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Southern Scrimmage #6

Any Given Sunday

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Love and death and Levi Brody.

Bowen Murphy loves two things, football and Dylan Sunday.
Dylan left football and Bo behind to walk a different path.

Life goes on and six years is a long time to be without the one you love. The stress of war and the lure of fame changed Bo and Dylan. They grew up. They became different men. Their love stayed strong.

When tragedy takes the man he loves, Bowen Murphy is forced to carry on alone or risk losing football. Without football, Bo has nothing.

Fate sends Bo a shoulder to lean on... or maybe love.

But Fate has a wicked sense of humor. And Bo is left to choose between the love of his life and the one who saved his life.

The story began in Six Ways from Sunday and continued in Sidelined. This is the story that fills in the gaps.

Readers sensitive to the perceived cheating in the original two books should avoid.

251 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 29, 2017

37 people are currently reading
173 people want to read

About the author

Mercy Celeste

37 books956 followers

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5 stars
125 (50%)
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29 (11%)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Laxmama .
623 reviews
May 25, 2017
Just completed this marathon of this series & this last book I HATED IT WITH ANGER!!! IMO the author took the first book, the epic lifetime love and what I have been reading about through this entire series - then in this book contradicted EVERYTHING, it was a a big fake lie. I am so irritated now I wanted to throw my kindle through the window after 30%. If your here you will understand so not any real huge spoilers. The first book is Dylan & Bo's love story from meeting as kids, they were best friends and fall in love HEA. The through all the other books we find out not so true....but they should be OK - (but IMO Bo is a selfish dick). I was really ready to give him a little leeway, after reading this book NFW Bo is the biggest asshole, he should have dumped Dylan years ago when he realized he was so hard up for Levi by sitting next to him on an airplane. This book is not the re-telling of Bo & Dylan AT ALL, this is Bo & Levi's love story, I had a feeling this was where the author is taking this story. It is all about Levi. It kinda bothers me because where does that leave Tracy & Dylan. IMO Bo deserves to get dumped by Dylan & Levi he is the most selfish asshole & Levi (who I did really like before this book) is just a mess with no conscience.

At this point I only want to see what happens with Jude & Slater.

Well my Rant is done - someone send me a food rec to get my mind off this because I am so Pisssed off that I read this whole series.
Profile Image for Antisocial Recluse.
2,711 reviews
April 5, 2017
This book was totally Amaze-balls! I adore this series and every book Mercy writes. She writes from the gut, with words and characters that I connect with on a visceral level. I sink into these stories and become completely absorbed in getting to the end of the book. I cried reading this, for every moment that Bo, Dylan and Levi suffered and struggled through. It was filled with complex emotions as two men in love were forced to live and navigate separate lives. They were so young when they finally opened up about their feelings and never had a chance for an actual relationship. They both got torn apart emotionally when the need for human touch and affection clashed with the love they sustained for each other.

Every reader that got all freaked out and pissy over Levi and Bo in Sidelined needs to read this. When you read Sidelined, you have to read between the lines and try to understand what Bo and Dylan went through in those seven years. I could sense it quite easily then, but I loved getting all these details and backstory. It's also sexy as hell. The sex is earthy and sensual and a little raunchy at times.

Once Mercy writes the final book in the series, I'll go back and reread them all with this book and Bootleg Diva: Confessions of a Quarterback Princess by Levi Brody in between them. It will be a surfeit of riches for those of us who have fallen in love with these characters. If you haven't read them, you're missing out!
1 review
May 23, 2017
Mercy, seriously? The cardinal rule of romance novels is the couple gets a HEA. Six Ways From Sunday, the first book in the series, had that ending. You then subsequently angered readers who loved the book with an unfathomable and against character plot twist to connect the lovers, Bo and Dylan, to Levi in book two. You should have listened to your inner Ghost voice when it said "Molly...you in danger girl" when you opted for that story line.
Subsequent volumes in the series after Sidelined, including Any Given Sunday, just have the appearance of a writer struggling to justify and attone to readers for butchering the heart out of the emotionally charged Six Ways From Sunday. My personal opinion is as a writer you have shown complete disrespect to your audience with the overly cliched plotting of Bo and Dylan's relationship (in an already cliched genre) to somehow amend for the poorly received direction you took these characters.
I'm giving you two stars for Any Given Sunday, instead of one, because I admire your persistence at flogging a dead horse. I've stuck it out with this series now simply for the eye roll factor although I've reached the point I'm afraid they may stay in a permanent roll. I look forward to the next volume because after love triangle, affairs, and blackmail we're pretty well down to alien abduction to wrap this up.
Profile Image for Caroline Brand.
1,755 reviews68 followers
April 14, 2017
REVIEWED FOR LOVE BYTES

