The Bookaholic Cat: Review: Mr. Real by Carolyn Crane

Title: Mr. Real

Author: Carolyn Crane

Series: Code of Shadows, book 1

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Carolyn Crane

Source: Review copy from publisher

Format: E-book

“He finds the girl of his dreams…with the secret agent of his nightmares.

Alix Gordon is a woman who doesn’t take life too seriously. What’s the fun in that? So when she stumbles across occult software that can bring any computer image to life, she conjures up lots of awesome outfits and accessories. And then, on one drunken, horny night, she conjures up Sir Kendall, the sexy TV ad spy . . . who looks exactly like Paul Reinhardt, the super-sexy martial arts teacher who kicked her out of class three years ago.

Fighter Paul Reinhardt has good reason to hate Sir Kendall, the character he brought to life to land a part in a TV ad; he’d do anything to forget him. A cross country road trip seems just the thing . . . until Paul finds himself inexplicably drawn to Minnesota and is shocked to discover Sir Kendall - in the flesh - with the girl he’d once loved from afar. He barges into Alix and Sir Kendall’s love nest, determined to stop the madness - somehow.

But is superspy Sir Kendall transforming into something more dangerous anyone can imagine? And what will Sir Kendall do when Paul and Alix finally give into their mad lust for each other?”

Mr. Real is the first book in the new series Code of Shadows by Carolyn Crane.

Let me start this review by saying that this book is like nothing I have ever read before. Sometimes it was so absurd and implausible that it makes a very entertaining read because you never know what is going to happen next, anything could happen and when I say anything it’s “anything”.

After inheriting a house from an aunt she didn’t know Alix Gordon is ready to prove to everybody that she can be a responsible woman despite what people think of her, if she is honest despite her usual behavior, but she is ready for a change.

She wants to make the house a bed and breakfast; while doing restorations she come across an old floppy disk, wanting to know more about her aunt she converts the data and installs it in her laptop, but nothing happens until one day when by mistake she clicked many times on a picture of necklace and next day the necklace is waiting for her by the entrance of her house.

After inheriting the house she has heard all about her aunt being a witch, but she doesn’t believe it, she needs to make sure that what she think is happening is really happening and day by day decides to order clothes and other things the same way she did with the necklace by clicking many times on their pictures. 24 hours later whatever she has ordered is waiting for her by the entrance of her house.

Alix confides in her best friend, Karen, who tells her to be very careful, she is dealing with something she doesn’t know and it may have serious repercussions. Alix promised Karen not to use her laptop again until Karen can come and check was really going on; but one night after a combination of loneliness and many beers Alix decides to order a Man, but this man is not anyone, he’s the super spy Sir Kendall, a character from the Denali liquor TV ads, what is special about Sir Kendall is that the man that played the character is Alix old martial arts instructor and her biggest crush, Paul Reinhart.

When Sir Kendall shows up Alix realizes she has made a big mistake, she is ready to take responsibility for her actions, but after spending sometime with Sir Kendall she is not so ready anymore. If Sir Kendall wasn’t enough to complicate Alix life the sudden arrival of Paul to her house it sure is.

Mr. Real story is told from multiple points of view, Alix, Sir Kendall and Paul’s. This helped to understand each character better and see what they really have in their heads.

I loved Sir Kendall; the way Mrs. Crane wrote him made a completely unbelievable character believable. It was easy to see that he really was his TV character, a super spy that was seeing plots and complots in everyone and everything.

Alix is a very hard to like character, she is a very insecure woman that thinks she can buy love and attention with sex, I really felt bad for her. Her family and friends see her as a black sheep, she doesn’t like what people think of her but still she doesn’t change her behavior and does things that reinforced their opinions of her.

Alix is also a very stubborn woman, when she thinks she is right she doesn’t care about what others think, even though everybody around her is telling her she is wrong she continues through the same path. I wanted to slap some sense into her more than once, I know in her head her intentions were good, but sometimes she was just too much.

Paul is a broken man who uses a hard façade to protect himself; he suffered a lot when he was a child and after many years he still hasn’t been able to leave his demons behind. Although I liked him I couldn’t understand what he saw in Alix, I really wish I could have seen what attracted him to her.

As I said before Mr. Real is so absurd that it was hilarious and its absurdity worked really well with the story and the characterization of the characters.

Mr. Real is well paced and so full of surprises that you don’t know what you are going to find at the turn of the page. When you think you have everything figured out Mrs. Crane throws you a curveball and leaves you gaping at the pages, showing us once more what a talented writer she is.

Mr. Real is a fun and entertaining read, one I recommend you to read with an open mind and an awakened imagination.

I’m looking forward to read more about this new world Mrs. Crane created in her Code of Shadows Series.

My Verdict: 4 Paws