Books and Swoons: Blog Tour: Review + Excerpt: All Played Out by Cora Carmack

All Played Out
(Rusk University #3)
Author: Cora Carmack
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Publisher: William Morrow
Source: Edelweiss
Review by: Jenn and Nahomi

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.

Jenn's Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars

Nahomi's Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars

Overall rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars

Jenn:

I loved this book. LOVED it. I remember downloading the galley and opening it up to the first chapter but I wasn’t planning on reading at the time considering I was trying to write a paper for my 18^th century British Literature course. Next thing I know, I’m 28% into All Played Out and I’m in love with Mateo Torres and 18^TH literature is the farthest thing from my mind. I was completely consumed with story and I couldn’t read fast enough.

All Played Out follows Nell during her last few months of college. She is set to graduate early but realizes that she hasn’t has much college experience of just having some fun. So she makes a To Do List to get into gear. Confession, at the first mention of “College Experience To Do List” I knew I had a winner in my hands. I love doing To Do List! Enter Mateo Torres. Torres knows all about having a regular college experience and decides he’ll help Nell with her list. And boy, does he help her.

I had so much fun being in Nell’s head. She is funny and the way she thinks about sex, friendship and everything else is hilarious but honest. She doesn’t try to change the way she is for anyone, not even Mateo. Mateo, in turn, doesn’t want to change her and would rather try to figure her out. He is extremely hot but patient, sweet, and mischievous. I loved getting to know him.

There was come conflict between both of them that I feel could have discussed a bit earlier however, I do appreciate how it was towards the end of the story and it wasn’t dragged on unnecessarily. Their UST were off the charts. I loved their banter and flirting because it felt really real and authentic. Their sexy times were hot as well and it just further cement my love for Mateo.

All Played Out has been my favorite of the series and I want my own Mateo Torres. Cora Carmack has done a wonderful job at creating a story that I was completely invested in and I’m so excited for other people to read and fall in love with this story.

Nahomi:
All Played Out is such a fun story! Reading this book felt like being on an adventure; I never knew what was going to happen next. I really love the Rusk world and was really excited to see what the rest of the gang was up to.

Nell and Torres are complete opposites but have this amazing chemistry. The interactions between Nell and Torres are witty, satirical and at times full of raw emotions. Torres is my favorite of all of the Rusk leading men. He is extremely good looking, funny, thoughtful, and rough around the edges(just how I like em). The only thing that was a little troublesome for me was Torres internal monologue at times. He compared Nell to his ex-girlfriend a lot, and while I understand where he's coming from it still annoyed me. Nell is introverted and really focused on her studies to the point of really not having a life outside of her schoolwork. I really felt like I could relate to her and her anxiety over what's next for her. True to how she operates Nell makes a college bucket list and proceeds to check off every activity with laser precision so to speak.

All Played Out is entertaining, funny and overall a great read! Once again Cora Carmack does a fantastic job creating three dimensional characters and a story-line I just couldn't resist.

Excerpt

The door opens, and my stomach dips at the sight of Nell’s bleary eyes and rumpled hair. She squints at me, and then winces at the sunlight, instinctively taking a step back into the house.

I step in after her without waiting for an invitation, and shut the door firmly behind me.

“I brought coffee,” I say, lifting the tray up into her line of sight.

“Shhh!” She holds one hand up to me and the other to her forehead.

“I think,” she says, her voice raspy, “there’s a herd of elephants in my head.”

“Welcome to the world of hangovers, sweetheart.”

She blinks at me, then says matter-of-factly, “I’m going back to bed.”

She shuffles down the hallway, and I follow her, still holding the coffee carrier and resisting the urge to laugh. Then she swings her bedroom door wide, and doesn’t bother to close it before tumbling headlong into her bed. Again, I take that as permission, closing the door in case Dylan comes home unexpectedly.

Before Nell can slip back into sleep, I force the coffee into her hand.

“Drink a little of this,” I tell her. “It’ll help clear up the headache and nausea.” She doesn’t look like she believes me, but she takes a sip anyway. “Aspirin will help, too, if you have some.”

“Bathroom,” she says, and I go out to the hallway bathroom. I find a bottle in the second cabinet I open.

