{Review + GIVEAWAY} For Real by Chelsea M. Cameron

Title: For Real

Author: Chelsea M. Cameron

Published: Nov 14th 2013

Age Group: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Source: eARC provided by author for fair & honest review

Rating: 4/5

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BLURB:

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:

The story:

Shannon Travers, is tired of her friends trying to hook her up with random guys in bars. What's a virgin to do? Make up a fake boyfriend, that's what! And that's exactly what she does. With the help of her new friend Jett, they come up with a set of rules for their new fake romance. But while trying to convince their friends that they are in a relationship, the lines start to blur between what's fake and what's real. And as they both keep breaking these rules, they start to realise they may want to do more than just fake it!

The characters:

Shannon starts out as a very shy girl, who is very easily persuaded by her outgoing friends. I was a little frustrated with her at first, with the way she allowed her friends to push her around. The way they treated her sometimes was not okay and I was really happy to see her grow and stand up for herself by the end.

Jett was quite a different hero than I've read lately. He's confident around Shannon, but around other people I felt it become a lot less secure about himself. He's sweet and very caring towards Shannon. After learning of his family situation and what he's had to go through I fell for him even more. I also loved that he's a graphic designer :)

The romance:

The romance between these two was so sweet. Because they are fake dating, they are both unsure if it's just themselves that have started to develop real feelings for the other. With very little dating experience between them, there are some seriously awkward and absolutely adorable moments between them - I loved it! What was great to see was both characters respected each other and also valued the idea a relationship.

The Writing:

Chelsea has a very distinct writing voice and it worked really well with this story! Shannon's narration was sarcastic and funny and a really enjoyed seeing her personality shine through her internal monologues. What I really liked was that Cameron didn't sugar coat the 'first time' scene. It was real, slightly awkward and a little bit funny.

FINAL WORD:

I really enjoyed this sweet romantic story. It was a little different to a lot of the NA stories out there, and had a real sweet & innocent feel to it. If your a fan of Chelsea's you won't be disappointed!

CONTENT:

Sexuality: medium / sex scene

Violence: none

Language: medium / several f words

Drugs & alcohol: mild