Line of Scrimmage

Marie Force

Publisher:
Sourcebooks

Release Date:
September 1, 2008

Genres:
Contemporary Romance

ISBN:
Print
9781402214240

Bookmark Rating:

Reviewed by
Natalie S.

Review Posted:
September 2008

Susannah Sanderson and her famous quarterback husband have been separated for months and are just ten day away from their divorce being final.  While Susannah is entertaining her new fiancé’s parents, she hears the tell-tale signs of an intruder, an intruder that has a Texas twang and dimples.  That same intruder is responsible for Susannah’s greatest joy and her most heart wrenching sorrow – Ryan, her estranged husband.  Trying to get him to leave is a lesson in futility because he isn’t budging and before she has time to think, Susie agrees to spend the next ten days with Ryan.  She has no choice; without her cooperation Ryan promises to have their divorce proceeding halted, much to Susannah’s horror.  After all, her new life is just beginning or so she keeps telling herself. 

Ryan Sanderson has come home to heal. Put in the hospital by a late hit during the Super Bowl, Ryan is a walking/talking tower of pain.  He knows he has only one chance to convince his wife that their love and marriage are worth another try.  Acting upon impulse, Ryan gives Susie an ultimatum – give him the ten days before their marriage is dissolved to convince her that their love is worth fighting for or he will postpone his agreement to the divorce indefinitely.  Ryan bluffs his way through the proposal but lucky for him he knows his wife.   

Susannah reluctantly agrees to Ryan’s demand.  She keeps telling herself that the love she and Ryan shared is gone but deep down she knows she is lying to herself and to Ryan.  

To say that the cover of LINE OF SCRIMMAGE caught my attention is an understatement.  I was drawn to it like a moth to a porch light.  Reading the blurb, I was further intrigued and knew I had to read LINE OF SCRIMMAGE – and I did – in one entire sitting.   

Susannah was the recipient of my sympathy but not in a “feeling sorry for her” kind of way.  She had my sympathy because I ould relate to her. I could sense the barriers she erected around her heart and I could not blame her.  She had wants and needs that Ryan was not meeting at the time and because of this, Susannah was afraid to believe that he had changed.  I loved her attitude with Ryan’s fame most of all. She is what kept him grounded and her witty comebacks to some of his statements made me laugh out loud. 

Ryan Sanderson. This man made me sweat.  Three times Super Bowl winning quarterback, Heisman trophy winner, favorite male athlete the world over, worshipped by women everywhere but despised by his wife and desperate to find one ounce of the love Susannah used to have for him.  She was the one person with the ability to bring Ryan to his knees.  As for his characterization, I loved every single facet of Ryan.  From the tips of his dusty, well worn boots to the top of his cowboy hat covered head, Ryan Sanderson’s charm and dimpled smile won me over pretty quickly – in fact, it was all over but the crying with me from the first scene in LINE OF SCRIMMAGE when he interrupts Susie’s dinner party.  The way he loved Susannah solidified my feelings.   

A very strong debut novel for Marie Force, LINE OF SCRIMMAGE is one of the best contemporary romances I have read this year.  Susie and Ryan’s marriage was almost over but they agreed to try for each other.  Their marital problems were discussed, they got angry with each other, they were honest.  LINE OF SCRIMMAGE was intensely emotional and very honestly portrayed and I treasure that in a book above all things.   

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