Charade

by Nyrae Dawn

• Publish Date: 2012
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 345
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I am in shock. I have read a New Adult romance that doesn't contain an unnecessary, dramatic fight that only breaks the couple up for one chapter. And it made me cry. Charade is definitely a winner! I was iffy about it at first, since Cheyenne's narrative was a little annoying, but soon enough I was sucked into the story. I almost always love stories of people falling in love while pretending to be together, and this one was no exception. Cheyenne wants to show her exboyfriend that she doesn't need him, and Colton needs the money and a distraction from his life. Their relationship is just a game, but eventually it becomes the only real thing either of them has.

Charade opens with Cheyenne walking in on her boyfriend in bed with another woman. She's caught off guard and is trying to hold off a panic attack. She has worked hard to make herself into someone that no one will leave, and now she's trying to project this image of being able to easily move on. She hires Colton to be a her fake boyfriend as part of her facade, but she doesn't anticipate opening up to him. He believes she's a stuck up princess, but she makes sure he knows that's not the case at all. I liked how they found out about each other's issues early on, rather than having them be some huge reveal later on. She was abandoned by her mother, and he's watching his own mother die before his eyes.

Colton is of course the misunderstood, bad boy, with a tragic past. He's tattooed and sells weed to the frat boys, but there is much more than meets the eye. His mom is his world and watching her fall apart is taking its toll on him. He acts like everything is fine when people are around, but for some reason his walls come down with Cheyenne. His story made me cry. Twice. The situation with his mom is very sad, but I wasn't expecting it to get to me like that. Thumbs up to the author for bringing the waterworks.

I really enjoyed Charade. Sure, it's basic plot is almost identical to most other NA novels, but for me it does stand out. The only thing about NA that annoys me are the fights, and luckily Charade doesn't have one. Cheyenne and Colton are dealing with problems bigger than their relationship, and that brings them together rather than pulling them apart. There are several super sexy scenes scattered throughout as these two damaged people find comfort in each other, and eventually come out the other side as better and more whole. My one complaint is the major overuse of the words "game" and "charade."

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[nitzan_schwarz]

Pop by my blog, Drugs Called Books, to read this review and more!

This was a really good read and I enjoyed it! It had a really good plot, nice characters, some hot damn chemistry, great writing, and it gives hope.

Cheyenne is the heroine of the story. She has a bad case of abandonment issues and has panic attacks that no one knows of. She's all about pretending and keeping other's at arm's length.
She's weak, yet strong. Cold, yet loving. She has the biggest heart out there, but she keeps it under lock and key.
I liked her enough, though I honestly connected more with Colt, oddly enough.

Colt is a pretty sexy guy. Everybody calls him an ass, but I didn't think he was that much of a jerk, and most of the time he was extremely sweet to Chey. He acts all tough, but inside he's pretty vulnerable.
I don't know what exactly there is about him, but I could connect a lot better with him than with Chey. She often seemed... a bit stupid. But I really liked Colt, even though sometimes all of his cursing made me cringe. He was just so sweet to Cheyenne, mostly when she wasn't expecting it, and his reactions felt very true to me.

Adrian is Colt's best friend... sort of. I like him and intrigued about him - so it's pretty awesome that the second book in the series will be his. He's a lot more "bad, dangerous, messed up boy" than Colt - actually doing Drugs and partying all day long and all that... it makes me think he'll also be harder to "set straight"... or if they'll even succeed in that.

Andy is Cheyenne's roommate, and she's trying to be Cheyenne's friend. Of course, as Cheyenne's pretty tight on keeping people away, it doesn't really work out at first...
Actually, I found Andy to be a pretty useless character. Aside for telling Cheyenne Colt is hot, she didn't do much, and didn't really help forwarding the plot. Her only role seems to be telling Cheyenne about parties...

George is Cheyenne's EX, and honestly, I have no freakin' idea what she ever did with this douche. I want to squash him under my boot as the cockroach he is! Errr. Stay away from my Colt, dammit!

But something I can say about all the characters; they were very believable, acted and talked very human. It felt like real people, not characters in a book.

The romance was pretty darn good. First, I loved the whole deal with being in a fake relationship and actually falling in love while playing a couple.
Second, it took them time and you could see them falling in love through the book. It wasn't love at first time, or insta love, or anything like that. It built slowly, giving it a very realistic vibe. And they fit. They really worked for one another, shushing one another's panic and pain and fears and giving each other a reason to continue and thrive to be better. I think that's the best kind of relationship.
Third, they were fucking HOT together. Yeah, I cursed. It's a tribute to Colt.
One thing I feel I should mention... they have a lot of Sex. Most sex I've read of in New Adult so far, and it's pretty detailed. See yourselves warned :P

I really started feeling this story toward the end, about 80% into the read, from the moment Colt's mother started dying (which is not a spoiler, as I think you find out she'd very sick on the first or second chapter). My heart ached through all that until the end of the book, and it made me tear out. It was very emotional, very human and very heartbreaking.
That's not to say the rest of the book is not good or anything like that--but those were definitely the moments I became "one" with the book.

The ending was just very adorable and I love it 3 it was so sweet and cute and so hopeful and lovely and... ~sigh~ I want an ending like that in real life :>

There were a few things that were ignored in the book and that kind of bothered me.
Like, the all drug issue. Colt sells drugs. Where does he get them? Can he really that easily get out?
Also, Cheyenne apparently has a cousin. Maybe I missed it - but I never heard of one being mentioned before the funeral, and it was a bit weird, dunno why.

But aside for that, this book was really good. Great writing, good plot, great characters.
If you're a fan of New Adult and contemporary, I definitely recommend it for you.