William Morrow Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WmMorrowbks
William Morrow Twitter: https://twitter.com/WmMorrowBks

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Giveaway


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2 comments:

  1. Okay, so I LOVE Cora Carmack's books and everything, but I'm not sure if I want to read KEEPING HER. Here's the thing: Garrick's my least favorite of her main characters so far. Also, I'm still mad at that cheesy epilogue at the end of LOSING IT. So. Hmmm. I'd probably enjoy this, but do I need it? Do I?

    Oh, and about male POVs. I know what you mean. I'm not opposed to some swearing by any means, and even like it, but a lot of male POVs do seem over the top with the vulgar thoughts and swearing. Like,yes, I think guys will think about breasts and sex, but they will also have other thoughts too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm the kind of person that loves happily-ever-afters, I LOVE happy endings so I think that's why I needed this - the ending of Losing It wasn't enough for me.

      Maybe this'll be too much for you and it's unnecessary? Idk D:

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