Review: Finding It by Cora Carmack

Finding It by Cora Carmack
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: October 15, 2013
Page Count: 320
Genre: New Adult/Romance
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Kelsey Summers has left for Europe straight out of college with one goal: to find herself. And maybe scoop up some solid life experiences along the way that she can bring to the stage. Equipped with her father's limitless credit cards and the hunger for adventure, she has been traveling across Europe, never saying no, making countless friends along the way, and taking advantage of irresistible European men. Then, she stumbles upon the too-handsome-for-words Jackson Hunt. He's mysterious, and offers to show Kelsey an adventure she couldn't have dreamed of on her own. And naturally, she falls for him. Somewhere in between falling for Jackson and finding herself, Kelsey realizes that maybe she's trying to lose a dark part of herself instead of finding a new shiny part, and that maybe she doesn't know Jackson as well as he knows her. (This review might contain spoilers?)

I really should be scared, walking around a dark, unfamiliar city with a complete stranger. But there were a lot of things that I should be and wasn't. And when I looked over at him, I couldn't seem to conjure an ounce of fear I knew I should have. Dad always accused me of having a death wish. Maybe he was right.

After the disappointment that was Faking It, I wasn't too sure if I was looking forward to the third installment in this series of companion novels. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. Like Cade in Faking It, Kelsey became more of a character in Finding It. In the first book, we know her as Bliss' wild, sex-crazed best friend. If it wasn't for Kelsey, Garrick and Bliss wouldn't have ended up meeting on the night that Kelsey had determined Bliss would lose her virginity. She was very one dimensional in the first installment--always down to party and, um, get it on. Finding It starts out with the Kelsey we came to know. It's her new motto to never say no, she's in pursuit of the hottest underground parties, and is juggling not one but two men. But in her alcohol fueled nights, she is starting to realize that she is drinking to fill what has become an unfillable hole. When Jackson comes in, she starts to learn even more about herself, and not all of it is stuff she likes.

This funny thing happens when you graduate college. You hear so much about being an adult that you start to feel like you have to become a different person overnight, that growing up means being not you. And you concentrate so much on living up to the term "adult" that you forget growing up happens by living, not by sheer force of will.

Of course we have to talk about the love interest! Jackson Hunt was my favorite of series. He was dark, mysterious, and I loved the adventure that he took Kelsey on through Europe. He also has a whole load of his own baggage, and I enjoyed watching him help Kelsey shed her baggage, while also getting rid of some of his. He also brought back some of the tension that was present in Losing It but lost in Faking It. He didn't fall over for Kelsey like most guys do, and he actually respected her in the bedroom, which is important, ladies! He had a dark back story, and he added the biggest plot twist that this whole series has. The twist was brought on too late, though, because after it, we have to do a large time jump and a lot of stuff is glossed over. I would have liked to see either a quicker turn around, or more time to see the aftermath of this twist instead of mostly recovery.

I'm going to kiss you, princess. But not now, not when you're telling me to. Not when it's just something you want to check off a list. I'll kiss you when it counts.

The one thing that irked me a little bit was the place in time of this novel. It is the third book of the series, though it should have been the second. Kelsey is fresh out of college, like Bliss and Cade, and at one point in her travels, she Skype's with Bliss and listens to Bliss freak out about her new living situation with Garrick. However, we know from the second book that she already is living with Garrick and they seem pretty established? Especially since that book carries us through Thanksgiving and Christmas? I know that this is a series of companion novels more than an actual series, but the glitch in the timeline made me wish that it was at least linear.

Finding It is definitely my second favorite in this group of books. It's not as fun as Losing It, but it is darker, a little sexier, and contains a twist that actually surprised me. I was glad that (I think) Cora Carmack closed out the series with this novel. I also read the novella Keeping Her, and the new novella from Jackson's POV is coming out in two days, so I'll be reading that, too.