Stealing Parker (Hundred Oaks #2)

After Catching Jordan, I was super excited to jump right into Stealing Parker. Stealing Parker focuses on another group of characters but with cameos from Catching Jordan characters. (Not going to lie, I need to remember names better, ha. It took me a second to remember who was who.) Similar to book one, Kenneally blends sports, relationships, and heavier topics into a fast paced compelling read. This book focuses on Parker\’s relationship with baseball and softball. Parker walked away from softball after her mother left her father. The event rocked her world in a rough way. Parker is faced with gossip, a lack of support from friends, and an overall sense of less. Stealing Parker felt heavier to me than Catching Jordan. The reaction Parker\’s church and friends had to Parker\’s mother\’s sexuality was not an easy read. Parker need support and instead she had most everyone turn their backs on her or give her the cold shoulder. The struggle Parker faces when questioning her church and her personal relationship with God was brutally honest and emotional. Kenneally did her justice in her portrayal of the difficult situation Parker was facing. Aside from the religious aspects , Parker also fell into a complicated romance. While Parker stumbles and makes some mistakes, she stays strong; she learns and grows throughout the course of the book. My primary reasoning behind the three star rating has to do with the romance. Parks of the romance I just did not really like. Stealing Parker was a heavier yet still enjoyable addition to the Hundred Oaks series. I will caveat this book though: If religion and religious struggles are not for you, then this might not be the book for you. Now to start Things I Can\’t Forget 😉

WOW! Stealing Parker was really, really great! I dont even know where to begin. I guess lets start with Parker. Parker is a girl whose world was completely turned upside down when her mother decided to reveal that shes gay. Parker is so lost that I just wanted to jump into the pages, take her hand, sit her down and tell her all the things shes learned by the end of this book. It really broke my heart to see how lost she was, guys. I FELT for her, I really did. And all those bad decisions! It was like watching a train wreck about to happen. What also really got to me was all the people in her life that turned on her after her mom came outespecially her church. Its one of my biggest problems with some churches and with people who claim to be Christian, how utterly ugly they are to other human beings. It gets my blood boiling, so lets move on before I start throwing f-bombs on this review. I was also really disappointed with the adults in Parkers life. Way to be there, guys! I cant believe nobody thought it strange or thought to talk with Parker about what shes been going through, or why she quit playing softball so suddenly. Her feelings of abandonment came through so clearly and loudly. I had a lot of feelings with this book, ok! SO MANY FEELINGS! So I had to be realistic going into this book and knowing that OBVIOUSLY the coach thing was not going to work out. Because while all those fun, flirty moments that developed into forbidden, steamy make-out sessions left me ALL KINDS of hot and bothered, I knew they were wrong. And like Parker questions, why do all those wrong things feel so good?! GAH! All I could do was wait for sh*t to hit the fan. And it was awful yall and I felt so awful for her. Not him. He shouldve known better. Who Parker does actually end up with is actually a little bit harder to pinpoint at the very beginning. You meet the boys in the book, and while you think it might be the best friend, if youve read Catching Jordan you know it wont be him, so it leaves us wondering if the coach thing is really what were going with. I liked the slow development of this aspect of the story a lot because, for me, it gave some unpredictability, which is always nice. Overall I completely loved this story because of how real it felt. I really love the authenticity and the honesty in Mirandas writing. I seriously cannot wait to read more from her.

Stealing Parker is the second book in the Hundred Oaks series, however, as the three books out in the series it can be read as a standalone book. In this story Parker is trying to heal-escape the shame and pain her mothers departure brought on her family. During this process she discovers a lot about herself, family, friendship, religion and love. Parker is a great character, a former softball player, Valedictorian (the best of her class) and sweet. But somehow once her mother is gone, she attempts to become a hot mess, kissing boys and trying to prove she is not like her mom. She is so broken and desperate to be happy again that she makes so many bad decisions. Is easy to like her and relate to her because when your world falls apart you need to find a guilty and being a Christian asking God why? is an easy option. The boys and man in the book are great, different one from another; they bring all the elements the book needs. Brian is the new professor-coach and Parker immediately falls for him. He is 23, which means six years older, friendly, funny and handsome. Of course the whole situation is full of drama, student-teacher relationships are a taboo and in this story its no different. It brings tension and anguish to both characters lives. Drew, the BFF, is amazing. He is funny and adorable. Corndog, or Will, is the perfect boy. Smart, sweet, caring and softball player, he is the boy every girl deserves. Like any other Miranda book, the book reveals more of the story and the characters page by page. She is an author that achieves to create solid and believable worlds. Through her words we live the sadness, happiness, tension and suffer with every new obstacle side by side to the characters. Overall, this is a great YA- contemporary romance with awesome characters and great dialogues. Also, this book has a smooth rhythm and an excellent writing.

I have a love-hate relationship with this book. At the start, I found it depressing and I wouldn\’t recommend you start reading it if you feel sad. I enjoy this read however it took me on a roller coaster of ups and downs. It has heavily based religious themes which I didn\’t love. Parker is the model student, daughter and Christian but her mother\’s actions change everything. She becomes an outcast and adjusts to deal with the cards laid out. Parker dates guys like hot meals and doesn\’t like them to get too close. She has her best friend Drew for that. This book is about love, romance and acceptance. Parker is a loveable character. She was funny, crazy, cool and a hot mess. Parker was also immature, too worried about what God thought and wanted to be accepted. She\’s a diverse character who I learnt to love. Stealing Parker is an interesting read that kept me hooked right to the end. I liked the writing style and the main characters. It made me laugh in places. It offers something different, and there is minimal sports talk. I didn\’t like the god/sinner theme it became too much. I didn\’t like the brother\’s storyline, and in places, it was a little too negative for my liking. The sex scenes also very cringe worthy. My last problem with this is the ending. It just didn\’t give enough to quench the thirst. This is the second book in the Hundreds Oak high series but can be read as a standalone. The books that leave a taste in your mouth sometimes get you thinking for days, and this book does that therefore it gets a solid 4 stars out of 5. Like I said I loved it, but I hated it.

Set in the same school as Miranda\’s last book Catching Jordan (also fab). Parker is nearly 18, coming to the end of her high school years, school valedictorian, coping with family crisises and with being ostracised by her former best friends as a result of her parents\’ divorce and mother\’s new relationship with another woman. As a result of the latter her mother has moved away, her elder brother is becoming an alcoholic and her father is checking out of parental duties, excepting his desire for Parker to continue attendance at their local church. But it\’s the local church that appear to have stigmatised Parker and her family for what are seen as her mothers transgressions. As a result Parker has retreated. She has abandoned softball, her sporting love, because it reminds her of her mother who used to play the sport in college and because her former teammates comprise in part her former friends. She isn\’t willing to commit to a boyfriend and instead is getting a reputation for playing the field although she limits those games to second base! Like Jordan in the first book her closest friends are male. Again like Jordan she is a focused independent loyal and likeable girl, but with a number of inner and outer demons to battle. At the start of the book Parker develops a crush on the new baseball coach who is 23 and hot. Is her crush requited? What about baseball player Will aka Corndog, (or Corn Fritter as Parker\’s dad keeps calling him) who seems interested in Parker and who Parker gradually comes to like and respect? There is her friendship with Drew who is going through his own issues and the backdrop of family issues, sporting issues and who to take to prom. This was a very good read. Unlike some YA romance, there is lots of backstory, characters who aren\’t paper thin, relationships that have a basis that isn\’t just lust at first sight and a main protagonist who makes mistakes, has self doubt, but in the end is believable, strong, decent and who you really root for. Recommended.

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