Faking It (Losing It, #2)

by Cora Carmack

Every girl likes a bad boy...

And Max's current boyfriend is as bad as they come. She knows her family would freak if they saw his tattoos and piercings.

So when her parents turn up unannounced Max grabs the most wholesome guy she can to play her boyfriend.

But Cade Winston is so perfect that Max needs him to keep playing the part. And the more they have to fake their relationship, the harder it gets to just pretend...

• ISBN10: 0062273264
• ISBN13: 9780062273260
• Publish Date: 28 October 2019 (first published 4 June 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Faking It is, obviously, a fake relationship turned real, but without enough of the fake part. It picks up soon after Losing It, with Cade in Philadelphia where he hopes to work, yet hasn't gone on any auditions. He's also trying to get over his former best friend, Bliss, and learns that she's about to become engaged which hits him hard. Then Max walks up to him and asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend, since her parents are on a surprise visit and cannot meet her real boyfriend. Cade is an actor, a knight in shining armor, and needs a distraction, so of course he agrees.

I know I say it all the time, but fake dating really is my favorite romance trope so I was very excited for Faking It. It starts off really well as Max is afraid that her ultra conservative parents will disown her if they see her with not only tattoos, piercings, and dyed hair, but with an equally inked up musician boyfriend. So when she spots Cade sitting in the same coffee shop, she knows he'll be perfect. That initial meeting with her parents was so awkward, but in a good way. Then Cade starts wanting a real relationship, Max suddenly becomes single, so that becomes a real possibility. Although she does push him away a lot because of reasons. Then from there, they were basically real dating instead of fake dating, even if Max insisted it was just to get through the holidays with her parents.

I did enjoy Faking It quite a bit, but I wanted more of the fake stuff with growing tensions! It's almost as if Max and Cade were really dating for the latter half of the book, while the first half we're just waiting for her and her boyfriend to break up so that she can real-date Cade. It was weird. There's also plenty of angst and drama as Max is still dealing with the grief of losing her sister. I didn't like how she used it as an excuse to treat Cade like crap at times, but I did believe her guilt over how her sister had died. I also really loved that ending.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[whisperingchapters]

3.5 stars.

[readingwithwrin]

Like the first one in this trilogy I read it last year, but for some unknown reason didn't mark it as read nor did I review it.

I'm just going to be going off of memory for this review as I did in the first one so it might be a little bit short.

I really liked this book compared to the first one. This is a companion novel as Cade was in the first book and the main protagonist friends.
In this one Cade has moved and is going to get his masters and is a little depressed. Max who is trying to hide who she really is from her parents needs Cade's help and of course they end up falling for each other along the way. This was a slow going romance and was very realistic compared to the first one.
While Cade and Max both have problems they work on them together and create a friendship and later on a relationship. We see the main protagonists from the first one make a quick appearance in this one. But this book could have been a stand alone.

Because of this book I am interested to read the final book in the trilogy and see if I like it even more.

(I don't remember there being any sex in this book either and if there was it wasn't the main plot line for a change. )

[melanchalina]

Удивительно, как некоторые авторы могут улучшить свой стиль и манеру написания. «Сделай это» - обычный, затянутый роман, а вот «Притворись» - трогательная история, которая проникает в самое сердце. Кора непросто создала более интересных и глубоких персонажей, но и гораздо интереснее все преподнесла.

Если в первой книге герои плоские, однобокие, то здесь они живые, яркие. Злая Девочка и Золотой мальчик. Такие разные и такие похожие одновременно. Очень люблю пары, где парень и девушка являются противоположностями, очень интересно наблюдать, как они привыкают друг к другу. А уж если герои – творческие личности, то это не книга, а находка. В данном случае, музыкант и актер. Восхитительная смесь. Как можно пройти мимо? К тому же, в «Притворись» герой не типичный бэд мой (которые порядком надоели), как раз наоборот. Здесь именно бэд герл. И на фоне всех этих приевшихся правильных и невинных героинь – она просто глоток свежего воздуха. К слову сказать, в первой книге я была за Кейда.

Конечно, здесь не обошлось без страсти и притяжения с первого взгляда (куда ж без этого), но, по крайней мере, любовь героев родилась не на пустом месте. Она логична, в ней видишь смысл. Читая, понимаешь, за что героини стали испытывать друг к другу чувства.

Мне понравилось, что Кейд не страдал всю книгу по Блисс. Да поначалу ему было больно, он вспоминал ее. Но Кейд отпустил ее, он позволил Макс войти в его жизнь, показать краски жизни. Так же, как сам Кейд научил Макс верить в себя, позволить себе радоваться и получать удовольствие от жизни. Это книга о том, как отпускать прошлое и жить настоящим.

НО. В книге есть минус. Честно говоря, проблема героини слишком накручена. «Я ядовитая», «Я всех отравляю» - но при этом, такие заявления ничем не подкреплены. А я не очень люблю проблемы на пустом месте. Да, согласна у нее было большое горе в прошлом, и есть проблемы в настоящем, но не настолько большие и не с тем смыслом, что Макс преподносила. Поэтому минус два балла.

Моя оценка: 8/10

[catiebug]

I loved this but I loved the first one more. I just didn't connect to the characters as well.

[Rowena]

Cade knows that he’s in a rut, he’s not happy with the way his life is shaping up to be and his best friend’s boyfriend just told him that he’s going to propose to her. That would normally be happy news but not when you’re in love with your best friend. When Max Miller comes storming into his life, she’s just the distraction that Cade needs to help him move on from Bliss. Max is as different from Bliss as night to day. Max is in your face and she needs Cade’s help. In Philadelphia, Max is bright, she’s colorful and she’s confident but all of that comes to a crushing halt when her parents show up in town for a surprise visit.

