Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

* * * 1/2

Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely? (GoodReads)

 

I absolutely adored Catching Jordan.  The characters and romance were adorable and perfectly imperfect.  When I heard that Stealing Parker would be the companion novel, I was very excited.  How could I not love a baseball romance?  My favorite sport partnered with some romance?  Win/Win!

Much like Catching Jordan, our heroine, Parker, immediately captured my attention with her realistic teen voice and her significant insecurities.  Noticed I said significant?  Parker’s mom has left, her brother is on a downward spiral and her dad is in complete denial that any help is needed other than prayer and church.  Add that to Parker’s focused attempts to prove she is not like her mom and you find that Parker has a lot to be worried about.   

Although this book has romance, it is more about Parker overcoming her own issues rather than finding a boyfriend.  It took a while before I even knew who her love interest was.  Kenneally handles this story with care and realism.  Not everything is happily ever after and everybody’s future is most definitely not wrapped up with a bright and pretty bow.   Not to say that there aren’t a few “Aww” moments in this book.  There certainly are. 

This story was definitely a bit dark but it was still an enjoyable read.  I would definitely recommend it if you enjoyed Miranda Kenneally’s first novel, Catching Jordan.

  

Nat