{Speed Date} Review: All Lined Up (Rusk University #1) 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.

Goodreads | Author | Purchase

No! No more New Adult blind dates! No! I had pretty much declared a moratorium on the NA genre. I can’t even tell them apart anymore and if I read about one more tortured character who cures himself/herself through hot sex I might scream. But ya know – when a good friend says she likes you and it’s safe to dip my toes back into the NA dating waters, I said OK – I’ll give it a try.

I think I’m in love: This date could have gone all kinds of wrong. You would think you know where this story is going by reading the blurb but you would be wrong. This is New Adult that fulfills the promises this genre has to offer. I am SO hooked and in love with you right now.

I don’t need a second date – I’ll marry you! All Lined Up is about so much more than hot sex and drama. In fact, this is probably the tamest NA I’ve ever read. SUPER steamy but not in a way that takes over the story.

It’s a truly touching story that you can just tell was personal to the author. (she says as much in a “Behind the book” letter at the end.) I know absolutely nothing about football but I was enthralled with those scenes and the teams success. Carson and Dallas are characters finding their way in their next phase of life. They stumble, learn lessons, fall in love. There is a friendship and respect between the two that you don’t see very often. Perfect! Dallas’s troubled relationship with her father and wariness of football players was also written very well.

*Speed Date reviews inspired by The Book Swarm