I think this is the second time in this series that I have said Mercy gives us the stories we didn’t even know we wanted or that were missing. The really bizarre thing here is that we know what happens in Bo and Dylan’s future. We know what happens in Levi’s future. Any Given Sunday is not about where any of these men’s journey’s end but about how they got there and what they endured to finally get their HEA.

Whenever you are invested in a series, as I have been in the Southern Scrimmage series since it began, it is always exciting when a new book is published. When it’s a book that comes before and not after the events you are already familiar with it can be a nervous prospect as you wait to see if the author’s story and your memory of events run smoothly alongside each other. Mercy has excelled in the detail in this one – lots of subtle hints at what was to come further on in the series – little clues and ‘aha’ moments that really help to gel everything together.

This starts out with Bo and Dylan still at school. Struggling with their feelings towards each other when they finally find the bravery to do something about it it’s a case of too little too late and they are separated by circumstances for the next six years. Those six years are formative for both men and we see how they grow, how new relationships affect them and how Levi becomes so important to Bo.

This is a back story that answers a lot of questions and makes things clearer – particularly where Sidelined is concerned. I love this series, I love this author’s way with words and I cannot wait for the next one! Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Isabel.
210 reviews27 followers
Read
May 25, 2017
Still processing... It seems Bo and Dylan don't love each other as much as I tought... It seems Bo loves someone else more than he loves Dylan and finding that he was alive was disappointing... "choosing" Dylan was more of an obligation than love...

I'm sad now... I hope Levi still loves Tracy as much as he seems to love.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Cadiva.
3,944 reviews428 followers
April 17, 2017
I'm stumped by what I want to say about this book
3.75* conflicted stars

So, this book is the scorching hot sexual adventure all of the Southern Scrimmage series of stories have been but I'm confused over just what I think of it.

The timescales in this one fluctuate between Bo and Dylan's childhood, through the six years Dylan was in the Marines and Bo was playing ball and the time period after Bo thought Dylan was dead up until his rescue.

So it's mostly both men with other people, which didn't bother me as much as it may other readers, but it's just a bit too much of everything other than Bo and Dylan for it to be truly enjoyable.

Book one gave Bo and Dylan an epic romance and then subsequent books seem to have shafted that with cheating or if not that, some very definitely dubious morals encounters.

I felt I understood Levi a bit more after reading the last book but this one's just confused all that again as well. He goes back to giving off the mixed vibes of being a selfish git and a complete slapper instead of the far more nuanced and complex person his "autobiography" gave us.

Understandable as this is set at the same time as the events in the two earlier books so it's unfortunate it's been published later! On a reread I'd definitely add this one in before book one I think.

This whole book just threw things into a pot, stirred them, but then never cooked them up into a cohesive unit, certainly not one that tied in with events in all the other books.

Don't get me wrong though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it's smoking hot, has the same great world building as the rest and it gives more background to events happening in the first two books.

I just seriously hope we get Blindsided and the final book released soon as there's plot lines and narrative threads still left hanging all over the place at the moment.
Profile Image for Lee Morin.
27 reviews1 follower
April 2, 2017
I'm not really good at writing reviews which is why I usually dont, but this book...well this whole series is to amazing to not make the effort.

There's just something about Mercy's writing that gets to me, I love her men, I love Levi especially and this book broke my heart for him, for Bo and for poor beautiful Dylan. I had no clue this book was even being released so it was an unexpected surprise when I saw it on BF this morning.

I'm glad she felt it was a story that needed telling because it definitely shed some light on Levi and Bo's relationship and I for one appreciate it. Like all the other books in this series, it's a journey that is difficult and painful and beautiful, but it needs to happen for everyone to get their HEA.

Now they wait is on for the next book, so looking forward to it Mercy!
Profile Image for BevS.
2,842 reviews2 followers
July 4, 2017
4.5 stars from me. Bigass review coming up.....

