Catching Jordan (Hundred Oaks, #1)

by Miranda Kenneally

Miranda Kenneally's first book in the beloved sports romance Hundred Oaks series! Love is the toughest game to play…
Athletic superstar Jordan Woods is the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. Her teammates, including her best friend Sam, all see her as their leader and 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 cute. Meanwhile, Sam is her rock — he supports Jordan's dreams even when her traditional dad doesn't — but suddenly things feel different between them. For the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line?
Catching Jordan is the high school football romance to sweep your heart away!
Other teen romance books by Miranda Kenneally:
Stealing Parker
Things I Can't Forget Racing Savannah Breathe, Annie, Breathe Jesse's Girl Defending Taylor Coming Up for Air Four Days of You and Me

• ISBN10: 1402262272
• ISBN13: 9781402262272
• Publish Date: 1 January 2012 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Fire
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[liz089]

This is one of those books that I have wanted to read for YEARS, but never got to it.. So when I cleaned-up my TBR I noticed this one has been on my list since 2013 I had no other choice but to pick it up. It was way overdue.

So I really liked it !! It was cute and exciting and I fell in love with tom-boy Jordan. I loved seeing her struggle with her first love and combining it all with being the captain of a football team (consisting of only boys). I really liked the side characters, Carter, Marie, JJ, Carrie and of course Henry. They really added something to the story.

She also made me feel along with Jordan, and I loved reading a book that made my heart beat faster and break. Her writing is very compelling and easy to get through.

I loved how much this book covered in just one novel. We get to see the MC grow, how she changes her perception of the future, how her relationship with her father changes, meeting Ty, playing ball, and Henry 3 Just a great novel !!

Makes me want to kick myself for not reading this book sooner. But I really liked Kenneally's writing, so I hope to pick up more of her novels this year !!

[nitzan_schwarz]

JUST POSTED ON THE BLOG

Miranda Kenneally has been on my tbr for so long, it's ridiculous. I've heard a lot about her books around the blogsphere, but somehow I just kept pushing reading one of her novels for another time. Until a bundle of the first three Hundred Oaks books was on sale on kindle. I'm warning you now, kindle sales and forgotten tbr books are a theme that's going to repeat often on this blog.

Anyways, I was in the mood for something cutesy and fun, so off I went down the Catching Jordan lane. Did I get everything I had hoped for? 

Catching Jordan is highly readable. The writing is engaging and you kind of get swept in, even if the poetry is really not my cup of tea. And the friendship between Henry and Jordan (before the angst) was definitely the best part of the novel.

But at the same time this novel got me so very very very very very pissed. As in...

Why you ask? Well, mainly because of Ty, and Jordan's relationship with Ty.

SPOILERS // SPOILERS // SPOILERS // SPOILERS

First of all, Jordan sees Ty and his "male perfection" scrambles her brain something major. This was so instant, it really rattled. This girl, who's whole life is football, is playing badly because of a guy she doesn't know. But I could look pass it if Ty was a good love interest. If he was truly nice and sweet like everyone in this novel say he is.

But he isn't.

Ty is one of the worst love interests I've read of in a while. He's not a major douche or anything like that, so how come I say this? Because the way he treats girls, from Jordan to his sister. It was disconcerting.

They know each other for about three days when he tries to invite himself to a game with Jordan and her family. No issue there. The issue was that when Jordan told him no, he got upset and blamed her "jealousy" of him for acting like this.

Then, a week later, he goes in for the kiss, and she rejects him. Because she's not quite ready yet, even though she's really attracted to him. What does he do? He glares at her. Like it's fucking wrong of her to deny him a kiss.

What is it with this guy? And he is so controlling. Yes, he's got a sad background. He "needs to know Jordan is okay". Blah blah. He demands she change her relationship with Henry. He's forceful about going with her toHenry. He doesn't let his sister go out with people out of the house.

