Main Character: Jordan Woods
Love Interest: Sam Henry (highlight to find out)
Series: None
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads
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 now there’s a new guy in town who threatens her starting position… suddenly she’s hoping he’ll see her as more than just a teammate.
What a cute story this book turned out to be. I knew that I would enjoy this book (I just had a feeling) and I’m glad to see that my feeling about this book didn’t turn out wrong. I’m in a reading slump but I still pushed through and read this book, enjoying every word that Kenneally strung together to form this story.
This story follows Jordan Woods as she navigates her way through life as the only girl football player in the state of Tennessee who also happens to be one of the top high school quarterbacks in the state. She’s got her eye on the prize and the prize for her is playing college football at Alabama State. It’s always been her dream to play college football at Alabama and with this season being her last football season of her high school career, she’s going to do everything she can to make sure that nothing distracts her from her goal.
Everything is going swimmingly until the day that Tyler Green comes onto her football field and distracts her with his Chace Crawford looks.
He’s a new addition to their team and he’s going to be the back up quarterback. He’s also really, really good. So of course, Jordan gets spooked and is thrown off her game a little bit. Ty is the first guy that she’s been attracted to in forever and if she backs down any little bit, he’s going to take her position.
Reading this book was like riding shotgun in the car while Jordan aka Woods went through her day to day activities. I felt like I was a part of the action, instead of just reading it. At the end of the book, I felt like I really knew the characters in this book and like they were truly my friends. There were times when I wanted to smack Jordan with the obvious stick and kick Henry with the get your crap together stick. I enjoyed getting to know each and every single character introduced in this story. From Jordan and the boys on the football team (shout outs to JJ, Carter and Henry) to Ty, Jordan’s family and the girls that Jordan befriends over the course of the book.
I really enjoyed Jordan’s family. Jordan’s family is the kind of family that I have. They’re close and they love being with each other. They get mad at each other but they never stay mad at each other and when things linger, they blow up at each other but eventually make up. I loved that Jordan’s Mom was very active in Jordan’s life. She never missed a game, she went to her practices and she babysat for her when she needed to (Jerry Rice so rocked my socks!). I loved seeing the frustration that built between Jordan and her Dad, the great Don Woods. He’s an NFL player but never really supported Jordan’s football playing. He never went to any of her games but when they finally deal with the problem, seeing him trying to meet her half way and help her any way that he could made me all warm and cuddly inside. I absolutely LOVED Jordan’s brother Mike too. The way that he stuck up for her, the way that he was always there for her even while he was away at college just made me love him all the more.
As great as Jordan was throughout the book, for me the character that totally made this book for me was Sam Henry. I loved him right from the jump, even after we meet Ty and swoon all over him, it was Henry that I wanted more of. Seeing the bumps that Jordan and Henry go through in this book made the story really pop for me. I was always anxious for more Jordan and Henry page time. Their friendship, the obliviousness on Jordan’s part and just everything was entertaining. I loved Henry and I loved the kind of friend he was to Jordan, so loyal and true. The kind of best friend every person should have.
There are a lot of things that I enjoyed about this book. It was an all around solid read that will definitely find a spot on my keeper shelf (must buy this book when it comes out). There were some things that left me scratching my head from time to time but it didn’t take away too much from my enjoyment, like Henry’s reasons for disappearing when Woods needed him and then some of the decisions that Jordan made throughout the book but overall I enjoyed this book. I’m so glad that I read this book and I definitely recommend this book to lovers of YA contemporary stories and sports themed YA stories because this was a totally fun read that readers will definitely enjoy. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
..and that’s your scoop!
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com
Okay, this got bumped up in my reading pile!! 😀
I enjoyed it, I hope you do too! =)
Oh man I thought this book was super cute. I gave it a higher grade though. LOL
i just briefly skimmed your review because i’ll be reading it very soon but the grade you gave it makes me all the more eager to read it. love fun, romantic contemp YA 🙂
I really enjoyed it too but not enough to give it an A…it was fabulous though.
Great review, Wena 🙂
Like you, I really enjoyed this book as well and I’d give it the same grade 🙂 I liked the premise of the story, Jordan playing football in her high school team 🙂
Loved her camaraderie with JJ, Carter and Henry. That was really great 🙂 and I love her family as well 🙂
The one thing that bothered me was Jordan when it came to her relationships with Tyler and Henry. I get that she’s a bit confused because she’s always been a tomboy and she doesn’t do the usual girly stuff. Still, I felt she was a bit too wishy-washy… I mean, she’s a girl not only playing in a football team, but is the captain!! Guess I was expecting her to be more firm, know what she wants and go for it.