Yes, this story fills in some of the gaps, and as usual it made for addictive reading [and don't faint, but it was edited, yay!!]. I, as have most people I know who've read this series, had a huge problem with perceived cheating on Bo's part with Levi Brody [aka 'Five' or Liv St Cinq] while Dylan was MIA, presumed dead, in Afghanistan. I still think the timelines are all over the place, but what I did manage to work out quite clearly was that there was NO cheating with Levi before Bo got the news that Dylan was missing....

This story starts when Dylan and Bo meet as kids, and carries on through until Bo gets the news that Dylan is alive, and is being shipped to the big US base in Germany to have surgery and convalesce. Yes, we were aware that they didn't sleep together or even admit they loved each other until the night before Dylan was being shipped out for the first time, and Bo was going off to college, BUT it's then that we discover that a) Bo had a f**k buddy all the while he was at college [Jeff], and b) Dylan was no slouch in the f**k buddy department himself, quietly finding several buddies in the USMC to 'relieve tension' so to speak, and don't forget, this was pre DADT, so the chance of staying in the USMC if discovered was impossible. We know that even if neither has said anything to the other about their 'buddies', they are still in love with one another.

When Bo graduates, starts playing NFL and gets cut by New York, New Orleans come in for him before any other club gets a chance, and this is because they want him to team up with their star quarterback Levi Brody. During all of this time [6 years!!], we're asked to believe that Bo and Dylan have NEVER met up...no texting [too expensive then], not even any snail-mail, just phone calls [and nope, I'm sorry, but I really can't believe that would have happened. Yes, I understand that Dylan regularly went away on missions all over the world...but even Marines get time off don't they and letters get forwarded on, and yes, Bo was playing somewhere different every week in the US...but surely they could've met up somewhere, even if it wasn't on US soil??] Anyhoo, we're asked to believe that the first time they met up in person in 6 years was at the Super Bowl where Bo was playing, and that was only because Dylan had more or less blackmailed his Commanding Officer into letting him be one of the guard of honour at the ceremony, as a thank you for his service to his country and the fact that his next mission was more or less a suicide job. Yes, there were tears from me at their get together {at Bo's shock and Dylan's anticipation], and then they had 1 week together before everything went back to 'their' kind of normal, and most of this can be read in the first story in the series Six Ways from Sunday.

Right...back to that timeline. Dylan was supposedly MIA, presumed dead in either July or August of 2010 [I think], days before he was coming back to the US either on leave or permanently [not sure which]....yet by the middle of September [so not long at all], Bo and Levi had already given in to the mutual attraction they'd both been feeling and were together in secret [cos Levi was also in the closet, and Bo had unwittingly outted both himself and Dylan with his reaction to Dylan's 'death', and was practically suicidal afterwards]; so from my POV, Bo didn't exactly mourn the love of his life for too long did he?? Not a happy bunny with that I have to admit, but Dylan's mum seemed to be understanding about it, so she's obviously a better woman than me.

I'm not going to go any further into the story, but I honestly believe that Bo and Levi really did love each other, and definitely helped each other through some very difficult times for the pair of them. Slayer, who I had no time for whatsoever in Offside Chance...well, I take it all back cos the angry speech he gave to the over-privileged and overpaid New Orleans locker room after they'd discovered Dylan was alive, was just magnificent and Levi put the haters in their place too [plenty of tears here]. Not keen on the ending, which seemed really rushed to me, but hey we can't have everything and I suppose that means there could be another story in there somewhere...ooh, and hotness?? Check out Bo's threesome with a pole dancing Liv St Cinq and naughty Travis LaSalle...blistering!!
Profile Image for AussieMum.
1,393 reviews55 followers
August 1, 2017
Riveting. Painful. Honest. Pitiful. Sad. Funny. Heartbreaking. Real.

I love this series. It reaches beyond the generic tag of 'romance' and takes it to a place where real life and human ego, frailty, longing, want and need interject.

This was brutal and amazing.