And does any of Jordan's friends and family think this is wrong? Do any of them go to her and tell her "sweetie, you're not a bitch for any of these things, you're within your right to do all this and he's a jerk for insinuating you're doing something wrong?" Does anyone try to slap her for calling herself a bitch for refusing Ty's kiss?????

Instead, they sympathize with him. Even her best friend. WTF. The book pretty much tells young girls that you should give in to boys and that refusing them is being bitchy.

BITCH, GET OUT.

And then, Kenneally had to go and make Henry and Jordan's relationship all complicated. Was I shipping them?yes. Their relationship at the beginning of the book was so incredible. It was like they were already together but without kissing or anything. But why did it have to go this way???

(And, wow, Jordan changes her mind quickly. One second she's so into Ty, the next......)


Will I read more of Kenneally's books? Yes. Mostly because of the bundle I own, but also because I'd like to see if this line of behavior continues in the next books, or if it's just a matter of these specific characters. 

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[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars and Very Sweet

Jordan is a senior, quarterback and captain of the football team. Jordan is also a girl. In this book, Jordan has to deal with many different issues: issues with boys, issues with her best friend, issues with girls, issues with her father, issues with recruiters. She doesn't always make the best choices the, but she deals with them (sometimes eventually), which is probably one of the things I appreciate most about her character.

Loved the characters, the friendships, the family dynamics. I really enjoyed this book.

[KitsuneBae]

Wholesome. Funny. Heartwarming. Fluffy. But I hope that there's a lot of page time between Sam Henry and Jordan Woods.

[ladygrey]

Ugh. I wanted this to be another cute, sweet YA contemporary romance because after [a:Kasie West|5027236|Kasie West|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1450586450p2/5027236.jpg] and [a:Kelly Oram|3203095|Kelly Oram|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1455838915p2/3203095.jpg] it's suddenly a genre I like. And I didn't dislike this one because the characters or the story are bad (even though Jordan is really very dense sometimes, like for the first two thirds of the book, which was annoying - oh and the poetry! save me please from the poetry).

But it's not cute and fun when there's a lot of cursing and teenagers having lots of very casual sex. It's not graphic at all which I appreciate but how am I supposed to root for the guy when his method of "coping" is to sleep with every other girl in the story? What's attractive about that? And how realistic is it for the girl to go from never having kissed a boy to sleeping with him a couple of days later?

"Why were you watching me change?"
"Uh, 'cause I'm a guy?" He flips the pillow and slaps it, fluffing it. Then he rolls over and closes his eyes again."

I did really like the secondary characters though. They were funny and sweet and really good friends and teammates. More than anything, I think, they were the reason I kept reading when I almost quit a few times. That and my insatiable need to find out what happens since it's only 281 pages so I could finish it in like 3 hours.

[Angie]

I wasn't sure if Catching Jordan was going to be for me, since I couldn't care less about sports. The very beginning reinforced this with all of the football talk. Everything went right over my head. However, I was hoping that the story would grab me. Jordan is passionate about football despite her father's lack of support, and she's determined to get a scholarship and go on to play collegiate football. Of course there's also a boy in the picture, who may pose as a distraction to Jordan and her goals. She's also never had a boyfriend before so she's completely out of her element. Unfortunately, I didn't like Jordan so it was hard for me to cheer for her.

I appreciated the author creating a female character that's so far from the feminine norm. While it is mentioned that Jordan isn't as big or strong as her male teammates, she's just as capable as them, and I don't doubt that. I can also understand her not wanting to behave in certain "girly" ways so that her team continues to take her seriously. What I'm not okay with is Jordan putting down feminine interests as somehow inferior to her out-of-the-box ones. I would be fine if she didn't want to put in the effort to paint her nails because she didn't like to (not all girls do!) or because it would just get ruined at practice, or not wearing tight/short/pretty clothes because it's not comfortable, but she refers to it all as "whatever shit [girls] are into" (pg 49). Excuse me?

