Book Review: Finding It by Cora Carmack.

Product details:
Publisher: Ebury Press.
Paperback, 320 pages.
Release date: October 10th 2013.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Ages: 17+
Series: Losing It #3.
Other Books in Series: Losing It, Faking It.
Overall Series Rating: 3½ out of 5.
Source: Received from publisher for review.

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 realises there's more to life than the next party.

What she doesn't realise is that although she's on a journey to find herself, she will end up finding The One...

Beautiful, carefree and confident, from the outside it looks like Kelsey Summers doesn’t have a care in the world. A good time girl, Kelsey’s life is a party that never stops. Now that she’s graduated, Kelsey doesn’t want to think about getting a job or place to live or a serious boyfriend alá her friend Bliss, she just wants to keep on having a good time, and, courtesy of her dad’s seemingly bottomless bank account, she can. When we meet up with Kelsey, she’s enjoying a tequila night in Budapest with two hot guys, and things are about to get wild. That’s until she sees Jackson Hunt, ex-military and hot, Hunt can see right through Kelsey’s party-girl façade. Hunt sees the real Kelsey, and what he sees is a wounded girl who numbs her pain with alcohol and random hook ups, a girl who doesn’t form attachments, a girl who doesn’t want to feel. Hunt’s been there, and he wants to help, but he’s got demons of his own. He’s got secrets too – secrets so big they just might bring Kelsey’s whole world crashing down.

A hot guy with a past, a damaged girl, secrets and lies, a whole heap of sexual tension and a European trip that takes in Budapest, Prague, a little bit of Germany, a whole lot of Italy and a slice of Spain – I should have loved this book. I should have. But, try as I might, I never really warmed to Finding It. And that’s weird, because I am a fan of Carmack’s books; I have been since I read Losing It way back when it was first self-published. Losing It is a fun book.  It has a sense of humour about it, and it made me laugh a lot. It’s different from the issue-driven, problem-laden, angsty New Adult books that seem to dominate the genre. Finding It is well written-Carmack's writing has improved since Losing It- but I never felt emotionally invested in its characters or their stories. That could be because right from the start I didn’t like Kelsey (I’ll get to her later) but it could also be because I feel like I’ve read this story a thousand times before: The damaged girl and the only guy that really gets her – because he’s been through it too. There was nothing new or surprising here to enjoy. I guessed the twist, I guessed the final outcome, and I never really felt like I got to know the characters, or at least, I never felt connected to either of them. From start to finish, I felt detached from this book.

Now, I didn’t actually remember much at all about Kelsey from Losing It. I was told that she was kind of loud and annoying, though, and boy, did Kelsey annoy me, not her party lifestyle, not even the fact that she uses daddy’s credit card to sleep her way around Europe, and not the fact that she pouts and flounces when Hunt won’t kiss her (right after she pukes at his feet –seriously) because hey, she’s beautiful, she’s Kelsey, and she always gets the guy – and btw the guy is always hot, because, well, so is she, not even…well, okay, all of those things, bar the party lifestyle, because I truly don’t have a problem with that, annoyed me. I didn’t like Kelsey. And I know that there’s a reason she acts the way she does, of course there is, but while she became less annoying over time, and by the time we get to the (very-rushed) ending she’s pretty much redeemed her character, I can’t say I ever became a fan.

I know I’m in the minority with my feelings on this one, but hey, sometimes books just don’t work out. It’s kind of like having a personality clash with someone – no matter what, you’ll find fault with everything they say or do. I think I had a personality clash with this book, or at least I had a personality clash with Kelsey. That said, there is nothing really wrong with Finding It – it just didn’t offer up anything new or exciting for me. I still say though, that this series overall is worth checking out, and if you enjoy New Adult (the genre has been hit and miss for me, I have to admit), then Carmack should be one of the authors on your list!