Release Day Launch: Seeking Her by Cora Carmack {Review, Excerpt,+Giveaway}
Happy release day to Cora Carmack and Seeking Her!
Today I am excited to share my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway with you all!
Seeking Her (Losing It #3.5)
by: Cora CarmackPublication Date: Jan. 28, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow Impulse
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC provided by Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 160 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars
A few months after being honorably discharged from the military, Jackson Hunt is still struggling to adjust back to the real world. He needs to get a job and find a sense of normalcy if he’s going to keep his own demons at bay. The job that falls into his lap, though, is anything but normal.
Bodyguard (and baby-sitter) to spoiled-rich-girl Kelsey Summers isn’t exactly what he’d been looking for, but it’s a chance to travel, to get away from the home that has felt stifling ever since his return. It would be a pretty sweet gig if it weren’t for the fact that Kelsey’s father doesn’t want Kelsey to know she’s being followed. Hunt feels guilty (and a little bit creepy) as he watches her from afar. She’s vibrant and infuriating, exciting and reckless, mysterious and familiar. When he sees her falling into the same patterns that he suffered years ago, he decides it’s time to stop watching and help her instead. But getting to know her is more difficult than he thought, especially because the more he knows her, the more he wants her.
Bodyguard (and baby-sitter) to spoiled-rich-girl Kelsey Summers isn’t exactly what he’d been looking for, but it’s a chance to travel, to get away from the home that has felt stifling ever since his return. It would be a pretty sweet gig if it weren’t for the fact that Kelsey’s father doesn’t want Kelsey to know she’s being followed. Hunt feels guilty (and a little bit creepy) as he watches her from afar. She’s vibrant and infuriating, exciting and reckless, mysterious and familiar. When he sees her falling into the same patterns that he suffered years ago, he decides it’s time to stop watching and help her instead. But getting to know her is more difficult than he thought, especially because the more he knows her, the more he wants her.
I am a huge fan of Cora's Losing It series and I have to say it's rather bittersweet seeing the series come to its conclusion. However, I am certainly excited for Cora's upcoming new adult series! I absolutely adored Finding It, so when I learned there would be a novella from Jackson's POV I was ecstatic. He really was a mystery in Finding It and I wanted to see what made him tick. While we get to know him on a bit more personal level in this novella, I found the storyline to be a bit lacking. I knew going in it would be a novella and a retelling so that wasn't a shocker, but I just felt a bit bored at times.
Don't get me wrong, I do love me some Jackson Hunt. And getting inside that man's head was definitely a treat! I absolutely love seeing Kelsey through his eyes because he is able to see her vibrant, free spirit and her beauty just by observing her. Everyone takes notice of her and wants to be around her- they really are the moths and Kelsey is the flame burning brightly and out of control. However, as he watches and observes her, he realizes that she isn't just a spoiled, rich girl running around Europe to party. In fact, he is almost shocked to see his former self in her. She's stuck in an endless cycle of self destruction and it reminds him of an all too familiar road he has once traveled.
"It's just... I look at you, and I see a beautiful woman in the prime of her life, traveling to exotic places, with the world at her fingertips. But I think that's what you want people to see. And maybe I love a mystery too, because I can't stop thinking about what's underneath all that, what you don't let people see."
Jackson is definitely tempted by Kelsey. She's beautiful and sexy and he is envious by how freely she is living her life traipsing around, drinking and having fun. But his envy soon turns to anger as he realizes this is a pattern for her. He is risking his own sobriety to follow her to bar after bar while she gets drunk and that is really difficult for him. He knows he can't be tempted by her, as he has a job to do. However, Jackson is definitely fighting a losing battle because there is so much more to Kelsey than meets the eye. And Jackson is the only one who can see past the façade she's put up and see how she longs for more.
I enjoyed reading Jackson's first impressions of Kelsey and how he has fought his desire for her from the very beginning. Although it didn't quite pack the punch I was hoping for, I still found this novella to be a nice addition to the Losing It series.
I was going to have to find some way to cope with this. If not, I was better off calling Mr. Summers and suggesting he find someone else to take over his daughter-watch.
I felt a pang of something at that thought. It was a general kind of discomfort, and I wasn’t sure whether it was the thought of returning home or something else that made that thought so unappealing.
After the cooling walk earlier, and now standing under the cool, calming rush of water, it was easier to think that I could control myself, but I knew better. It always seemed easier in my head than it really was.
