Author: Cora Carmack
Genre: New Adult Fiction
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Format: ARC e-book
Number of Pages: 233
Stand-Alone or Part of a Series: Book one of the Rusk University series, but
can be read as a stand-alone
Summary:
New York Times and USAToday
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.
Happily Ever After: Yes
What I Liked Most About This Book: I very much enjoyed the realism of this book.
Normally heroines in romance novels come across as a bit too plastic. They are
stereotypically pretty and popular wrapped up in white and topped off with a
glowing, angelic halo. Dallas is none of these. She felt like she could be me,
or someone I know. Someone I would be friends with. She is awkward, scrappy, a
mixture of bold as brass and shy depending on the situation and full of witty,
sarcastic one-liners. She doesn't get along too well with her dad, but, again,
unlike most other New Adult novels, it isn't because her dad is some terrible
person. Their arguments and family dynamic are totally real. They are fights
and scenarios that have absolutely played out in my own house – both the one I
grew up in, and also the one in which I am now raising my own son in. The
realism made the book and its characters totally relateable.
What I Liked Least About This Book: Without giving too much away, there is a part
of the story where Dallas and her dad both seem to forget that she is an adult
who attends college and lives on her own. The fact that her dad forgets this is
no surprise (mine tends to forget that too…and I am well beyond a college
freshman), but most brand new adults I know do NOT forget that fact, and will
point it out, loudly, to anyone who will listen if questioned. It distracted
from the realism for me.
Share An Excerpt From The Book:
There’s only one
thing in the world I despise more than football, and he’s making his way down
the stairs toward me.
My eyes flit around
me like I’m scanning a battlefield instead of a blowout: fraternity banners,
litter of red Solo cups, and a freshman pledge dragging around a trash bag
playing reluctant maid. Part of me wants to keep doing that, to pretend like I
didn’t hear him.
But I can’t. If I
ignore him, it will only prove to him that he still bothers me.
I face him as he
steps off the last stair, crossing his arms over his broad chest and grinning
at me. Levi. My ex.
He leans his hip
against the banister of the grand staircase, and I spy not one but two girls
sitting halfway up the stairs, obviously upset that they’ve lost his attention.
Behind me I hear
someone shout, “Ready. Aim. Fire!” and I know the beer guns are back in play.
“Alcohol and bad
decisions, Levi? Can’t say I’m surprised to find you smack-dab in the middle of
that.”
He kicks off from
the banister, swaggering a few steps closer. His dark hair and eyes are as
striking as always. I’d fallen for him so hard my freshman year of high school:
doodling our names together in my spiral, watching him play from the bleachers,
wearing that monstrous mum he gave me for homecoming, beaming on his elbow at
his junior prom.
The memory of all
that just makes me nauseated now. But as Stella always says, hindsight is a
pretentious, know-it-all bitch.
“You come here to
make some bad decisions?” He moves closer, his voice pitching lower. Intimate.
His gaze drifts down my body with an arrogant familiarity. “Because you know I can help you with that.”
Levi Abrams has been
the cause of enough bad decisions for a lifetime.
Stella steps in, her
voice colder than I’ve ever heard it. “I’m fairly certain she’d rather
sandpaper her own skin off.”
I nod and plaster on
the fakest smile in my arsenal. “And then take a bath in lemon juice.”
Levi smiles back,
and I’m pretty sure the bastard is enjoying this.
He’s bigger than
when I last saw him. Bulked up. I guess that’s the difference between high
school and college ball. But it’s not just muscles… he reaches out a hand like
he’s going to touch my hair, and as I jerk back, even his hands seem bigger
than I remember. A man’s hands, rather than those of the boy I knew. Or maybe
his head got so big that his inflated ego overflowed to other parts of his
body. Also a possibility.
I knew Levi was here
when I chose Rusk University—hard not to when he’s the starting quarterback—but
I didn’t think I’d ever have to see him. Since Dad wouldn’t let me leave Texas,
and only a handful of universities here actually have a true dance major, Rusk
was the best option out of the schools to which I was allowed to apply.
Levi lets his hand
fall away and turns to leave, but then stops to say over his shoulder, “You
don’t have to pretend to hate me so much, you know. I’m here. You’re here. We
could start fresh, D.”
Why does no one get
that it’s impossible to have a fresh
start when nothing has really changed? God, I knew that better than anybody
because no matter how many new coaching jobs Dad took, every school ended up
the same.
Levi is still a
douche-bag who only cares about himself.
Dad still approaches
parenting like I’m a member of his team.
And I… I’m still
stuck. In my father’s shadow. In Texas. In this lame state school with a joke
of a dance program.
And now I’m stuck at
my first frat party with the ex who broke my heart.
Yay college.
Would I Recommend This Book: Absolutely. Especially if you liked the show Friday Night Lights.
Would I Re-Read This Book: Without a doubt
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Author Bio:
Cora Carmack is a
twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters.
She’s done a multitude of things in her life—boring jobs (like working retail),
fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream
jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward
situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it.
Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, is a New York
Times and USA Today bestseller.
Find her here:
Other Comments:
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