Review: All Lined Up by Cora Carmack

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack follows up her trio of hits—Losing It, Faking It, and Finding It—with this thrilling first novel in an explosive series bursting with the Texas flavor, edge, and steamy romance of Friday Night Lights.

In Texas, two things are cherished above all else—football and gossip. My life has always been ruled by both.

Dallas Cole loathes football. That’s what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers, and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.

But life doesn’t always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a Texas high school coaching phenom, has decided to make the jump to college ball… as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.

Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting line-up. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It’s obliterated.

Dallas doesn’t know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn’t know that Dallas is his new coach’s daughter.

And neither of them know how to walk away from the attraction they feel.

Series: Rusk University #1
Release Date: May 13th 2014
Publisher: William Morrow
Source: Manic Readers
Reviewer: Candace
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

Anybody that knows anything about football knows Texas football is a sport of its own. A way of life. No holds barred.  All in. Clearly, Cora Carmack grew up in this lifestyle and knows her stuff. All Lined Up sucks you in from the beginning and you don’t have to be a sports fanatic to enjoy it. This series is going to be another winner for Cora! It’s that awesome.

Dallas’s dad is a football coach and it seems he might be the best high school football coach in the state. Now, he has moved on to college and Rusk University. The team here isn’t the best yet but it has potential that Dallas’s dad is going to capitalize on starting with his starting QB who happens to be Dallas’s ex-boyfriend from high school. He’s all about the game, and so Dallas’s life has been all about football.

Poor Dallas was looking forward to college as her escape hatch from small town football life. Dallas is easy to relate to because so many of us couldn’t wait to get to college and start fresh. Unfortunately for her, she isn’t quite getting her fresh start with her dad here. Her one passion in life is dance and her dad doesn’t appreciate how important it is to her. She seems to be tough with everyone else in her life but her dad. The opening frat party scene was spectacular. Cora hit the nail on the head with the ins and outs of those parties and watching Dallas navigate around her ex-boyfriend, new guys and trying to keep her crazy best friend in line was comical.

The balcony scene where she meets Carson is one for the books. I laughed out loud. Carson seems pretty different from the rest of the guys until Dallas finds out that he is second string quarterback. However, football is everything to Carson because he needs it to stay in school. He needs no distractions and Dallas is a big distraction. He is absolutely gorgeous and well mannered which is hard to find in books these days.

All Lined Up was a great opener to a whole new world of characters. I can’t wait for book two. Cora made her daddy and Texas football proud.