I wiped the water from my eyes, and tried to think of some other way to deal. There was always the hope that Kelsey would get bored. That she would mellow out. If she only partied a couple nights a week, I should be able to resist. But that seemed unlikely.
All that restless energy; the way she’d soaked up the attention from the people around her. I couldn’t see her giving that up. And it was working for her. She was still in the phase where partying made her feel good. That was the one thing that helped me stay clean. The few times I’d slipped up since I started the program had left me miserable and angry, and even more frustrated than when I started. I’d found new ways to chase the high. And maybe that wasn’t any healthier, not when one way involved being in the midst of flying bullets.
It wasn’t the same kind of rush, but it did the trick. I pictured Kelsey again, laughing with her head thrown back, her shirt falling off her shoulder and displaying the gentle curve of her neck. It reminded me of the way she’d tossed her head back that first day out in the woods.
The memory of that caused a different kind of rush in me, and I groaned, pressing my forehead into the tile. Before I could help myself, I pictured her long legs straddling that guy in the gardens. The bright green material of her bra, and the way it conformed to her perfect chest. She leaned back, her fingertips trailing from the bark of the tree to his shoulders.
In an instant, the memory shifted into fantasy, and those were my shoulders she clung to, not his.That was my undoing. There was only so much resisting I could do in one night.
I felt a pang of something at that thought. It was a general kind of discomfort, and I wasn’t sure whether it was the thought of returning home or something else that made that thought so unappealing.
After the cooling walk earlier, and now standing under the cool, calming rush of water, it was easier to think that I could control myself, but I knew better. It always seemed easier in my head than it really was.
I wiped the water from my eyes, and tried to think of some other way to deal. There was always the hope that Kelsey would get bored. That she would mellow out. If she only partied a couple nights a week, I should be able to resist. But that seemed unlikely.
All that restless energy; the way she’d soaked up the attention from the people around her. I couldn’t see her giving that up. And it was working for her. She was still in the phase where partying made her feel good. That was the one thing that helped me stay clean. The few times I’d slipped up since I started the program had left me miserable and angry, and even more frustrated than when I started. I’d found new ways to chase the high. And maybe that wasn’t any healthier, not when one way involved being in the midst of flying bullets.
It wasn’t the same kind of rush, but it did the trick. I pictured Kelsey again, laughing with her head thrown back, her shirt falling off her shoulder and displaying the gentle curve of her neck. It reminded me of the way she’d tossed her head back that first day out in the woods.
The memory of that caused a different kind of rush in me, and I groaned, pressing my forehead into the tile. Before I could help myself, I pictured her long legs straddling that guy in the gardens. The bright green material of her bra, and the way it conformed to her perfect chest. She leaned back, her fingertips trailing from the bark of the tree to his shoulders.
In an instant, the memory shifted into fantasy, and those were my shoulders she clung to, not his.That was my undoing. There was only so much resisting I could do in one night.
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12 comments
Okay, seriously need to get started on these! Everybody seems to love them and I have all the freakin books! Great review Jessica
ReplyDeleteYES! Do it already Teresa! What are you waiting for? Oh, yeah. Time. LOL. Ok, I feel you.
DeleteThanks for sharing the excerpt. I definitely need to catch up with this series. Glad that you enjoyed it. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenea! Finding It is my favorite, but the others are all good!
DeleteI still haven't started this series! >.<
ReplyDeleteLove these books! They get better and better!
DeleteI need to catch up on ALL these books! Everyone has read them...except for me (but then again I am always behind on the good stuff! lol ;p) I can't wait to get into them. Fab review, Jessica! :D
ReplyDelete~ Maida
Literary Love Affair
Aww! I can't wait for you to read them girl! I understand though- there are several series where that's me too!
DeleteI totally agree with your review. I love Cora Carmack, and all the books in this series have been excellent, but I found this one a bit lacking and got a bit bored at times too. Excellent Review Jess! Jackson sure is swoon-worthy!
ReplyDeleteLindy@ A Bookish Escape
Oh good! I'm not the only one! LOL. For a second I was like, Uhhh. Am I being weird? I love Jackson though. He definitely made it better.
DeleteI have to admit I was a little worried that this one might not live up to Finding It. I love the idea of hearing his POV (I love guy POVs!) but sometimes, it does get a little flat when you already know exactly what's going to happen. But I then again, getting inside Jackson's mind might just be worth it lol ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah. I felt that way. I guess I wanted more and it ended so abruptly. I also love guy POV's, but it's tricky, because you don't want to deviate from the story, but you want to bring a freshness that readers will be engaged in.
DeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.