Finding It
(Losing It, #3)
Author: Cora Carmack
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2013
Genre: NA Romance
Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ TBD
Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find where you truly belong...
Most girls would kill to spend months traveling around Europe after college graduation with no responsibility, no parents, and no-limit credit cards. Kelsey Summers is no exception. She's having the time of her life . . . or that's what she keeps telling herself.
It's a lonely business trying to find out who you are, especially when you're afraid you won't like what you discover. No amount of drinking or dancing can chase away Kelsey's loneliness, but maybe Jackson Hunt can. After a few chance meetings, he convinces her to take a journey of adventure instead of alcohol. With each new city and experience, Kelsey's mind becomes a little clearer and her heart a little less hers. Jackson helps her unravel her own dreams and desires. But the more she learns about herself, the more Kelsey realizes how little she knows about Jackson.
This book went back to just the girl’s point of view, which definitely works for the story. After reading it through, I know I would have been disappointed if there had been sections from Hunt and not just because Kelsey’s voice is so unique. Though, Kelsey is definitely a character, on and off the page. She’s so different from Bliss, no chance of confusion there, and her snarky humor makes her fun to read.
Kelsey’s been wandering around Europe for a while in an attempt to “find herself.” In the process, she’s found a lot of alcohol and guys, but she’s starting to feel like she’s not going to locate the one thing she’s really looking for. One night at a bar, she meets Hunt. He latches onto her, walking her home and doing all kinds of gentleman-ly things that make me (and to a lesser degree Kelsey) wonder if he’s some crazy stalker. He does go on to seem a little stalker-y, but he also brings out a new part of Kelsey she didn’t know she possessed.
Together, Kelsey and Hunt travel around Europe. Every few days is a new city, and every new city is a different adventure. The more time Kelsey spends with Hunt (or Jaxon, as he soon lets her call him), the more relaxed she feels. She’s a free spirit, and it really shows. She and Jaxon are great travel companions, and I really enjoyed seeing Europe through their eyes.
That said, the wandering around Europe phase seems a little long. It didn’t feel like much was happening, plot wise, for a few chapters in the middle. I kept waiting for something to end the fun, but it kept not coming. A bit farther on, Kelsey gets really introspective about her past and how Hunt could possibly help, but it all seemed so drawn out. A few chapters past where I expected it, though, the big reveal about Hunt hits, and I literally had to stop reading and stare at my computer in open-mouthed shock. I totally didn’t see it coming, which really brought this book into 3.5 star territory.
Kelsey and Hunt are eventually able to work past, or at least agree to try and work past, that big reveal. I like this book because it ends on a hopeful note. It really does show that life isn’t perfect and that not all people are absolutely certain in the power of long-term relationships. Overall, this book was a bit darker than the first two in the series, but it packs a punch in its own way.
Favorite Quotes:
The world paused for one brief second, and my eyes took in the architecture of the land below us. Hunt's arm squeezed around me, and then the peace ended. The wind slammed into me, the ground rushed forward, and my heart got left behind somewhere up above me.
Then I shrieked. A glass-breaking, eardrum-shattering kind of shriek that echoed off the canyon, reverberating back at me from all sides. The cord pulled tight, my insides seemed to resist and pull in the other direction. Despite the tug, we kept falling and falling, and the river rushed up at me, dark and unforgiving. I released Jackson's hand to wrap a second arm around his body. I squeezed as tightly as I could, but it was only half as tight as I wanted. I opened my mouth to cry out, and then suddenly we jerked to a halt and were moving back up again.
I thought maybe the ascension wouldn't be so bad, but then our bodies twisted and flipped, and I might have lost a few other vital organs to the same place my heart disappeared to.
We started dropping again, and Hunt shouted in excitement.
"Oh my God!" I screamed. I couldn't believe I was doing this.
This time I squeezed my arms around him not because I was scared, but because a feeling bubbled up inside me, potent and wild, and I just wanted to hold it all inside.
When we started up again my scream turned into a laughing cackle that would have made Ursula or Maleficent proud.
Hunt was right. It was fun.
