"Quarterback in the Sack"
Reviewed by Stacey Hayman
Posted October 6, 2008
Romance Contemporary
Ryan and Susannah had nine good years before things fell
apart. Then they lived through the nightmare of a
stillbirth. Unable to turn to each other, the couple begins
to drift apart and eventually they filed for divorce. The
book begins ten days before the final court date, when Ryan
returns to the house he shared with Susannah to ask for one
final chance. He would have been there sooner, but being
the star quarterback for the Denver Mavericks has kept him
running for the past six months. Seriously injured during
the Super Bowl, Ryan could have been sidelined even longer
but he was a man on a mission. Susannah was scheduled to
marry Henry, a man she's known since the age of fifteen,
just days after the divorce is approved. Ryan makes a deal
with Susie. If she'll give him those ten days, Ryan won't
stand in the way of her second marriage.
Once they're alone in their mountain cabin, it's hard for
the couple to keep denying the feelings they still have for
each other. True, they need to work on the problems that
caused them to split in the first place, but with the kind
of love they have it will be worth the effort. Ry and Susie
need to trust each other with their thoughts and feelings.
They need to share who they were before their baby Justin
died and who they are now that they've had time to grieve.
Then they can tackle the smaller stuff like: why Susie
stuggles to believe Ryan's never lied to her about being
other women and if Ryan is really ready to retire from a
game where he's such a forceful presence?
Having a couple who lost their baby and then lose their
connection to each other, is a tough topic to write about
but Marie Force does a great job with it. The fame,
fortune, and troubles that go with being a star athlete are
also made to feel like a natural part of the story. The
characters are extremely likable but it's just as much fun
to dislike the villains of the story, right along with the
good guys.
SUMMARY
He's a football star, and he'll do anything to win back his
soon-to-be-ex wife. But her new fiancé will do anything to
stop him ...
Rough and sexy Ryan Sanderson, Denver
Mavericks quarterback, has just 10 days to convince Susannah
to give him a second chance before their divorce is final.
Too bad she's already engaged to the boring but safe guy she
dated in college before she met Ryan.
Marriage to
Ryan was a whirlwind of passion and energy that left her
feeling exhausted. Tired of playing second fiddle to his
team, wary of the women throwing themselves at her superstar
husband, afraid of the hard hits he took on the field,
Susannah decided that sometimes the thing you want the most
is bad for you.
Until Ryan comes back, determined to
win her back, and willing to give up everything except her
love ...
ExcerptAt the sound of boots landing in her foyer. . .
“Excuse me,” Susannah stammered to her fiancé Henry and his
parents as she rushed from the dining room, through the
kitchen, and into the foyer, stopping short at the sight of
her ex-husband, Ryan.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in an
exaggerated whisper.
He was bent in half putting something into the shabby duffle
bag that sat at his feet. When he slowly stood up to his
full six-foot, four inches, his signature Stetson shaded
half his face. One deep dimple appeared when he smiled at
her. “Hello, darlin,” he said in the lazy Texas drawl that
used to stop her heart. But now, like everything else about
him, it left her cold.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again.
“I’m home,” he said with a casual lift of his broad
shoulders. He shrugged off a beat-up calfskin jacket and
tossed it at the coat stand.
Susannah wasn’t surprised when the coat snagged a hook and
draped itself over the antique brass stand. “What do you
mean home?” she hissed. “This isn’t your home.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” He made a big show of
checking his watch. “For ten more days I own the place.”
“This house is mine,” she whispered. “You need to
get your stuff and get out of here. Right now.” She
reached for his coat and yelped when his hand clamped around
her wrist.
Bringing his face to within inches of hers, he grinned and
asked, “Why are we whispering?”
“Because I have guests.” She made a futile attempt to break
free of the grip he had on her arm. “And you’re not welcome
here.”
He sniffed at the air like a dog on the scent of a bone. “Do
I smell lamb?” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “You
know I love your lamb. I hope you saved some for me.”
Realizing the movement of his tongue on his lip had captured
her attention, Susannah tore her eyes away. “I don’t know
what kind of game you think you’re playing, Ryan Sanderson,
but you need to pick up your stuff and get out,”
Susannah said in an increasingly more urgent tone as she
struggled once again to break free of him.
But instead of letting her go, he brought her left hand up
to his face, his brown eyes zeroing in on her engagement
ring. “Is that the best old Henry could do? Not exactly the
rock you got from me, is it?”
“It doesn’t come with any of the headaches I got from you,
either. Now, let me go and get out!”
“Let go of her!” Henry roared from behind Susannah.
“This instant!”
Ryan snorted. “Or else what?”
Susannah wished the marble floor would open up and swallow
her whole. “Henry, honey, go back to your parents.
Everything’s fine. Ryan was just leaving.”
“The hell I was. I just got home. Is this any way for a wife
to greet her husband?” Ryan asked, adding in that
exaggerated drawl of his, “Got yourself another man while I
was off fighting the wars, did ya, darlin’? You didn’t even
send a Dear John.”
With desperation, Susannah glanced up at Ryan. The half of
his face that wasn’t hidden by the big hat was set into a
stubborn expression that told her he was determined to get
his way. This was not good. “Henry, please. Go back
in with your parents and give me a moment,” Susannah pleaded
with her fiancé, who shot daggers at her ex-husband—or,
well, her soon-to-be ex-husband. “Please.”
“Only if he takes his hands off you,” Henry said. His cheeks
were bright red, and he was clearly struggling to keep his
rage in check.
Ryan released Susannah’s arm. “Happy now, lover boy?”
“I’ll be happy when you get the hell out of here and go back
to whatever rock you crawled out from under.”
“Ohh,” Ryan said with a dramatic shiver. “I’m
scared. You’re so intimidating in that bow tie.”
“That’s enough, Ryan,” Susannah snapped. With a weak smile
for Henry, she nodded toward the dining room.
After one last long, cold stare for Ryan, Henry turned and
left them.
“He’s a real tiger, that one,” Ryan said with an animated
growl. “I’ll bet he tears it up in bed.”
“What do you want, Ryan?”
“In a word? You.”
“Well, you can’t have me. So this visit—while unexpected—has
been nice.” She spun on her heel and walked away from him.
“You know the way out.”
“Not so fast. I’m not going anywhere. This is my house. I
bought it and everything in it.”
Susannah whipped around to face him. “And you gave it all to
me in the divorce!”
“Which, I might remind you, is not final for ten more days.
Now, I’m a pretty reasonable guy, and believe it or not, I’m
not looking to start trouble for you and lover boy. So let
me make this easy for all of us, okay?”
Wary, Susannah nodded. “That would be best.”
“We’ve got ten more days as Mr. and Mrs., and we’re going to
spend them together.”
Susannah started to protest, but Ryan held up his hand to
stop her. “Every minute of every day for the next ten days.”
“You’re out of your mind! There’s no way I’m spending ten
minutes with you, let alone ten days.
No way.”
“You always had such a soft spot for the McMansion.” He sent
his eyes on a journey through the spacious foyer, the
sweeping staircase, and the formal living room. “It took us
long enough to hammer out a settlement the first time. A
renegotiation would tie things up for months, and in light
of your engagement, I’m thinking that might be a
little inconvenient for you. . .”
“You wouldn’t!” Susannah fumed, but even as she
said it she knew he would. Her stomach knotted with tension
as she thought of the wedding and all her plans with Henry.
Ryan crossed the marble foyer to her. His scent, a woodsy
mixture that always reminded Susannah of the mountains, was
as familiar to her as anything in her life. “Watch me.”
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