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 a horse 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…
Miranda Kenneally keeps winning me over with every new book
she writes. I love that she’s created her own community that has these strong,
confident, and fun girls who each have experiences that are empowering. I also
think it’s great that she keeps me guessing. She’s not writing to a formula and
she’s not doing what’s expected, so it’s fresh contemporary that ultimately just
leaves me totally happy. And Savannah’s story has this kind of glow around it
that draws you in.
I’ve been digging all the horse books that seem to be
surfacing right now. The horses really become their own characters and it
reminds me of how badly I wanted a horse when I was younger. They take a lot of
care, so when you have characters who are into horses, they naturally seem more
responsible, likeable, and strong than your average character. Savannah is
particularly admirable. She just has a good head on her shoulders. I think it’s
great that she has some pretty realistic dreams outside of going to college –
although college is still in the mix of possibilities. But mostly, I just think
it’s awesome how she demands to be treated well. She doesn’t let anyone treat
her less than she is and it’s amazing.
Which brings me to Jack, who could have easily been another
spoiled rich kid, but instead he’s hard-working and he doesn’t shy away from
making big decisions. He’s asked to take on a lot of responsibility for a
teenager and I think he handles it awesomely. Even when I wanted to smack him
sometimes, I just adored him and the way his relationship with Savannah
unfolded. It seems like a bad idea for them to be together, but you have to
love when they go there anyway.
Also – Corndog’s little brother is a main character in
Savannah’s story, which is just awesome. He’s pretty fantastic. I just have to
say that it’s wonderful that these books are so jam-packed with great
friendships. And then we get glimpses into what’s become of Jordan, Parker, and
Kate Kelly which just makes me so giddy. (Although, in a certain instance Miranda
drops a bomb about Jordan and Sam Henry, then doesn’t really explain. I’m still
hung up on – what happened between them!) But there’s a really great moment
where they all come together again and it just makes me giddy.
Miranda totally killed it with Racing Savannah. Although, Catching
Jordan will always have a special place in my heart, she just keeps getting
better and better. She’s definitely a must read author for me and I’m so
excited for what she’ll write for us next.
