Rusk University Spirit Week Scavenger Hunt

It's day three of the Rusk University Scavenger Hunt! This week-long hunt for phrases to make up some of the best quotes from Cora Carmack's ALL LINED UP, will culminate in a winner of ALL THE AWESOME THINGS. Namely, a Rusk University tote filled with goodies from Cora Carmack herself!

Today, I have the third and last clue for today. Put this together with clues #1 and #2, and enter the complete phrase in the Rafflecopter. Collect all five phrases for a chance to win the grand prize! You can still collect Monday's clue one, two, and three and Tuesday's clue one, two and three and enter them in the Rafflecopter. But, first - about the book...

All Lined Up (Rusk University #1), by Cora Carmack
Published May 13, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: new adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Read my 5-star review here.

(Synopsis) 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.

And, now on to the fun stuff...

Find Clue #1 at Between Order and Randomness

Find Clue #2 at Nose Stuck in a Book

And, now for Clue #3...

Now that you have all the clues, enter your quote in the Rafflecopter below. There are two more days of clues coming, so be sure to check in at the Rusk University Spirit Week Facebook Page to know where to go to get them. And, you know, there will be lots of other cool stuff going on there too - guest authors, giveaways, fun questions and discussions. Today is Twin Day, and the Rusk University Street Team on hand has some super fun stuff planned!

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RELEASE DAY EVENT & GIVEAWAY: All Lined Up (Rusk University #1)

It's here! It's here! IT'S HERE! Cora Carmack's newest novel, ALL LINED UP (Rusk University #1) is finally available far and wide ALL LINED UP is a New Adult contemporary romance novel being published by HarperCollins’ William Morrow Impulse imprint and is the first book in Cora Carmack’s Rusk University Series.

All Lined Up (Rusk University #1), by Cora Carmack
Published May 13, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: new adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Read my 5-star review here.

(Synopsis) 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.

Excerpt

There’s only one thing in the world I despise more than football, and he’s making his way down the stairs toward me.

My eyes flit around me like I’m scanning a battlefield instead of a blowout:fraternity banners, litter of red Solo cups, and a freshman pledge dragging around a trash bag playing reluctant maid. Part of me wants to keep doing that, to pretend like I didn’t hear him.

But I can’t. If I ignore him, it will only prove to him that he still bothers me.

I face him as he steps off the last stair, crossing his arms over his broad chest and grinning at me. Levi. My ex.

He leans his hip against the banister of the grand staircase, and I spy not one but two girls sitting halfway up the stairs, obviously upset that they’ve lost his attention.

Behind me I hear someone shout, “Ready. Aim. Fire!” and I know the beer guns are back in play.

“Alcohol and bad decisions, Levi? Can’t say I’m surprised to find you smack-dab in the middle of that.”

He kicks off from the banister, swaggering a few steps closer. His dark hair and eyes are as striking as always. I’d fallen for him so hard my freshman year of high school: doodling our names together in my spiral, watching him play from the bleachers, wearing that monstrous mum he gave me for homecoming, beaming on his elbow at his junior prom.

The memory of all that just makes me nauseated now. But as Stella always says, hindsight is a pretentious, know-it-all bitch.

“You come here to make some bad decisions?” He moves closer, his voice pitching lower. Intimate. His gaze drifts down my body with an arrogant familiarity. “Because you know I can help you with that.”

Levi Abrams has been the cause of enough bad decisions for a lifetime.

Stella steps in, her voice colder than I’ve ever heard it. “I’m fairly certain she’d rather sandpaper her own skin off.”

I nod and plaster on the fakest smile in my arsenal. “And then take a bath in lemon juice.”

Levi smiles back, and I’m pretty sure the bastard is enjoying this.

He’s bigger than when I last saw him. Bulked up. I guess that’s the difference between high school and college ball. But it’s not just muscles… he reaches out a hand like he’s going to touch my hair, and as I jerk back, even his hands seem bigger than I remember. A man’s hands, rather than those of the boy I knew. Or maybe his head got so big that his inflated ego overflowed to other parts of his body. Also a possibility.

I knew Levi was here when I chose Rusk University—hard not to when he’s the starting quarterback—but I didn’t think I’d ever have to see him. Since Dad wouldn’t let me leave Texas, and only a handful of universities here actually have a true dance major, Rusk was the best option out of the schools to which I was allowed to apply.

Levi lets his hand fall away and turns to leave, but then stops to say over his shoulder, “You don’t have to pretend to hate me so much, you know. I’m here. You’re here. We could start fresh, D.”

Why does no one get that it’s impossible to have a fresh start when nothing has really changed? God, I knew that better than anybody because no matter how many new coaching jobs Dad took, every school ended up the same.

Levi is still a douche-bag who only cares about himself.

Dad still approaches parenting like I’m a member of his team.

And I… I’m still stuck. In my father’s shadow. In Texas. In this lame state school with a joke of a dance program.

And now I’m stuck at my first frat party with the ex who broke my heart.

Yay college.

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). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.

Learn more about Cora --> Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads



Giveaway

 Enter below to win a $25 gift card to a book retailer of your choice. There will be 3 winners! (US Only)

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NEW ADULT MONDAYS: Breakable (Contours of the Heart #2)

 The New Adult genre - their bad boys and big problems and epic loves make them engrossing tales that are so easy to lose yourself in. What's not to love about that? And, now, thanks to the cool chicks at Bewitched Bookworms, we can show these books the love they deserve in a weekly feature - New Adult Mondays.

Breakable (Contours of the Heart #2), by Tammara Webber
Published May 6, 2014
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Format: paperback, provided by the publisher
Genre: new adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble


Rating: 5 STARS

(From Goodreads) He was lost and alone. Then he found her.
And the future seemed more fragile than ever.

As a child, Landon Lucas Maxfield believed his life was perfect and looked forward to a future filled with promise — until tragedy tore his family apart and made him doubt everything he ever believed.

All he wanted was to leave the past behind. When he met Jacqueline Wallace, his desire to be everything she needed came so easy…

As easy as it could be for a man who learned that the soul is breakable and that everything you hoped for could be ripped away in a heartbeat.

Easy was one of the first new adult books I read and loved more than a year ago. I remember that it captured me in no way that any other book had to date. I had no idea that there was so much more that I wanted to know about Lucas and Landon and how he felt about Jacqueline before he consciously knew himself. 

We know the story of Lucas and Jacqueline - how they met under horrible circumstances. How they became friends under false pretenses. How they finally got together after several chance meetings. We know all this as it played out through Jacqueline's eyes in Easy. It's remarkable how different things looked when told from Lucas' POV. And, that was my second favorite part of Breakable - that the same story could seem so different when seen from the other side of things. 

I say it's my second favorite part, because my MOST favorite part of Breakable is the fact that it's sorta kinda told in dual POV - Lucas' and Landon's. We get Lucas' full story, dating back to when he was 13 and lost his mother in an unspeakable tragedy that is only touched upon in Easy, right up to events that occurred even after those that ended Easy. 

The parts of the story that were from "Landon's" POV were those told before he arrived at college under the watchful and loving eyes of the Heller family. We find out what really happened the night his mom died, and we see it all through Landon's young eyes. We read about his eventual rift with his father and their move to the beach to live with his grandfather. We see first hand the trouble he had at school and the descent into juvenile delinquency that Lucas only mentioned in passing in Easy. 

Landon's story is so utterly heartbreaking and inspiring. It made me so sad to see how his dad completely closed himself off from the world and his son after his wife died. I thought it was interesting when Landon found common ground with his arch enemy at his new school. And, I also had to laugh at myself when I felt a ton of irritation at the girl Landon fell in love with in high school because it felt to me like he was cheating on Jacqueline, even though he hadn't even met her yet. 

First and foremost, Breakable is a story about redemption. It's about remaking yourself after you lose everything you were to something completely out of your control. It's about "befores" and "afters." I knew I loved Lucas before reading Breakable. I was utterly, bookishly obsessed with him after reading Breakable. And, it makes his story with Jacqueline in Easy that much richer now that I know everything that was going on behind the scenes. 

So many times I see people say that they don't plan to read a story retelling because, well, it's essentially the same story. Right? Well, in this case, you get so much more than what was in Easy. At least half the book's events didn't show up in Easy. And much of the time before that fateful night when Lucas went to Jacqueline's dorm to draw her, they spent apart. It is NOT the same story - well, it is. But, it isn't too. Just... try it. Trust me on this one.