Wednesday 26 December 2012

Review: Charade (Games #1) by Nyrae Dawn

Charade (Games, #1) 
Series: Games
Pages: 254
Genre: New Adult
Publisher: Self
Amazon: Charade

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman her freshman year in college threatens that picture of perfection.

Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but when his mom's dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no choice but to pretend it's what he wants too.

Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if Cheyenne’s past isn’t what she thought? Soon they’re trading one charade for another—losing themselves in each other to forget about their pain. The more they play their game, the more it becomes the only thing they have that feels real.

Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never easy, but neither of them expect the tragedy that threatens to end their charade and rip them apart forever

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

I am really loving the New Adult genre at the moment and Nyrae Dawn has written an emotional page-turner with Charade, the first book in the Games series which follows the stories of Cheyenne and Colt.

Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her cheating ex and Twenty-one-year-old Colt needs money to help care for his dying mother, so they come to an agreement that will help them both out but what starts off as a game quickly turns into something both of them never expected.

Charade was an emotional tale of love and loss; seeing these two characters come together and fight their personal demons side by side was like being on an emotional roller-coaster but it was also wonderful to watch it all unfold.

Both Cheyenne and Colt have heart-breaking back stories that will leave you emotionally wrecked but also hoping that something good was going to come from their pain and the support they were able to offer one another, they couldn’t have been more different yet so perfect together. I really liked that the romance moved at a believable pace, no declarations of love at first sight which I really appreciated.

The secondary characters were each written well, I am intrigued by Adrian and I adored the interactions between Colt and his mother, it was the sweetest bond but also heart-wrenching to see how her illness was affecting him.

I really like Nyrae Dawn’s style of writing; she never fails to hold my interest. Her characters are so believable and likeable, the dialogue is fun and witty and the story captivating.

The only reason for not rating this book 5 stars was because I felt there was drama overload; everything came together in the end but there was so many obstacles this couple was having to endure that I felt it was at times too much.

Book 2 in the Games series, Façade has an anticipated 2013 release date.

Mature content: language, drug references and sexual situations.



9 comments:

  1. Oooo i am lovin' New Adult and am currently reading Losing It, adding this one to my wishlist!

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  2. I'm so glad this was good! I have it on my to-read list for the new year and the New Adult contemporary category is getting a little hard to pre-judge right now with all the overly-dramatic books out. I liked Nyrae Dawn's first couple of books so I thought this might be okay - great review. :)

    *ahem* Have you thought about joining the New Adult Reading Challenge for next year? ;) No pressure though. I know a lot of people don't do challenges. If nothing else, our Goodreads group is loaded with recommendations and and talk about titles.

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    1. There was ALOT of drama in this book but it helped the characters were both great and the storyline enjoyable.

      Ooh, I am hopeless at challenges but I'm going to join in - I definitely need some more recommendations in the NA genre, Thankyou so much for the link! :)

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  3. I bought this book awhile ago and I'm so happy to see that you liked this one! I'm quite in love with the New Adult genre as well, but I have yet to pick up a Dawn book. I'm glad to hear you that romance moves slowly. This one sounds so good! Too drama-filled? I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing, but I guess I'll have to find out for myself. Lovely review, Sharon!

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    1. Ooh yeah, loads of drama! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)

      Thanks Jen x

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  4. I've been wondering about this book! Like you, I like NA but I am beginning to feel that a lot of NA is heavy with drama and that can put me off! But, this story does sound good, I like the characters and I have another of Nyrae's books to read (WABW) so I'll see how I find that!

    Great review, Sharon!

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    1. Thanks Mandee, I have read quite a few NA books lately and they are all so similar, each filled with drama and bad boy/good girl characters; despite this I do still enjoy them.

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  5. I can't wait to read Facade, I really liked Adrian :)

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