Thursday, February 7, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: Stealing Parker (Hundred Oaks #2) by Miranda Kenneally

I honestly can't believe that I waited for Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally for three weeks just to end up reading it in a couple of hours. Seriously, I couldn't even make it last a day or two. That's not necessarily a bad thing though. What I'm trying to say is I just couldn't put this book down. Anyway, this is a companion novel to Catching Jordan and the events in this novel takes place after the events from the previous book. Some familiar characters pop up every now and then but this is a whole different story from the former. The novel is told in Parker's POV.

To start with, Parker is really different from Jordan. Jordan is one of the boys. Parker is not and she has a very different reputation as well. I think the only common denominator between the two is that both are from Hundred Oaks, both are athletes, Parker used to be a softball player while Jordan is the quarterback of the men's football team, and both are pretty girls with a slightly problematic home life. I honestly like them both even if they're very different but I think Jordan still wins this round. For some reason, Parker  annoyed me a quite a bit. She has this tendency to just keep to herself even if there are times when it's actually easier to come clean or something. And she did have this self-destructive way of handling her problems. Well, to each her own as some people might say. I guess that's the point of this entire novel anyway. For her to realize that sometimes she just needs to suck it up and go on with her life. I did like the fact that she's not a dumb chick. She is the class valedictorian after all. But other than that I actually liked Parker and for some reason I could actually feel for her. Not that I was once the school slut or anything. 

Then there's Brian, the new assistant coach, who happens to be very young and hot. I think hormones got the best of Parker at this point. To be honest, I actually rooted for him at some point but then he ends up becoming controlling and the fact that I felt like he only lead Parker on, so yeah, bye bye. He did have some redeeming qualities. He did what he had to do to save his and Parker's butt when everything fell apart.

And lastly, we have Will a.k.a. Corndog. I know right? Captain of the baseball team, class salutatorian, hot guy blah blah and you end up being called Corndog. I laugh every time they call him Corndog. No one even bothers to call him Will in the entire book. I think only his parents did. Honestly, the very first thought that came to mind when Corndog opened his mouth was that he's going to be one of these adorable douchebags in the novel but as the story goes I just can't help but fall in love with him. I was like how can Parker be so blind? Choose him! He's obviously better for you. He was sweet, charming and funny and everything that you could possibly ask for in a boyfriend. Obviously, I was smitten.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this as much as Catching Jordan even if Parker managed to annoy me from time to time. But that aside, I really enjoyed the dynamics between the characters. Their interactions either left me happy, sad, stunned and other emotions that I didn't even know I was capable of feeling. I liked Parker's best friend, Drew as well. He had some issues going on but he still managed to keep up appearances. I also like the fact that our favorite characters from its predecessor made cameos. Sam, who is now a member of the baseball team for some reason, Jordan, Marie, Carrie, JJ, Carter, Ty even Kristen. I like that we actually know what's going on with the characters that we learned to love and hate. And that their worlds are actually parallel to one another. I loved the ending BTW. Anyway, I liked the fact that everything was kept simple, fun and easy to read even if there were some risque scenes in the book itself. I also like the fact that Miranda Keneally always has more complex issues behind the sappy love stories that she writes. Like for instance this book tackles issues like inappropriate relationships, identity crisis and being yourself. For me, it tells us that it's okay to be yourself and to be happy and that sometimes what other people think is not necessarily important. I'd probably recommend this to more mature audiences. I really love the Hundred Oaks Series and I would definitely continue reading this. I actually pre-ordered Things I Can't Forget already from TBD. Yes, I am that excited. 

Rating: 5/5 stars

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