This is one of those books that I am kicking myself for not reading sooner! What a Boy Wants was my first Indie book back when I had no idea what an Indie book was. I LOVED What a Boy Wants (and What a Boy Needs) and I totally blame Nyrae Dawn for my Indie obsessiveness. I've wanted to read Charade since I first heard about it, but it somehow kept getting lost in my endless TBR pile. I read a great review from one of my favorite bloggers and I just knew I had to read it soon. It had been a while since I read a Nyrae Dawn book but oh boy she did not disappoint one bit. Nyrae truly has an amazing gift of writing some of the most broken characters and great love stories I have read. The story of Cheyenne and Colt is no exception.
To anyone else, it would seem like Cheyenne has the perfect life. She is popular and well liked and has a popular boyfriend. But Cheyenne has always felt like the people she cares about abandon her. As a result she doesn't let herself get close to people to avoid being hurt. When she catches her boyfriend cheating on her, she is determined not to let him know how much he hurt her. Cheyenne comes up with a plan to make him jealous and make him think she has moved on. She approaches Colt, who seems to have a history with Gregory, and offers him money in exchange to pretend to be her boyfriend. Colt shoots her down but he really does need the money for his mom's medical expenses. When he sees her at a party, he decides to take her up on her deal. Getting paid to pretend date a gorgeous girl, what can go wrong with that? The fact that he can rub it in Gregory's face is just the cherry on top. But even though Colt acts like a jerk and he has his moments, he is actually a really good guy that is just dealing with a lot on his plate. His mom is dying of cancer, a fact that he refuses to accept, he sells drugs to pay her medical expenses, and the only reason he's in college is because his mom asked him to. Really though, he truly believes that he will never amount to anything.
This was my first time reading a girl POV from Nyrae and I'm happy that Cheyenne was so easy to connect with. I truly felt for her and my heart broke for her. Cheyenne had issues from her childhood and her mom that she was dealing with and even though Colt and her pretended this was just a game, he was always there for her when she was going through her darkest moments. And she was always there for him through his toughest moments too. Cheyenne was also a very strong character and didn't take any crap from Colt or Gregory which only made me like her more. Colt was an emotional character for me. His mom is living her last days. These scenes between him and his mom were just gut-wrenching not only because they felt so real but because I went through something like this last year and my feelings were still raw. Nyrae didn't sugarcoat anything and completely understood what Colt was going through. He was another character I easily connected with and I loved that he said exactly what was on his mind. I swear that Nyrae writes the best guy POV's ever! (I'm convinced she must have a bunch of guys locked in her basement and she makes them tell her exactly how guys behave in exchange for food.) As much as I really liked Bastien and Jaden, I think Colt might be my favorite.
I like to think of myself as a tough person. I refuse to cry with movies, TV shows and books and there have been very few books that have made me cry. Charade was one of them. This book tore me apart and broke my heart but it also left me feeling happy at the end. Although things started out as a game between Colt and Cheyenne, everything between them was so real, no matter how much they tried to deny or fight it. I had high expectations for this book and I was not disappointed. If you haven't read a book by Nyrae Dawn yet, I highly recommend them! Beautiful, heart-breaking and highly emotional, Charade is a story that will stay with me. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series, Facade and I will be reading it as soon as it comes out.
5 out of 5 stars!
Some of my favorite non-spoiler quotes from Charade:
-His hand slides up the back of my shirt an even though I know it's wrong and it's not the right way to deal, each touch masks another thing I don't want to think about. When he's touching me, it's a definite, something I know. His touch is black and white when nothing else in my life is, even when I believed it to be so.
-She's optimistic. The cup is half full, sunshine and flowers and I try to act like I agree, but really I'm pissed someone dumped out half of my drink.
-"Play your games if you want to. We both know what this is." I tap my fingers against the steering wheel, frustrated.
"Be careful, Colt or I'll think you're jealous."
"Be careful or I'll think you want me to be."
-"Be real with me."
He's almost more serious than I've ever seen him. It takes my breath away.
"I thought this was a game," I remind him.
"Not anymore and you know it. This is the only thing that's real."
***
Read more of my reviews at:
Nereyda @Mostly YA Book Obsessed
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Top reviews from other countries
Amazon User
Beautiful and Heartbreaking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2013
Laura Robertson
The item came in perfect condition and safely packaged
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 20, 2017
