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My Review:Title: All Played Out
Author: Cora Carmack
Series: Rusk University #3
Published by: William Morrow
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 339
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Sports Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Big Summer Birthday Bash 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound
My rating:
Blurb: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.
4.5 stars — This was definitely my favourite of the Rusk University series!!
Mateo was just as adorable as I was expecting…and he was covering such a big hurt, my heart felt for him. Wish the fact he was hispanic had played into it somehow…never really knew much about him outside of Lina…except that one glimpse into wanting to have something of his own. I loved that. He was bright, effervescent, he just knew how to put others at ease. And he could be hilarious. I was worried about the medical stuff, but so glad he figured it out.
Nell was not at all what I was expecting, though I’m not sure *what* I was expecting, you know? I loved that she was so different from both Dallas and Dylan. I loved that we got to see someone not as comfortable in social situations, a definite introvert…and someone with damage from being on the outside in high school. I could vibe with parts of her, she was just a more extreme example. Occasionally it felt like she almost changed as the book went on, and it was a shame to lose those parts of her. But really she was just growing. I loved how straightforward she could be, even if it came with the negative side effect of occasionally being too honest and hurting people.
The standout in this book was definitely the chemistry between Mateo and Nell. It was PALPABLE. Like, the whole skinny dipping section was tingle city. FUCK, just thinking about it, hoowee!!! Seriously, I loved them together. I loved how Mateo was able to bring Nell out of her shell, and he just wouldn’t let up on the flirting! And I love a man who can appreciate a smart woman. I also loved that Nell really tried to understand Mateo, what made him tick, what was important to him. Their steamy chemistry was obviously off the charts, but I also loved the friendship chemistry they developed.
I also appreciated the sis-mance that developed between Stella and Nell. Makes me want Stella’s story even more, which is a bummer since it seems to be on a long term hold. Ah well.
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