NA Book Review: All Lined Up by Cora Carmack

Title: All Lined Up

Author: Cora Cormack

Series: Rusk University #1

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: William Morrow 

Pub Date: May 13, 2013

Pages: 320

My Copy: Paperback from my Too Be Read Pile

Book Summary:

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.

Book Review:

Totally fell in love with this book right from the start. Dallas and Carson are great together. Dallas and Carson are characters who in many ways find that they need each other in more ways than they can ever imagined. I also like how this book is about more than just football even though a lot of it revolves around football.

I like that Dallas seems a little bit reserved. Her roommate Stella seems to be the one that pushes her to go out and have some fun. Dallas needs to since her father seems to be very controlling of her life. So Dallas listens to Stella and at a party she meets a very interesting guy who turns to be Carson. We find that a lot of the people Dallas knows are at this party including her ex-boyfriend who she wants to run from. Things get pretty intense when she encounters Carson. Carson and Dallas feel a spark that is unlike anything they have ever known.

Carson really wants to move up the ladder on the football team. He works really hard on and off the football field. It shows through out the book, but he can’t get the sexy red-head girl off his mind, Dallas. Carson really feels like this girl gets him in a way that no one else has in a long time. Plus there seems to be something about her that makes him go crazy. Carson is working even harder.

I felt that as Carson and Danielle are working on their relationship or trying to do, Dallas issues start to come to a head. She wants her independence, but her dad doesn’t think she is ready for that. Her dad in some ways holds her back from doing the thing she really is passionate about is dance. Dallas really wants to pursue dancing. Plus going to Rusk wasn’t her first choice. She wants to go to New York and really follow it, but something happens that no one expects. This development majorly changes everything for both characters.

The thing that happens to Dallas and some of the other characters really changes people’s perspectives and attitudes about what other people need. Sometimes incidents and breakdowns happen so we can re-evaluate the direction that we are going in. I totally love how Carson doesn’t let Dallas push him away. Dallas and Carson really do care for each other deeply and don’t let those obstacles get in their way. Dialogue between all the characters is really strong and wonderful.

Totally loved all the characters, the chemistry, the friendship that Cora Cormack has built at Rusk University. I want more of this universe.

Rating:

4.5 Hearts