Review: All Lined Up by Cora Carmack

Goodreads Summary:

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.(less)

Publication Date: May 13, 2014

This book was so cute! I love Cora Carmack’s books and All Lined Up didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed the slow-building romance between Dallas and Carson. I especially loved that the story was built around Texas football.

I was melting over how Dallas met Carson. Their first kiss at the party was equal parts sweet and hot. Dallas has been screwed over by jerky football players, but Carson breaks the trend for her. Her father is the team’s football coach and that fact has a tendency to make her leery of getting involved with players. Carson feels a bit like an outcast on the team and is driven to play for Rusk University despite being a walk on. Both characters were easy to cheer for.

The pace was good and there wasn’t too much angst between the characters. The things keeping Carson and Dallas apart felt realistic since it involved issues that college age new adults often face.  

The book is definitely more sensual than sexual and I really loved that the two leads didn’t jump into bed together. The relationship developed at a very gradual pace and I enjoyed how both characters grew close as they spent more time together. Carson was definitely a sweetie and I probably liked the chapters told in his POV a tad more than the ones from Dallas.

Overall, a great read for fans of YA and NA books! I love Carmack’s writing style and can’t wait to read more from her.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book for review!

Review: Faking It by Cora Carmack

Goodreads Summary:

Mackenzie “Max” Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

Publication Date: June 4, 2013

I loved Cade from Losing It and was very excited to read his story. Although it wasn’t as terrific as the first book, I still enjoyed Faking It and I’ll definitely continue reading more from the author.

What I like most about the books is the author’s writing style. There were a lot of great one-liners and I loved hearing Cade’s inner monologue. He was very easy to connect to as a character and his self-deprecating sense of humor had me giggling.

Max was a little harder to like and I tried to sympathize because of her past, but I still wanted to shake some sense into her because Cade was freaking amazing! The romance between the two characters was sweet, albeit predictable. I mean over and over again it’s reiterated how different the two of them are and this is why it could never work. I get it: he’s the golden boy and she’s just so edgy.

The tone got more serious as the novel went on, but I didn’t totally feel emotionally invested. I liked the book, but not sure if I’d reread Faking It like I plan to do with Losing It. Maybe it’s because I’ve read so many great books lately and I didn’t feel like this one was memorable enough. I’d still recommend the series for fans of New Adult books and it was nice to see characters from the first novel pop up.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book for review!