Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack

Losing It by Cora Carmack
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: February 26, 2013
Page Count: 255.
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary.
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Bliss Edwards is about to start her last semester of college. She's following her passions, she has a great group of friends, and she's excited to start the rest of her life. The only problem? She's still a virgin. Determined to shed her v-card by the time she is out of college, she decides to do it in the quickest and most simple way she knows how: a one-night stand. When her friend drags her out to the bar, she is lucky to snag the perfect guy. He's charming, handsome, and British. This should all be well and dandy, but in true, awkward Bliss fashion, she freaks out, makes an excuse impossible to believe, and dashes, leaving him in her bed. Still burning from her embarrassment, she drags herself to her first class of her last semester the next day, and is shocked to find that her new professor is painfully familiar.

Bliss Edwards, you are a freaking catch.
So then how did I end up twenty-two years old and the only person I knew who had never had sex? Somewhere between Saved by the Bell and Gossip Girl, it became unheard of for a girl to graduate college with her V-card still in hand. And now I was standing in my room, regretting that I'd gathered the courage to admit it to my friend Kelsey. She reacted like I'd just told her I was hiding a tail underneath my A-line skirt. And I knew before her jaw even finished dropping that this was a terrible idea.

This book is so not in the vein of books that I typically read, but it was for cheaps on Bookoutlet.com, and I've heard a lot about this book. Not to mention the fact that I have a habit of reading the not-perfectly written, smut books of the world for my entertainment. Surprisingly, I liked this a little more than I expected I would. I thought Bliss was funny, though sometimes irrational. She is sarcastic, and a complete head case that made me laugh out loud several times throughout the book. Her first person narrative was very lively, and paced perfectly to reflect her reeling mind in times of utmost embarrassment, such as when she ditches the hot British man, Garrick Taylor, and then when she sees him again as the professor of her class. Carmack really put her in some painfully awkward situations, and it was fun to read as Bliss flails out of them.

And since I couldn't stand silence, I was the first to break.
"I won't tell anyone." His eyebrows raised, but I couldn't tell if it was surprise or judgment or just a facial tic. "I mean, not that there's anything...not that we...I mean, we didn't actually...um, make the beast with two backs and all that."
Oh. My. God. Killmenowkillmenowkillmenowkillmenoooow.The beast with two backs? Seriously?
I'm twenty-two years old, and rather than just spitting out the word "sex," I used a Shakespeare reference! A really embarrassing Shakespeare reference. 

Then for the love interests. Yes, two! We'll start with Garrick, the hot British man. He was charming, as I said, and handsome, and quite seductive. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing with Bliss, and how to get her where he wanted her. But! He kept those romantic stakes up, especially since they are in the delicate teacher and student relationship. Whether it was keeping her after class, or dragging her out of the theater to talk to her in private, I kept wanting to know when they were actually going to hook up, or if they were going to get caught first. Then there is Cade, Bliss' best friend in the theater department. I didn't have many feelings towards Cade at all. He didn't jump out at me as someone who was in love with Bliss, but more as someone who suddenly got protective in the face of a little competition.

"Listen Garrick, while this parallel you're drawing is lovely, especially with that accent, I'm a little tired of the metaphors and being compared to doomed love stories. Just say what you want to say. I've been puzzling out ancient texts all night. I don't want to have to decipher you, too."
"I'm saying that I was wrong." He took a step closer, and my exhaustion fled, replaced with electricity under my skin. "I'm saying I like you. I'm saying I don't give a damn that I'm your teacher."

As for the romance aspects of this book, I liked the romance between Garrick and Bliss much more than I liked the 'romance' between Bliss and Cade. With Bliss and Garrick, there were high stakes and intensity. There was a lot of lust, and seduction that really built up the anticipation for me. There was a touch of insta-love, though, which was disappointing to me, but not as disappointing as the Cade storyline. (Some maybe spoilerish things after this?) It seemed that Carmack needed a love triangle to add to the stack of obstacles in the way of Garrick and Bliss' happily-ever-after. Cade's sudden love confession didn't feel genuine to me, and I thought there was a lot of unnecessary drama surrounding it.  (end of spoilery things.) 

Losing It was a funny romance novel, with a hilariously awkward narrator, and a dashing leading man. The insta-love, and seemingly unnecessary love triangle, though, was enough to make me feel a little 'meh' about this novel. At this point, I have read all of the available books in this series, so I will continue to review them!

Summed up in a gif: