Line of Scrimmage

Everyone who knows me, knows how much I love football. So right away this book appealed to me. Not only that, but I loved this author's recent book Love at First Flight.This was a super quick read for me because once I got started, I couldn't wait to find out how it ended. Don't get me wrong, this book is one of those that you can predict as far as the main idea goes. Man and woman in love, some sort of conflict, happy ending. But, Force did an awesome job keeping me guessing. Even though I knew there was something bad coming, it wasn't at all what I had thought. So, while somewhat predictable, there were still surprises that kept me turning pages.There were laugh out loud parts at the start of this book that were great, and then some pretty emotional stuff toward the end. I found that I was bummed when I read the last page, because I was connected with Ryan and Susie. Overall, great book, but not as good as Love at First Flight. Either way, Force has a new fan!

Wonderful, wonderful book. I absolutely loved it.

I'd like to give this book 4.5, but I can't find anyway to do that. So that's really my rating.

This book starts a little slow for me, but about 1/3 of the way through, I couldn't put it down and finished it quickly.

This is a wonderfully written book with loveable characters and just enough plot twists to stay interesting.

The only reason it doesn't get a 5 is because I felt it needed about one more layer of characterization. There were a few twists that could have been hinted at sooner (such as the hero finding his father) that would have added more depth to the characters.

Regardless, I'd highly recommend this read if you like sexy sports heroes and a good romance.

Two strikes and I'm done. No more Marie Force for me. I said I wanted the heroine of Love at First Flight to be hit by a bus on page one. My hatred for the heroine of this book is even stronger, and so I guess I'll be wishing a freeway full of them to hit Susannah. Imagine for a minute that you read a book where the hero gets the heroine pregnant while he's still engaged to another woman. When everyone gets upset, he thinks he's the victim, and everyone supports him instead of the offended parties. Can you imagine such a book, and can you imagine finishing the book and being on the side of a man like that? NO WAY!! But this author doesn't write her men like that. No, her speciality is nasty, selfish female characters. Susannah and hunky, millionaire American football superstar Ryan - in some bizarre court order that doesn't allow them to get divorced yet (and that includes weird clauses about not being able to get divorced if they sleep under the same roof even once!) - are done. Their marriage is over, and Susannah is engaged to another man. But Ryan waltzes back into the house, also claiming weird legal powers to be able to stop the divorce whenever he wants. Do these guys have a legal system where they live, or do they just make it up as it suits them? The whole thing reads like an over-long category romance, and that's exactly how the professional review on Amazon described the book. If you turned Ryan into a billionaire sheikh, then maybe I would have come into this one expecting what I got. Perhaps "The Billionaire Footballer's Two-Timing Society Tramp". So, Susannah spends nine days having sex with her ex, going on trips away with him, and TRYING TO GET PREGNANT TO HIM!! All the while she's engaged to another man. And, absolutely the best thing to do when you're due in divorce court in a couple of days is to get pregnant to the man you're divorcing. Way to go Susannah! But it's okay to cheat on the fiancé. See, he wears glasses and has a bowtie. The geek! He's been in love with Susannah since they were kids, but of course he's far too nerdy to be worthy of the heroine of this book. Susannah gets upset because the fiancé and his family are unhappy about her calling off the wedding. Gee, you think?! I sure believe they have a right to be furious, and the author's complete lack of empathy for the characters she screwed over makes me furious. But never fear! Halfway through the book, all the secondary characters go through the Massive Personality Change. Suddenly they're all evil, conspiring, violent people who have spent years trying to break up the poor, rich, gorgeous hero and heroine. It's no longer a bad thing that Susannah cheats on her fiancé, EVENTUALLY calls off the wedding, and ruins his life. No, now he's gone through the MPC and is a dangerous criminal, we don't have to worry about realistic characterisation and conflict resolution. Now that everyone but Susannah and Ryan is evil, it's okay to treat them like crap. Force's heroines cry. And cry. And cry nonstop. They're almost always in the wrong, and the tears often come after they've done something awful - like cheat on their fiancé. I can't stand characters who cry at the drop of a hat. I can't stand them even when they have a good reason to cry, let alone when they deserve to be shot. But Susannah's not done yet. After all of that self-centred cruelty, she went and sealed her fate at a society ball (Harlequin Presents anyone?). She saw her husband talking to another woman, decided that meant they were having an affair, and then got into a fistfight. In the middle of a ball, with hundreds of people looking on. The thing that really annoyed me about that particular act of unbelievable stupidity was that the lack of trust she showed in her husband was never dealt with. The book finished without any resolution to the fact she publicly accused him of having an affair. Starting a family doesn't erase the fact you have a crappy relationship. These are two people who should not reproduce. Obviously the author's definition of cheating is VERY different to mine, as it appears all of her books are about women who think it is morally acceptable for a woman to be with two men at once, and then get upset when the men get upset. But God forbid the men have even a thought about another woman. That's grounds for balls in a vice. Double. Standard. These heroines make me ashamed for women. If a male character behaved the way these women do they would be the villains of the stories. It is hypocritical in the extreme to allow your women to cheat and lie and walk all over all the men, and I never want to see such an extreme double-standard in romance. The two selfish morons get their marriage and their baby, and waltz off into the sunset together, convinced every other person in the world is awful and needs to be cut out of their lives. Hey, maybe the bubonic plague is running through town. That'll take care of them in a way they deserve.

Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Sep08Can you believe it? Me, Mrs. doesn’t really read ‘sports’ romances, and I’ve read two in the last week! And enjoyed both! This is surely cause for celebration. My most recent is “Line of Scrimmage” by Marie Force. It’s about football, did you guess? It’s also about the debutante and the quarterback. But don’t hate them for that because their life hasn’t been a bed of roses.Susannah is finally calling it quits. After ten years of marriage to football’s ‘Golden Boy’, she’s just 10 days away from divorce. She’s going to marry the man she left behind who never gave up on her (and never let her forget it either) 30 days after her divorce is final. So when her soon-to-be-ex shows up demanding she spend the remaining 10 days of their marriage with him, she’s furious. But he swears if she doesn’t, he’ll contest the divorce. What’s a girl to do?Ryan never meant to cut it this close. He’s been against the divorce from day one. Susie is the only girl for him and he’s always been true to her. While he doesn’t know exactly what happened to kill their romance, he knows he’s not about to give up without a battle. So if he has to blackmail (he prefers bully or persuade) her into giving him this time; then so be it.The author did a great job of personalizing these characters. I actually grew to care for this couple. They have taken several hard knocks during their marriage; ones that many marriages don’t survive. So once I read enough to get to know both of them, I wanted their relationship to continue. I wanted them to be happy, together. At first I disliked Susannah…which is interesting because I think most women readers normally take the female’s side in a ‘divorce’ situation and have to be persuaded over to the other side. But from page one, she seemed pretentious and weak...she rubbed me the wrong way. As the story progressed, I would like her, then dislike her, then like her, then dislike her. She frustrated me which made me admire Ryan even more! Ryan, on the other hand, was almost too good to be true. Poor boy makes good yet doesn’t fall victim to booze, drugs, or women. He also was willing to admit mistakes and sacrifice even his pride for his woman. Like I said, hard to believe. But I still fell a little in love with him, and isn’t that what we want in all our heroes?“Line of Scrimmage” kept me ‘in’ the story. I didn’t get bored or want to put the book down. I wanted to know about this couple and how they would resolve their problems. I think the thing I liked best about Marie Force’s novel is the lesson that no marriage, no matter who you are or what your situation is, can survive without working at it and learning to compromise and see your partner’s point of view. Ms. Force didn’t scream this at me, she snuck it in throughout the book while I wasn’t looking. Clever, clever woman!

Susannah is hoping that the second times the charm. In ten days, Susannah's divorce will be final to her soon to be ex-husband. Before that can happen, Susannah’s soon to be ex-husband comes back into the picture. Ryan Sanderson is the Denver Maverick’s star quarterback. He is ready to make some changes in his life and that includes starting with his wife, Susannah. Ryan tells Susannah that if she agrees to spend the remaining ten days with him….uninterrupted then he will allow the divorce to go through. As much as Susannah and her fiancé, Henry does not like the idea, Susannah agrees. Besides it’s only ten days with her soon to be ex-husband. What’s the worse that can happen? For me the characters in Line of Scrimmage, both Susannah and Ryan are what made the book so enjoyable for me. The chemistry they shared between them as well as the personalities about them was great. Ryan is every woman’s fantasy...a hot, sexy, macho football player. I have not read many sports romance books, in fact I can count how many I have read on one hand but after reading Marie Force’s Line of Scrimmage; I just might have to read more. Ms. Force is a new author for me and such a delight. She has created the winning goal with Line of Scrimmage. I will be reading more books from this author.