Book: Racing
Savannah
Author: Miranda
Kenneally
Publisher:
Sourcebooks Fire
Category: Young
Adult Fiction
“Be with me. Please don’t date him.”- Jack
“Oh, so you’ll stoop to date me now that I could be interested
in another guy? That sucks.”-
Savannah
“I care about you.”- Jack
“Then prove it.”- Sav
Description
via NetGalley:
They're
from two different
worlds.
He
lives in the estate house, and she spends most of
her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much
more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such
boundaries.
With
her dream of becoming jockey, Savannah isn't exactly one to follow the rules either. She's not going to let someone tell her a girl isn't
tough enough to race. Sure, it's dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack.
My Summary:y Summary:
Lack
of money has always been an issue for Savannah. She grew up not having much,
specifically because everything they had, they poured into her mother’s treatment for cancer,
which unfortunately still killed her in the end. Sav’s father, for financial reasons, uprooted their small family
to Tennessee from West Virginia in her senior year.
Starting from scratch in a new school with a pregnant almost-stepmother
isn’t exactly ideal, but then again, there’s one big perk to make her
transition easier: Horses. Her father’s new job as a Head groom in
a fancy farm assures Savannah’s chances of becoming an exercise rider.
Jack is the farm owner’s only son. He is being groomed to take over the
entire estate. He is also extremely rich, handsome and too
tempting for Savannah not to notice. He holds her attention everywhere he
goes, and vice versa. He flirts then flees. They both know the rules: no
gallivanting with the help, and especially no forming romantic relationships
whatsoever.
Much as Sav wants to play by the rules,
she can’t help but fall for the boy… and his horse. She’s the only one Jack’s expensive horse responds to so
eventually she starts training
to be its jockey for big races. This would help ensure Sav’s future and
the rest of her family as well.
Is she willing to jeopardize everything she has
worked for to be with a guy who wants to keep her a secret? The man who can’t
fight for her? The man who is breaking
her heart?
My
Review:
This continues the Hundred Oaks series that Miranda Kenneally began with Catching Jordan, a personal favorite for its lightness and romance. Though I can’t say this book delivered
as much fun as Jordan, it did help me while away boredom for a few hours. It
is not that the book is bad, I actually liked it, but it’s just not as
absorbing as the first.
As characters go, Savannah is
impressive in that she is strong, independent and responsible. More than anything
she wants to help her growing family and is willing to sacrifice her meager earnings for the good of her unborn sister. I like that she forces what she wants on others, which is becoming an exercise rider and eventually, a
jockey. Falls and injuries notwithstanding, she doesn’t give up easily and in fact, pushes to
get back on the horse literally.
Jack is the opposite. He tries to follow his father’s rules
despite the fact that it goes against his heart’s desires. He wants to be with
Savannah yet he can’t fight for her. In that sense he is weak. But with love there is always redemption and he gets that in the end.
This book is romantic, the flow is good and the writing is as expected. Thrilling? Yes,
especially the end. It also goes
against expectations in that in other stories, the heroine always wins and everything is tied together with a big fat red bow at THE END. This one gets close,
but not quite all the way, and I like that. No one is perfect, neither are
Jack and Savannah.
The support characters here are lovable and the cameos are a plus for me. I loved reading about characters from
Catching Jordan like Henry, Jordan and Ty. It’s makes the book more familiar and
yet it still gives respect to this new story because their presence is never overwhelming.
Racing Savannah is a good read. A nice addition to the Hundred Oaks
series.
All photos have been lifted from Sourcebooks.com
