Series: Hundred Oaks #1
ONE OF THE BOYS
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?
1.5 Drink Me Potions
I’m not even sure it’s really worth this high of a rating, but Catching Jordan felt like a book I had to make myself finish, which is never really a good sign.
Jordan Woods, known just by her last name to her fellow teammates, was a nice enough protagonist. She was different. A tomboy who didn’t care much about her appearance or dresses – granted, she was taller than most other guys at 6 feet – but who just wanted to play ball as her career after high school. Her life was exactly where she wanted it to be, with scouts potentially looking at her performance as quarterback (yes, a female quarterback, which is pretty darn cool).
She had a good relationship with her team of guys, particularly close to three of them. JJ was your stereotypical jock with the bulking size and plenty of girls he “used” to relax from the stress of the games. Carter was the quieter and I suppose, the “least jock-like”, with no girlfriend and going home to practice his technique all the time. Then there was Henry. Oh, dear Sam Henry. I liked him. He was Woods’ best friend and he was hilarious half the time. Their platonic friendship was nice.
Of course, then things had to get complicated. One look at the handsome Ty Green and Jordan Woods was gone. Started trying to wear tighter T-shirts to school and brushing out her hair (which she never did). And once she actually decided it was worth getting together with Ty (and sleeping with him in the first go), she finds out Henry’s feelings for her wasn’t altogether platonic after all.
Literally a day after she was with Ty, she starts moping for Henry and what they had and the what ifs of their relationship. She even hopes he would kiss her. Don’t get me wrong, I like her romantic relationship with Henry more than Ty, although I do feel bad for the guy. But Jordan just irritated me like crap. You only started feeling all these things at once just ’cause you found out your best friend was looking all sad for the last several months because of you? Couldn’t you have found a better time to get into this mess?
And Henry was no victim here either. He went through all the cheerleaders to “get over Jordan”, to the point that she had to refer to them as his “cheerleaders du jour”, which is Cheerleader of the Day. Was being all physical with every other girl possible really the solution to a “broken heart”? And when Jordan looked like she’d rather be with him, he goes and tells her he doesn’t want anything to change in their relationship .
Look, brother, everything’s ALREADY changed. And it’s gotten nasty in this pile of crap. He’s just digging deeper into it, practically wallowing in it. I just couldn’t bear it anymore. JUST GET TOGETHER, ALREADY.
Anyway, Catching Jordan was less comical and more irritable than anything. I thought it would be something lighthearted and fun like Kasie West’s On the Fence but apparently, I was hugely wrong. Not sure I want to dive into any more of Kenneally’s other novels in her huge series following this one. I can say that I am not a fan of the messes her characters put themselves into, and the way she handles the plot.
Overall Recommendation:
For a romantic comedy type of book, Catching Jordan was one part hilarious and 10 parts ripping-my-hair-out annoying. Jordan started off as a really cool girl who didn’t have to be all dolled up to get a guy’s attention. She was just herself, an athletic and talented girl whose heart was on football. Then once a guy finally caught her attention, everything just went downhill from there. With the added mess of her best friend being in love with her and the way she juggled both guys, not to mention her said bestie making all types of stupid decisions too, the romance wasn’t all that much fun, to be honest. Kenneally seems like a decent writer of teenagers trying to figure out who they are, but her plots just aren’t my cup of tea at the end of the day.
Down the Rabbit Hole 