When I return to her room, she asks, “You find it?”

“I did. Right next to your box of tampons. The things I endure for you, woman.” She rolls her eyes and takes the aspirin, and she drinks about half the coffee before placing the cup on the nightstand and sinking back against her pillows. She must be feeling better because she finally asks the question I’d expected to hear the second she opened the door. “What are you doing here?”

I shrug, toe off my sneakers, and throw myself down on the covers on the other side of her bed. She groans when the mattress bounces, but other than that doesn’t complain.

“I knew you’d be miserable this morning ...”

“And you decided that was something you needed to see?”

“I decided I could be of some help. I’ve had more than my fair share of hangovers. When that coffee kicks in all the way, we’ll get you showered and dressed, and then we’ll go out for some greasy breakfast. You’ll be good as new in no time.”

“You’ve done this more than once? Are you crazy? I never want to drink again.”

“Everybody says that. If you don’t, you’re not doing it right.”

“I don’t feel like I did anything right.”

“You checked another thing off your list, didn’t you?”

She throws an arm over her eyes in lieu of an answer, and after a minute or so of silence, she asks, “Why are you really here?”

“I told you, I—”

“If you feel sorry for me because of what happened last night or what I said, don’t. Please. I’d really rather you just leave.”

“I can’t do that. Sorry.”

“Why?”

“Because last time I let you get away from me, you called some giant ginger-bearded monster to get you drunk, and look how well that turned out. Face it. You need me.”

She makes a groan that sounds vaguely laughlike. “Matt is not a monster.”

“We’ll agree to disagree.”

She sighs, and rolls on her side to face me. I suck in a breath because even hungover, she’s beautiful. And that fiery, challenging look in her eyes always goes straight to my cock.

“And if I had wanted to call you?” she asks. “I don’t have your number.”

“You could have just thought of me. I would have known and come running. I’m practically a superhero in that regard.”

“Riiight.”

“Why so disbelieving? Unless you thought of me, and it didn’t work? Were you thinking of me last night, girl genius?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“I thought about you. Even during the game last night when I should have been concentrating on not getting my ass kicked, you kept popping up. I think I might be addicted to you, Antonella De Luca.”

“How do you know my full name?”

“I might have done a little snooping last night while you were out of it. So you were valedictorian in high school, huh?”

“Just how much snooping did you do?”

“Relax. Your list is safe. I promised I wouldn’t read it, and I didn’t.” My eyes drop to her lips, which she keeps pressing together in what I assume is nervousness. “It was tempting, though.”

All of her is tempting, and I should probably get out of this bed right now before I drag her beneath me and remind myself just what her skin tastes like.

Regretfully, I pull myself up to a sitting position and say, “All right, sweetheart. Go shower so we can get breakfast. Unless you need assistance, then I’d be happy to—”

She cuts me off. “No. No, I think I can handle that alone.”

“Pity,” I say. “Well, I’ll be here waiting in your bed in case you change your mind.”

She stands up and faces me, still all cute and rumpled from sleep. “You are so ...” She trails off, and shakes her head, turning for the door instead.

As she heads for the bathroom, I call out, “I’m so what? Charming? Devastatingly handsome?”

“You so better be in the living room by the time I’m done with my shower.”

Damn. I’d been looking forward to seeing her in a towel.

Next time.

About the author:

Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She’s done a multitude of things in her life– boring jobs (like working retail), fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). Raised in a small Texas town, she now lives in New York City and spends her time writing, traveling, and marathoning various television shows on Netflix. In her books, you can expect to find humor, heart, and a whole lot of awkward. Because let’s face it . . . awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.
Represented by the fabulous Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary.

Author Links: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Google+ / Instagram / Pinterest / Tumblr

Blog Tour Schedule

May 15

Book Bitches Blog-Review & Excerpt

Books and Swoons-Review & Excerpt

Jen in Bookland-Review & Excerpt

I Dare You To Read-Review & Excerpt

Lost in Lit-Review & Excerpt

Zili in the Sky-Review & Excerpt

The Slanted Bookshelf-Review & Excerpt

Stuck in Books-Review & Excerpt

May 16