Publishing Date: November 20th, 2013
Page Count: 210
Source: InkSlinger PR
Format: E-Book
Description from Goodreads.com:
Two people. One fake relationship. What could go wrong?
When virgin Shannon Travers gets fed up with her friends demanding that she find a boyfriend, she enlists the help of tattooed, mohawk-rocking graphic design student Jett. He’s more than happy to play along with their Fake Relationship, including the Ten Rules of Fake Dating that control-freak Shannon comes up with. Even if he likes to violate them. Repeatedly.
But what happens when Fake Dating starts to feel… not fake anymore? Will Shannon be willing to let go and embrace the first thing in her life that’s ever felt REAL?
Review:
I really enjoyed For Real a lot. This was such a sweet story about finding love in an unexpected place. I really enjoy stories like this where there is an unexpected turn in feelings, like ones with fake relationships, or friends trying to prove they don't have feelings for each other. I just find that they make for a very interesting read. I have read one other story by Chelsea M. Cameron, Whisper, and I found that she has a very good skill of taking, what could be, complex story lines and making them simplistic. This is a writing skill that is not easy to master and she did a flawless job in For Real.
I really like the main character's personality. I found Shannon to be not only very likable as a character, but also relate-able. We all have family issues that we deal with and we all have that friend(s) who thinks they can push us around, but mean well. Shannon was a very easy character to care about and I instantly wanted to be her friend, and know more about her back story. The only flaw about Shannon is that I wish there was more background information on her family life. Her family is talked about, but it is never fully explored like Jett's is. I just want to know more about her and understand how she ticks.
I absolutely agreed with the personality pairings of Shannon and Jett. I completely adored their relationship and thought they were such a good match for each other. They were kind of the unlikely pair since their outside appearances are so different, but it completely worked for them. I enjoyed watching their friendship blossom. I think the only way Chelsea could have made their relationship better explained and more gush worthy would be to set up Jett's point of view in the story. I also wanted to see more secrets shared between Shannon and Jett about their lives.
My only complaint about For Real is that it was a bit fast paced. I really wanted things to slow down and build up more between Shannon and Jett. I absolutely love the story, but I think if it was just slowed down a tad it would be even better than it is. I really just wanted to see their feelings change for each other before they figured it out, or as they were figuring it out, or before they told us. The same thing with the epilogue. I really enjoyed it, but I kind of wish it was set a little farther in the future to see how their relationship has changed and if it has stood over time.
Overall:
I really enjoyed this story. I love romance stories about two people trying not to have feelings for each other. It just makes for great tension. I found the main character, Shannon, to be very likable and relate-able. I loved the relationship between Jett and Shannon and really just wanted more from it. The only complaint I have is that the pacing was a little fast. I wanted everything to slow down so that the reader could feel the build up of untold emotions and feelings for one another. I think it would have made the story much more stronger, but regardless I still love the story.
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 4/5
**The books cover, description, and info was all found on Goodreads. A link back has been provided. All other work and ideas are of my own creation. This book was sent to me by InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review and participation in the blog tour.**
---
About the Author:
Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times/USA Today Best Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting (this one time, she was tweeted by Neil Gaiman). She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.
Her New Adult Contemporary Romance titles include My Favorite Mistake, which has been bought by Harlequin along with a sequel, Deeper We Fall and Faster We Burn (April 20, 2013)
Her Young Adult books include Nocturnal, Nightmare and Neither, the first three books in The Noctalis Chronicles. The fourth and final book, Neverend will be out in 2013. Whisper, the first in The Whisper Trilogy is also available, with the second book in the series, Silence and the final book, LIsten coming out in 2014.