This is what happens when you love someone but can't be together. When you have to force yourself everyday to keep living your life without them.
This is dealing with the consequences of needing to move on, but being incapable of doing so at the same time.
This is living everyday with your broken heart still beating on the outside of your chest.
Profile Image for Christine.
701 reviews4 followers
April 22, 2017
I love this series. Reading this story makes me want to go back and read them all again. This is the beginning of a story that shows the pain, suffering and how the journey started for therse men to reach their HEA
414 reviews
May 3, 2017
This was a five star read for me until the very end. The story took a turn that was unnecessary IMO so 4 stars. I have been so invested in the men of this series so going back to the beginning of Bo and Dylan and Bo and Levi was a treat for me.
Profile Image for Debra ~~ seriously slacking on her reviews ~~.
2,210 reviews261 followers
July 3, 2017
I reviewed the for a Quick Bite at Sinfully. Click here for your chance to win a copy from July 3-5.

Although labeled book 6 and the latest published in the series, I think Any Given Sunday is best read as book 3 in the series as it fills out the story of Bo and Dylan, and runs concurrently with the first two books. Although a number of people have issues with Bo and Levi’s story, many more adore the storyline and AGS fleshes out what occurred during the six years Dylan was in the service and the details of Bo and Levi/Liv’s romantic relationship. There’s plenty of hot sex here, but also plenty of real emotion.

I was thrilled to have the fuller story and I think this might also change some minds on the Bo and Levi front when you see just how important this relationship was and how heart-breaking the whole situation turned out to be. It also gave me a better understanding of how it affected the three men even after couples Bo and Dylan, and Tracy and Levi were happily together. It also provides more insight into how Bo and Dylan dealt with their relationship during their long separation. A must read for fans of the series!

description
Profile Image for Anu.
364 reviews5 followers
April 25, 2017
The story of Bo, Dylan and Levi from the start.

Such an emotional ride. It's a chronological account of everything left unsaid in Six Ways From Sunday - but it also clarifies things mentioned in the other books. It tells how Bo and Dylan met, became best friends and fell in love. It charts Dylan's time in the marines and Bo moving to New Orleans and meeting Levi. It's also the story of how Bo and Levi fell in love while Dylan was dead. Because they did and it's so beautiful and tragic, literally living on borrowed time both of them.

So many tears shed while reading this book, my heart broke for the struggles these three went through, I found myself immersed so deeply in the story! Without a doubt best instalment of the series so far.
Profile Image for Sue "DavinciKittie" Brown-Moore.
393 reviews58 followers
July 11, 2017
Must-read supplement for fans of the early books in the Southern Scrimmage series

This story fills in the timeline between the first and second books in the series and gives us an extended look into the relationship between Bo and Levi while Dylan is thought to be dead. This book is everything I expected out of a Southern Scrimmage story--sexy, explicit, emotional, angsty, and chock full of awesome Levi Brody moments. Highly recommended for fans of the series, but you really need to have read at least Six Ways From Sunday first. Ideally read the second book too so you're not getting spoilers about Levi's alter ego. That reveal is best experienced in his book.
Profile Image for Susan65.
1,643 reviews52 followers
May 3, 2017
The Blogger Girls

I read everything this author writes. If it’s controversial, if it’s erotica, if it’s off-the-wall and balls-to-the-wall hardcore, I read it and I love it…every time. I may feel the need to drop to my knees and pray for my eternal soul, but damn do I enjoy every minute of it.

This book, this companion story that fills in the blanks of the Bo and Levi affair, before Dylan returns to Bo (from a war where he was missing and presumed dead), and before Levi/Liv finds his forever with Tracy. This is not a cheater story, but some may not want to read about the love and hot sex that existed between Bo and Levi before Dylan and Tracy enter the picture. Just saying, it explains a lot.

But me? I loved it. Not many people only have one love in their life. So, it makes sense that those feelings bleed out once in awhile even though we no longer act on them and are with the true loves of our lives. Bo and Levi had something special. Levi was there for Bo when Bo was at absolute rock bottom. You don’t forget that and you don’t brush those feeling under the carpet and pretend it never happened, no matter how much you are in love with another person. If anything, this story was more real than the others because we know they won’t have a happy ending together, but we also know that they both find theirs in other people…and that’s okay.

The only thing I might change, if I were someone new to the series, would be to read this book 3rd instead of 6th. Regardless, it’s an integral part of the series, love it or hate it, and fills in a lot of the blanks from the first two books. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Pati.
871 reviews
May 17, 2017
4.5 Stars

Wow! I'm still sitting here crying. *sigh* What a beautiful, heart wrenching story. The only reason this isn't 5 stars for me is because of that one skipped week. I really needed to see it and I still feel robbed.