It's almost as if she thinks putting on a fitted t-shirt and a real bra will suck out her football talent! It also seemed like she didn't even realize that her teammates know that she's girl, so it's okay for her to accept being a girl. At no point do her teammates make any negative comments about her being a girl! Being a girl or girly is not bad. It doesn't make you less smart, or respectable, or less whatever. If you don't like girly stuff, that's fine! But referring to it as "shit" and snubbing other girls is not acceptable! I might also add that pretty early on she does start to obsess over--and change--her look for a guy. She even puts on uncomfortable, sexy underwear! She actually spends a couple of pages worrying about what kind of undies she has on. She also says that she wants Ty to see her as a girl and hopes that she doesn't think she's fat (32%). Hypocrite much?

Another thing that ticked me off about Jordan was when she discovers that she likes writing poetry in the journal her mother bought her. She enjoys it and it's helpful to her to get her feelings out, but it's "a weak thing to be doing" (pg 132). Just because she's not getting all sweaty doing it doesn't mean it's a weak activity. It's good outlet for her, and yet she puts it down as something bad. I actually liked her poems that were included. They're not earth moving or anything, but they were honest, and the only part where I actually liked her.

Now for the portrayal of sex and sexual relationships of Catching Jordan. Casual sex is fine. People have sex, including teenagers. There's a ton of lockerroom chit chat about who's doing who, and basically everyone is sleeping with everyone. You don't need to be in love to have sex, but I do not understand Jordan thinking that she'll be called a slut for dating Ty after never having even kissed a boy before. Dating makes you slut? But not even five minutes after pondering this question with her BFF, she jumps into bed with Ty--whom she's known for only 2 weeks--with absolutely no conversation with him in between. Then after the deed is done, he becomes her boyfriend. Literally right after. I guess that's kind of cute in a way, but what about that whole slut thing Jordan was worried about? She even calls another girl a skank for wanting to date someone new after dumping Jordan's BFF. What is this nonsense?

But let's talk about Ty for a moment aka the boy with zero personality. He's the quiet type of love interest with a tragic past, but he's not very interesting. He doesn't say a whole lot, so I never felt like we got to know him very well. Yes, he spills his entire sob story early on but that's it. Later on I had to roll my eyes because he mentioned that his family is struggling to cover some very important medical bills, and yet he turns down help when it's offered because he doesn't need money, just his girlfriend? Um, what? That makes absolutely no sense. Of course his blandness is a coverup for something, and there's a nice trail of red flags, which lead nowhere! I was waiting for some kind of confrontation and nothing happens! Boring relationship is boring.

The only part of Catching Jordan I actually liked was her relationship with Henry. They've been best friends since they were kids and he's super supportive of her. He's even allowed to spend the night at her house...in her bed! He's like a brother to her, and their relationship was really sweet and funny. Henry is responsible for a quite a few laughs and that helped keep me from completely hating this book in the beginning. Unfortunately, it all goes down hill once his feelings for Jordan become known...to her. It was super obvious that he felt more than friendly toward her, but Jordan is so caught up in the gorgeousness that is Ty that she doesn't have time to think about his feelings at all. Then Henry starts being stupid and I didn't like him anymore either.

Clearly I was right in thinking that Catching Jordan wouldn't be for me, but I wasn't expecting the reason to be Jordan herself rather than the football theme. She is truly one of the most awful characters I've had the displeasure of reading about. She's a walking, talking hypocrite. She's more judgmental than the girls she think are shallow and judgmental. She says horribly stupid things and her reactions don't make sense half of the time. I'm really having a hard time seeing what everyone thought was so great about this book other than it being about a girl who plays football.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Amber]

3.5 stars. I had issues with Jordan. And forking Ty -________________________________-

[Ashley]

So. This book made me want to play football. I'm freaking telling you. Miranda made me adore Jordan so much that I started wishing I was her. Why aren't I the girl who plays football? Why aren't I the awesome, but somewhat awkward sporty girl? Why don't I have a gang of cool, weird, and fiercely loyal guy friends? TELL ME WHY!!!! WHY WAS THAT LIFE NEVER GIVEN TO ME??

