The Real Thing by Cassie Mae

The Real Thing
By Cassie Mae
Published: August 19, 2014
Publisher: Random House Flirt
Pages: 235
Format: Ebook
3 stars

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In this electrifying novel from New Adult sensation Cassie Mae, two close friends surprise themselves by shifting from platonic love to sexual attraction.
 
Eric Matua has one friend—his best friend and childhood sweetheart, who needs a place to stay for the summer. Mia Johnson has thousands of friends—who live in her computer. Along with her email chats and Facebook notifications, Mia also devours romance novels, spending countless hours with fictional characters, dreaming of her own Romeo to sweep her off her feet. When she starts receiving supersweet messages from a stranger who thinks she’s someone else, Mia begins to believe that real love is possible outside her virtual world. 
 
When the two friends become roommates, Mia finds herself falling harder than she ever thought she could. But Eric keeps his desires locked away, unsure of himself and his ability to give his best friend what she deserves in a boyfriend. As her advances are continually spurned, Mia splits her time between Eric and her computer. But she soon realizes she’s about to lose the only real thing she’s ever had.
 
Praise for Cassie Mae
 
“Cassie Mae’s writing is fresh and original!”—Rachel Morgan, author of the Creepy Hollow series
  
“A fabulous author who tugs on your heart strings as if she owns them.”—Jade Hart, author of Coffee and Cockpits
  
“Cassie Mae has a knack for developing characters who have you wanting to climb into the pages and become part of their world.”—Theresa Paolo, author of (Never) Again
 
“Cassie Mae’s books have become my latest guilty pleasure. Pleasure, because who doesn’t love to read a romantic comedy? And I say guilty because when I lay my hands on one, I tend to read them in one sitting and let all my other responsibilities go to the wayside. What dishes?”—Pauline Creeden, author of Sanctuary
 
“Mae is very good at getting me to chuckle throughout an entire book, because her heroines are quirky and unique.”—Book Nerd

Opening Thoughts

I am quite a fan of Cassie Mae.  I really enjoyed her book, How to Seduce a Band Geek.  You can find the review of that book here.  So I went into this book with pretty high hopes.  Unfortunately, this book didn't have the same charm.  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but it's definitely not one of my favorites of her.  I'll keep reading all of her books though.

Characters

I really liked Mia's character.  I'm a bit of an internet addict myself, though not anywhere near to the extent that Mia was.  Though I must say that I share her addiction to $1.99 and ninety-nine cent book deals.  She did have her annoying moments, but I managed to look past them.  Eric was kind of annoying to me.  I didn't feel like his problems really warranted the reactions that he had, and the whole thing with Scott didn't seem like as big of a deal as he made it out to be.

 “I can't tell if I hear your heart beating, or if it's mine," I say against his skin.

"Aren't they the same thing?”

“I think only bookworms understand the kind of power stories can have on a person” 

“People change, you know. They grow, they shrink, they bald, they get zits, they wrinkle. But each person is attractive in their own way, and they’re attractive to someone else.

No matter how much you change out here”—she motions to, well, all of me—“I’ll always find you attractive because of the person you are in here.”

“I’m a fan of yellow.” She knocks the fridge door shut with her hip and grabs the drink. “It’s the best flavor ever.”

“Yellow isn’t a flavor.”

“Yes it is.” 

Plot

I think that the plot was as addicting and fast-paced as Cassie Mae's books always are.  I was completely sucked in and finished the book in a matter of hours.  The book is sweet and cute, with its deeper moments, but it is way more light and fluffy then your average new adult, which is most definitely not a bad thing.  In fact, in light of all of the new adult that I have been reading in the past couple of weeks, this book was a breath of fresh air.

Overall, this was a good new adult novel.  I don't think that it was Cassie Mae's best work and I don't think that it was the best new adult book that I've read.  

Thanks for reading!

Amber