Nyrae Dawn

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 in 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 for ever.

Charade

Yesenia Vargas

This was the first time I had read one of Nyrae Dawn's books, and I was amazed. She is an awesome writer and storyteller. The characters seemed real to me, the plot was really good, and the ending was sad but realistic. I will definitely be reading more of her books. Highly recommended!

Katelyn Broad

I actually enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I've been on quite the indie book kick and didn't expect much of this book. I ended up really enjoying this book and the author's writing style. 

*I suggest this book to those who enjoy YA romance stories and aren't offended by sexual themes*

Becky

This book started off strong, but I think I just got bored part way through. I don't know if it ws the writing, the characters, the story, but I got lost somewhere along the way.

I enjoyed the premise, I enjoyed the book, but I think I could have enjoyed it more if only I hadn't gotten lost in the middle. Definitely a good read though

Hannah E

I didn't think, I'd like this book as much as I do now. The cover just doesn't give the story any justice. .__.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

I’ve seen Nyrae Dawn’s books around everywhere. I believe I even own a few. But this is the first one I’ve read (listened to). I was pleasantly surprised when I found this audiobook on sale at Audible, and decided it was worth a listen for sure. I didn’t even read the synopsis, just kind of skimmed a few words, then purchased it. I always prefer going into a story completely blind, and this time it did benefit me.

Cheyenne has been living in a bask of false sunshine for the last several years of her life. She’s covering memories of a horrible childhood by pretending they never happened. Then she walks in on her boyfriend cheating on her, and all of her self strength seems to disappear. Colt is suffering his own emotional demons. With his mother dying from cancer, and her only dying wish that he graduates from college, he feels pressure to come up with money to help pay for her medical bills and pretend graduating college is his biggest dream. He comes up with cash here and there any way he knows how, including by selling drugs. Not his first choice, but he feels it’s his own choice. The two meet, and from there they agree on a rather weird arrangement. Cheyenne wants a new fake boyfriend to get back at her cheating ex, and Colt wants to come up with more money to help his mom… so they have a deal. Colt will pretend to be Cheyenne’s boyfriend, and she’ll pay him for his troubles. Weird, right? But this is only the beginning.

I found myself going back and forth a lot with this books. I enjoyed a lot of parts, and really disliked others. Even the parts I didn’t like had me flipping my Kindle pages so quickly. So I can’t say those parts took away from the story at all, they just annoyed me or made me roll my eyes a bit. I was ultimately invested in the story, especially when it came to Colt and his mother’s story. (view spoiler)[ Of course I knew she would eventually die, and I for sure WASN’T looking forward to that part, I knew it was inevitable so I wasn’t surprised when it happened. I was a bit bothered by the actual dying part though, as it was a bit overdone and so peaceful and heartwarming. That is usually NOT how death happens, so it seemed a bit unrealistic and silly to me. But I can appreciate the author’s wanting to make it pretty and loving, so I didn’t let it anger me too much. Too much.  (hide spoiler)] I also was curious as to what exactly happened to Cheyenne in the past that affected her so greatly. Of course her mother was a pretty crappy parent, but there’s more to it. (view spoiler)[ Her mother forgot her at a party, where she was taken to a dark private place by an older man, who forced himself on her. She got away and ran home, where she found her mother already there. Her mother had forgotten about her being at this party with her, and she left. She left her daughter at the druggy party and went home without her. Seriously?! It breaks my heart to think there are really parents like that out there in this world. >.<  (hide spoiler)] Though Cheyenne's mom wasn't around, her aunt and uncle were. And they definitely added a bit of stability to her insanely-shaky life.

Overall, what can I say about this story? I'm happy I read it. It was enjoyable. I was invested in the characters and their stories. Despite the few issues I had with it, it was in large part a realistic story about two college students that were suffering in their lives, who came together to strengthen each other and grow to better deal with the crappy hands they were dealt. A story with love, heartache, strength, and inner growth. This is surely an author that I'll enjoy more books from in the future, including continuing on with this series. I'm a huge NA fan, and I really enjoy her writing style. I'll be checking out Facade very soon.
 
Audiobook Impressions:
My number one complaint with audiobooks is when the story flips between a male and a female POV, yet there’s only one narrator. This is especially aggravating when the narrator doesn’t change her/his voice adequately so we, the listeners, are unable to tell which POV we’re listening to. That was my complaint with this audiobook. Though I really enjoyed Macy Sterling’s performance of Cheyenne, her performance of Colt was way too similar and I often had trouble remembering who was who. I think I would have enjoyed this audiobook much more if there had been a separate male narrator to perform Colt’s chapters.

I have a feeling I would have rated this book more of a 3.5 had I read it, and the audiobook was really more of a 2.5 since I often had no idea who was talking, so I settled on a 3 to be fair. I saw on Audible that Facade has a female and male narrator… yayyy!!!! :)


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Charade

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