Somewhere in the middle of Catching Jordan, I thought I wasn't going to connect with this book. Suddenly the romance JUMPED forward. It was kind of hot, but I wasn't sure how I was feeling about it. Suddenly I had all kinds of doubts and reservations; I thought maybe wouldn't end up connecting with it and then the romance would go downhill.. but the it did a complete 180 and blew my mind!!!

What I loved most about Catching Jordan is that I couldn't quite tell where it was going. Maybe in hindsight the plot is kind of predictable, but in the moment my mind was so blown that I wasn't sure how things were going to turn out! When I started the book, I had everything planned out in my head. I knew who the love interest was going to be and then I had an idea of how the relationship would develop. That didn't happen AT ALL! LOL! But that's what I loved about this book. I loved being caught off guard!

Another great thing about Catching Jordan is that it wasn't a contemporary romance with a sports twist. I saw it as the other way around: a book mostly about a girl trying to follow her sports dream, with a bit of a romance on the side. The romance did play a big role in the book, but ultimately I always felt like football was Jordan's priority. She struggles because football is her passion and her dream, but she lives in a world where people don't take her seriously because she's a girl. She's the best player on her team, but everyone EXCEPT her seems to be getting flooded with offers from universities... because she's a girl.

And then there's the romance! I don't really want to talk about the romance much, because the direction it went in hit me totally off guard, and I think the book is more fun if you don't see it coming and I don't want to ruin it! But I guess I can talk about some of the challenges..

Jordan has never had a boyfriend. She's always been one of the guys, and although a few people have shown an interest in her, she was never interested in them. But then the new guy —Ty—comes along and he's FREAKING SEXY! And he's pretty sweet too! But then Jordan struggles to deal with her attraction, because she doesn't want to ruin football by dating a guy on the team. What if they broke up? What if it caused a lot of drama? And then there's the fact that all of her friends are guys. Ty struggles to accept that Jordan's best friend in the world is a guy. They regularly hang out, and he even sleeps over sometimes—something they've been doing since they were like eight.

I read a few reviews where people thought that Catching Jordan was over dramatic. I actually thought the opposite. This book felt so real to me. Jordan's voice was really fresh and genuine. Her concerns about dating and life in general were very realistic and I think the way she dealt with them was exactly how a real person would. The main problems in the book definitely exist in the world: women struggling to prove themselves in a male-dominated society, dealing with your first kiss and your first boyfriend, trying to impress your parents, juggling your best friend with your boyfriend (and if you have to pick one, who do you pick?), and more!

Also (and I can't believe I didn't mention this sooner), this book is HILARIOUS! Jordan is so sarcastic and has a brilliant voice and personality! She puts a hilarious spin on simple observations without even trying.

"Didn't you know that Tennessee is, like, the pajama capital of the world?" Ty grins slightly.
"No—I don't wear pajamas," I say without thinking.
Ty coughs. "What?"
"Uh, I meant I wear, like, workout clothes to bed—you know, T-shirts and mesh shorts and shit."
"Right..." Ty says, smirking.
—Catching Jordan, Page 93

The end itself was also kind of bitter sweet. I loved the messages in the book. Sometimes you can't get all the things you want in life, or sometimes life doesn't work out the way you expect, or sometimes what wasn't your first choice ends up being the better choice.

This book was everything I hoped it would be, and it deserves every single rave review it gets! Catching Jordan is fun, it's different, it's romantic, and it's absolute joy to read!

[rakesandrogues]

Mini Review: I had heard great things about Catching Jordan from all my other bookish friends, so I finally gave in and bought it for my nook. But as I read the first chapter, I was struck with a sense of deja vu - I knew for a fact that I've read this before. After lots of head scratching, I figured out that I read Catching Jordan while interning at a publishing house. While going through the slush pile. The more I read, the more familiar the writing grew.

Maybe I would have enjoyed this more had it been the first time. But Catching Jordan just lost its excitement once I realized I already read it and I knew what was going to happen.