All Played Out by Cora Carmack Pages: 336
Published by Harper Collins, HarperCollins, William Morrow Impulse on May 12, 2015
Genres: contemporary, Fiction, New Adult, Romance
Source: eARC from Publisher
First person in her family to go to college? CHECK.
Straight A’s? CHECK.
On track to graduate early? CHECK.
Social life? …..yeah, about that….With just a few weeks until she graduates, Antonella DeLuca’s beginning to worry that maybe she hasn’t had the full college experience. (Okay... Scratch that. She knows she hasn't had the full college experience).
So Nell does what a smart, dedicated girl like herself does best. She makes a "to do" list of normal college activities.
Item #1? Hook up with a jock.
Rusk University wide receiver Mateo Torres practically wrote the playbook for normal college living. When he’s not on the field, he excels at partying, girls, and more partying. As long as he keeps things light and easy, it's impossible to get hurt... again. But something about the quiet, shy, sexy-as-hell Nell gets under his skin, and when he learns about her list, he makes it his mission to help her complete it.
Torres is the definition of confident (And sexy. And wild), and he opens up a side of Nell that she's never known. But as they begin to check off each crazy, exciting, normal item, Nell finds that her frivolous list leads to something more serious than she bargained for. And while Torres is used to taking risks on the field, he has to decide if he's willing to take the chance when it's more than just a game.
Together they will have to decide if what they have is just part of the experiment or a chance at something real.
Side Note: Ahh wordpress has been eating my posts lately. I write a post up and publish and it is there and then It reverts to a post that has almost nothing on it, and I have no way to get back the finished version of the post. I have had to re-write 4 reviews because of this and I have no idea why. And my re-writes are never as good as my originals. But here goes…
So, I want to tell you guys a secret. Come closer. A little closer. And promise not to judge me too much. I have not read a book by Cora Carmack. I know. I know. And to make it even more shameful, I have the first Rusk University book sitting on my bookshelf. Judging me for not read it yet. And now that I have read All Played Out, I am kicking myself even more. Because Cora Carmack is a genius. An absolutely brilliant writer. I am not kidding, I think All Played Out is one of my favorite books of 2015. It is that good.
All Played Out is the the third book in the Rusk University Series. Each of the books is about a different football player and his romance. Each book can be read as a standalone, but I would recommend not doing what I did, and rather read them all in order. You will be able to follow along and enjoy each of the books just fine on their own, but I think it will add a little extra secondary character ommph if you read them in order. I feel like I missed out on some background tidbits on a couple of the characters…like Stella. But either way, All Played Out is an incredible romance and even if it is your first Cora Carmack book, you are going to love it.
All Played out is told in dual narrative between Nell and Mateo. Nell is a shy, quiet and super smart college student. She is even set to graduate at 20! But she feels like she hasn’t experienced any of the “normal” college things. So what does she do? She makes a list of course.* As soon as Mateo meets Nell and learns about her list, he is bound and determined to help her out with it. I loved how set Mateo was on Nell. I know he is supposed to be some big player, but I really didn’t get that vibe from him. Maybe this is one of those things that I would have known if I had read the first two books, but just in All Played Out, Mateo is all about Nell. And I was all about Mateo. I just loved him. I couldn’t believe that he was only 19 though. I kind of wish that he was 21 or 22 because he seemed older to me. But either way, I loved how patient Mateo was with bringing Nell out of her shell. He really didn’t want to rush her in any way, and he always did everything at her pace. He wanted her to trust him. I thought it was great. The two of them were great in fact. They mesh perfectly.
Mateo makes my list of book boyfriends. He has a hint of possessiveness. but he is patient and caring and it was so much fun getting to know him and watching him and Nell check items off of her list. All Played Out is pure magic. I loved this book so much. I went home to visit my family for mothers day and I spent the whole day Saturday ignoring everyone because I just could not tear myself away from Nell and Mateo. And you won’t be able to either. Read this book. Just do it.
*I am finding that I love stories that feature college bucket lists. I think the add so much fun and adventure to the story. And they tend to lead to some pretty interesting scenes. I want more college bucket list stories. Leave me a rec in the comments if you know a good one for me.
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ALL LINED UP, Book 1
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ALL BROKE DOWN, Book 2
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- May Clean Sweep ARC 2015
kindlemom1
I really do need to read these, I have seen nothing but great things about them!
jazmen
I haven’t started this series yet but, in my opinion Cora can do no wrong. Great review, and great giveaway!
Blessie (Mischievous Reads)
Well, don’t you worry. You’re not alone. I haven’t read any Cora Carmack book ever as well, lol. I feel like I’m totally missing out too as I’ve seen her books all over the blogosphere, though I might try to pick up the first book to this series. Great review! 😀
Dee Swan
Great review!