Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Catching Jordan is a cute and enjoyable read about a girl football player and her ambition to get a scholarship to play ball in college. For Jordan Woods, football and her teammates are her whole life, and she’s determined to get a scholarship to play ball in college. And to get the approval of her hard work by her dad, the great NFL player Donovan Woods. But when Ty Green comes to the same high school and gets a position as a quarterback in the football team, threatening her place in the team, her leadership and her dreams, suddenly things get complicated. Especially since he makes Jordan’s legs go weak and her stomach go wild with butterflies…

I really liked the storyline and the uniqueness of Jordan’s character. I adored Jordan for her toughness and her ambition, for standing up for herself and her love for football against her dad and for the way she bantered with the teammates, but also for being insecure and vulnerable about getting “girlie” feelings for the new teammate. But on the other hand, I had problems with her immaturity. It really felt out of character for her, who had been surrounded by half-naked boys in the locker room her whole life, to suddenly fall apart when the new cute guy just looked at her.

Speaking of the guys in the locker room though, I loved Jordan’s relationships with her teammates and how they treated her with respect and were so very protective of her should any opponent try to hurt her. But then again, their obsession with casual sex didn’t make sense and felt like too much stereotyping in the way they talked about screwing the cheerleaders.

The romance part was enjoyable, but I never really fell for Ty. Their relationship felt a bit forced and there was just something about Ty that left me feeling cold about this character. So, I was so happy for the twist at the end…

The parts I loved the most about this book were Jordan’s development of friendships with girls, her supportive brother and the relationship with her best friend, Sam Henry. I totally adored their relationship, their banter and how they always wanted what was best for each other, even though it meant getting hurt themselves.

Overall, Catching Jordan was an enjoyable, fast and light read with cute characters and a new take on the teenage high school jock theme. It’s just that it had the potential to be so much more, which left me feeling a bit disappointed in the story.

Rating:
3 stars

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​Author info:
Miranda Kenneally