Max’s parents don’t know the colorful Max. They know the good girl Max who doesn’t have piercings and multiple tattoos. They love that Max so when Max finds out that she has minutes to look presentable, she rushes to Cade’s table with the crazy idea to ask Cade to pretend to be her boyfriend.

The whole scheme really takes off and goes on a lot longer than either of them intended. I didn’t think that I would like this book as much as I did because I’m not normally a fan of lying. Keeping secrets and well, all of that kind of stuff. But Cade and Max were so much fun to get to know and seeing Cade come out of his shell and make that attempt to get over Bliss for good was great. I enjoyed the relationship that blossomed between Cade and Max. I loved the way that they were with each other, the way that their feelings came upon them slowly and over the course of the book and I really liked the way that Cade took on that big guy at the bar for Max. Oh man, I loved that part the most.

Cade was everything that I hoped he would be in Losing It and Max was such a great heroine for him. I didn’t really understand why it was so difficult for Max to just come clean with her parents about who she really was but I really enjoyed this book anyway and am really looking forward to reading more from Cora Carmack. I definitely recommend.

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

The thing I liked most about Faking It was how it focused on the idea that 'opposites attract'. Max and Cade are total opposites. Cade is the perfect "Golden Boy" who impresses parents and is very put together. He's calm, sweet, never gets mad, and never does anything outrageous. Max is tattooed, dances at a bar, has tons of issues, and can be pretty emotional and dramatic. They're not the couple you'd put together and think, "They're perfect for each other!!" But in a way, the fact that they are so different is what made them perfect for each other.. O_O

Just like Losing It, Faking It was hilarious!! I freaking loved the awkward moments. Just the idea of asking someone to be your fake boyfriend is hilarious. Then when Max's parents invited said fake boyfriend over for Christmas... lol. It was just so funny to see that one lie spiral so far out of control!

"My name is Cade Winston—MFA student, volunteer, mom-hugger, and your boyfriend for the next twenty-four hours. It's nice to meet you."

And another thing I thought was great was how Cora Carmack really made Cade stand out in Faking It. In Losing It I honestly thought Cade was a little... lame. It just made me sad how he was obsessed with Bliss and kept clinging onto her.. but I loved watching him come out of his shell in Faking It. He became a much more interesting character than he was in Losing It.

The one thing that annoyed me in Faking It was Max. I liked her a lot of the time, but sometimes she really pissed me off. I hate it when the "damaged" girl in books has this attitude that's like: "I'm not good for him! I'm poison. I'll just break his heart. So before I break his heart I'm just going to leave him... he'll get over me anyway." Grow up and put an end to the pity party!!! Seriously! It drives me freaking nuts. I hate those stupid speeches and Max had a couple of them. >_

Although I really enjoyed Faking It and it had me laughing at several points, I didn't love it quite as much as Losing It. I'm almost not entirely certain why. I think maybe Losing It just packed a bigger punch. Or maybe it was because I read Losing It first and then I read Faking It immediately after so the "these awkward moments are hilarious" feeling wore off a little... I don't really know! But either way, Faking It was still an awesome book!

[nitzan_schwarz]

OMG guys! Faking It is such a perfect story! It's fun and light but also has dark undercurrents of depression and self hatred, the love story is phenomenal and the characters fantastic. I cannot think of one way Carmack could've made this better!

We all remember Cade from Losing It; the sweet, kind best friend who got his heart shattered into million pieces in front of our eyes.
Cade is still not over Bliss. So meeting her and her boyfriend - who is not him - for lunch? not his definition of fun. Thank god they had to bail fast.
All Max wanted was for her parents to lay off her back. Unfortunately, if they met her real boyfriend that would never happen. So she went to the only nice guy library-visiting looking type around and begged him to pretend he's It.
Max has 'bad girl' written all over her, but for some reason Cade's attracted to her, so he says yes.
And then he... wins over her family!? Oh, the nerve! Now Max is kind of stuck with him playing her boyfriend for at least another day.
And another day turns into two, which turns into a week, and sometime in there Cade starts wanting to be her real, and she starts thinking that maybe nice guys aren't so bad, after all...

To read the rest of my review, got to my blog Drugs Called Books

[Kelly]

http://divainpyjamas.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/faking-it-by-cora-carmack.html

Cade doesn't plan on letting this girl get away.

Faking It is the story of Cade from book one in the series, Losing It. Cade is in love with Bliss, the unobtainable former best friend. It isn't until he meets the moody, dark and sexy Max, that he releases that perhaps what he felt for Bliss wasn't love. I fell in love with Max, she's sassy and not afraid to march to the beat of her own drum, except where he parents are concerned. Cade oozes sex appeal, and together, they are a lethal combination of hormones and banter.

I enjoyed it more than the original, Losing It. It had more edge, more tension and more Cade.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Predictable? Yes. Worth the Read? Heck yes! I really enjoyed Losing It and was determined to read Cade's story on release day and I am so glad I did! Faking It was wonderful, with flesh-out characters and hot steamy scenes with enough angst, heartbreak and tender moments to keep you turning the pages. Carmack switched things up and offered us a smexy good-boy and a jaded bad girl and what a delicious combination. I loved Max, from her colored hair to her breathtaking music. The chemistry between them felt real, and was so hot my fingers got burned! I laughed, cried and giggled my way through this one. Next up is Finding It and we will get Kelsey's story. Carmack is easily one of my favorite new authors.

originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer