Line of Scrimmage

Author: Marie Force
Published: September 2008 (Sourcebooks)
Category: Romance
Rating: 9/10

Line of Scrimmage doesn't waste any time, as the book starts with Susannah, our heroine, dining with her fiancé and future in-laws when her soon-to-be ex-husband drops his cowboy boots in the foyer. Ryan Sanderson, the boot dropper, is a famous quarterback and has just won his third Superbowl, but he wants his wife back, and is going to spend the last ten days of their marriage to show her he's a worthy husband.

I couldn't put this book down and I did tear up a couple times because it shows a couple working through their difficulties with such heartbreaking detail. Susannah and Ryan started having serious problems when she miscarried and they couldn't share their grief with one another, so they started drifting apart. When they're together again, they talk through their feelings from that terrible time and get closer than they were before. Of course this wasn't just a tearjerker, as there were plenty of times where I chuckled.

You'd think the book would be pretty thin if they get together by the end of ten days, but there are more conflicts layered on. Susannah has to deal with her fiancé, who was her friend since she was a teen, and he's always been hoping for her marriage to fail so he could have her back again, feeding her with ugly thoughts about Ryan. Then Ryan is set up a couple times and the evil fiancé makes him think that Susannah is too good for a guy with a low class childhood. You'd think it would be too much conflict, but it really worked and I think Force found a great rhythm.

Ryan is the perfect guy. He knows he's made mistakes and wants to work it out and thinks his wife is the perfect woman for him. I'd usually say that I wish he were mine, but I liked Ryan and Susannah so much that I'm glad their story ended so well. I will definitely be reading more Marie Force; she has another book coming out next year.