Title: Catching Jordan
Author: Miranda KenneallyEdition: paperbackSeries: Hundred Oaks #1Released Date: December 1st, 2011Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.
But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line?Jordan Woods is Hundred Oak's quarterback and the star player that got the team to the state championships last year. But when the helmet is taken off, Woods is surprisingly a girl, just with a lot of tomboy features. Jordan's father is an NFL player, and with her brother as the University of Tennessee's starring quarterback, of course Jordan is going to be influenced by football. Her best friends consist of the guys on her team, and she's never even had her first kiss yet. But then Ty Green comes along, a star football player from Texas that plays the same position as Jordan. She can't help but like him, yet hate him at the same time for trying to take her position.
There are a few words I could use to describe Jordan. First off, she's brave. She's not afraid to stand up for herself when it comes to the other guys and take her position. Secondly, she's a true leader. The way she runs her team is flawless, and it's one of the reasons the football team is as good as it is. Lastly, she's still a girl at heart. She has the same emotions and feelings as any other teenager girl, and I think that's what makes her real to me. The one thing that I didn't like about Jordan was the way she experienced insta-love with Ty. She didn't even really get to know him and she was already head over heels with him. She kind of let him just push her around, which was contradicting how she usually acted towards guys. Also, she had a tendency to end every sentence with "man" when she was chatting with her teammates.All of the guys on the team made me laugh and swoon. First of all, Henry. Henry, oh Henry. I love you. I'm sure my boyfriend would get mad at me for saying that, but I do. He's hilarious, sweet, and as these adorable quirks to him that I really enjoyed reading about. Okay, I LOVED reading about him. Of course, he was kind of a manwhore, but that's because he was trying to get his mind off of the one girl he actually did like. *SPOILERS* Henry's sacrifice to not go into a relationship with Jordan in order to make things go back to normal was really sweet. He didn't want to make things weird for the team or for their friendship and that's what I liked. *END SPOILER* JJ was pretty fun too, and like how him and Jordan had a very good friendship built. They weren't afraid to hang out along and act like total goofballs with each other. They even had little weekly routines, so it was really fun to read about their friendship.
Now for Ty... I didn't like him from the start. First of all, I was so hateful because I didn't want him to take Jordan's spot on the team that she worked so hard for. Every time she would swoon at him I would mentally yell at Jordan not to fall for him. Finally I gave it and decided it was okay because he wasn't that determined to be the starring quarterback. Then when I found out about HENRY, I was all like: "OH NO. Jordan, you drop that boy RIGHT NOW." I wanted Ty to just go away in the dust. I was fine if he went to college and became a football player, but he DOES NOT have the right to tell Jordan what she can and can't do.
If you couldn't tell, this book brought out emotions in me. It made me feel sorry for the characters, made me hate some characters that were meant to be hated, and made me love other characters I didn't expect to! The whole plot and the way it worked together was wonderful! The whole idea of this book was simply flawless. Miranda Kenneally created a novel that was clearly unique and a very fun and light-hearted read. It wasn't a book that I "absolutely-fricken-love-with-all-my-heart," but I really did enjoy it! I wish I could see these characters again, but I can't wait to read Stealing Parker and learn more about the characters in the community that Jordan and Henry live in!
