All Lined Up by Cora Carmack | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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 phenom in Texas's world of high school coaching, 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 lineup. 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 knows how to walk away from the attraction they feel.

IT HAS HAPPENED, I’ve finally read my first Cora Carmack book which is kind of monumentous. I feel like all of my friends really enjoy her books — even the ones who aren’t very keen on the new adult genre. What took me so long, eh? All Lined Up was pretty much all that I hoped it would be — football, college, and lots of kissing. It really was the perfect book to pick up after several serious and heavy books in a row. I mean, sometimes you just need a light book about the coach’s daughter falling for the quarterback against her best judgment.

All Lined Up’s plot is pretty much described in my last sentence. Dallas is the daughter of the football coach. All her life she’s felt like she’s been totally overshadowed by the game and that it plays too large of a role in her life. She is hoping that going to school at Rusk University and participating in the dance program will alleviate a bit of the football pressure. She figures that she’ll just avoid the players. Only, there’s some flaws to her plan. First, her dad just got hired there as coach. Second, her ex boyfriend, Levi goes to Rusk and plays for the team. Poor Dallas can’t catch a break. UNTIL she goes to this party with her friend Stella, and like her ex is there and then this other guy hits on her, so she tries to escape out the window and literally runs into Carson. There’s an undeniable attraction between the two, but both are resistant towards getting together and hooking up. How will it play out? Clearly we all know what’s going to happen, but the journey there is awesome.

I will admit that on occasion, it seems like Dallas creates her own drama and that if she would just open her mouth up and communicate, some of the drama could be avoided. However, that would be a very book if there wasn’t a hit of drama. Personally, I could really relate to Dallas because of her whole issue with communicating her deep down needs when she’s upset but then basically word vomiting everything else that’s on her mind. I will say, that Dallas is kind of a contradiction because when she first meets with Carson, she’s totally completely honest and open with him, but when she gets kind of angry she shuts herself off and it’s like aw man, stop that you are wasting precious kissing time. Ah well, she’s still a good character and was someone I could totally stand while reading All Lined Up. Y’all, Dallas is not insufferable. YAY!

First, I would be a liar if I didn’t confess that every once in awhile I would picture TRL era Carson Daly as the main character because of the shared first name. Of course, I then would look at the cover and picture someone much better looking. Anyways, Carson is a pretty good guy. He’s not an asshole, but he still thinks about sex a lot. He is the second string quarterback and is a walk-on, so he doesn’t have an athletic scholarship. Carson has to impress the coach this season so that he can earn a scholarship and stay at Rusk. Unfortunately, Carson is only good at football and not school, so really, he has to put all his heart and focus on football. Regardless, I really enjoyed reading Carson’s chapters.

If you’re curious about Cora Carmack’s writing style, I will tell you that her writing is not at all convoluted. The drama in the book was to be expected, but rather than irritate me or make me want to throw the book, I found myself reading All Lined Up super fast. The romance scenes were full of chemistry and heat. The football game scenes were alright and took up some of the book but were not the main focus. I’ll admit I kind of glazed over during the bits where we are at the game. Overall, I enjoyed this introduction to Carmack and her new series. I am totally going to binge read her Losing It books this summer, I’ve decided.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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