Now I'm thinking that I've got to go back and re-read the series.

I highly recommend this to all who've read this series. To all who loved Dylan and Bo this is a must read.
Profile Image for Julie.
1,124 reviews4 followers
November 15, 2022
A more in depth look at Bo and Sunday and everything in between.

I’m late coming in to read this series but kinda happy as even though this is book 6 in the series, you can actually read it after book 1. It goes into a lot more detail and fills in lots of gaps that I had about Bowen and Sunday from when they were younger, through their teens and then once Sunday enlists while Bo goes to be a pin NFL player. It’s also goes into more depths with their relationships with others whilst they were apart, even if they weren’t officially dating at any time, they both knew their love ran deep.

Can I say that I’m really enjoying the characters and the writing style and I look forward to continuing this series with Levi’s two books.
447 reviews2 followers
October 11, 2017
Awesome

Read this series a long time ago. Absolutely loved it! Lost track of last two books that came out. Am confused about future books in this series. Am awaiting some news as to if and when more are coming.
281 reviews2 followers
May 14, 2017
This fills in the gaps nicely. Interesting to get more background on Bo and Dylan and I think this sets up future stories quite nicely.
Profile Image for Melisha.
364 reviews
January 13, 2018
Great addition..

This was a great addition to the series. I can’t wait to see how it continues with the next book.
Profile Image for OkayKim.
1,288 reviews
May 24, 2024
Kind of disappointed that the author has left Levi Brody in a coma. Southern Scrimmage started off great and then dwindle down to nothing worth recommending. Guess this is the last of the series.
Profile Image for Tanja.
590 reviews56 followers
May 17, 2017
Das ursprüngliche Zuhause dieser Rezension ist der WortWelten-Blog:
http://wort-welten.blogspot.de/


Zusammenfassung:

Dylan liebt Bo. Bo liebt Dylan. Nur leider ändert das nichts an den Umständen, denen ihre Liebe zu trotzen gezwungen ist. Denn Dylan geht zu den Marines und Bo startet seine Karriere als Star-Footballspieler. Doch ganz gleich ob neue Beziehung oder One Night Stand - die Liebe der beiden scheint einfach alles zu überstehen. Schließlich ist es eine Liebe auf Entfernung. Doch eines Tages, das weiß Bo einfach, wird Dylan zu ihm zurückkehren - und dann wird er für immer bleiben ...


Fazit:

Schon seit dem ersten Teil der Southern Scrimmage-Reihe, Six Ways from Sunday, war ich unheimlich neugierig darauf, was eigentlich in der Zwischenzeit passiert ist, die in jenem Buch eben nicht behandelt wird. Von Dylans Gefangenschaft einmal ganz abgesehen. Und dann war da auch noch Bos Beziehung zu einem meiner Lieblinge, Levi Brody. Auf all das ist dieses kleine, feine Büchlein hier die Antwort! Und ich habe besagte Antwort verschlungen. Nur ein wenig enttäuscht war ich dann aber doch von Dylan und seinen Moralstandards. Ansonsten war alles toll.
Profile Image for Rachael.
267 reviews
August 11, 2020
Excellent

This definitely fills in some holes. Now I am going to go back and read the series again with all the new information and make it all jive. As usual a great book filled with so much emotion. The locker room scene at the end made me cry.
12 reviews
April 16, 2018
Best yet

This was raw and real and rich-- with character, storytelling and most relevant, relationships.

Well done Mercy. This has soul.
619 reviews
Read
April 26, 2017
Loved this book!!!

This book helped me so much in understanding Levi, Bo, and Dylan so much better now. I can't wait for the next book. I'll laugh, cry, and curse these guys just like I did in this book. I can't wait!!!!!!!
Profile Image for Sophie Watson.
48 reviews1 follower
April 29, 2017
Still brilliant

For the first time I read some of the more negative reviews before I read this. Not going to do that again. Pile of codswallop.

Fantastic. Perfect. Filled in the blanks. Opened my heart right back up to Bo. And Dylan is just wow. My love affair with these books has restarted. Away back to start at the beginning.

Although I read this on kindle unlimited first I will be purchasing this one too. Love it.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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