Posts Tagged: Racing Savannah

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Review: Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally

Posted by 18 Comments

I received this book for free from Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Racing Savannah by Miranda KenneallyRacing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally
Series: Hundred Oaks #4
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on December 3rd 2013
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: Sourcebooks Fire
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

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 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…

I’ve come to expect a super sweet, romantic, and character oriented read when I pick up a Kenneally book and this is, again, exactly what I got from Racing Savannah. This one has its own charm that separated it from the others as it’s kind of like the “new generation” of this series. We see glimpses of our beloved characters from the other books who have now gotten a bit older and their relationships are moving ahead which was very exciting to see, and bittersweet because it made me miss them! 🙂

This time our wonderful protagonist is Savannah. She has a passion for horse racing – well horses in general – and a take-no-crap attitude that I loved. As a girl, she unfortunately get the expected chuckles and odd looks from the other hose jockeys, thinking she’s not tough enough to be a part of this sport. Well, she surely shows them! You can’t help but root for this girl! As usual, the side cast provides great personality to the book as well. While the other novels focused on either a sports team or a whole camp personnel, Racing Savannah brings us into the lives of the elite, and the help who work for them. I’m always fascinated by this rich side of society that I don’t often – or ever – encounter where I’m from. Live-in maids and farm help who are barely making ends meat, working for – and living with – a family who could buy a million dollar farm at a moment’s notice. I especially loved the dynamic between the workers; the “stick together” bond they all seem to have.

With that said, Savannah and the love interest, Jack, are from quite opposite spectrums. Plus, Jack being her boss was given a rule to never mingle with the staff – but you and I both know this never stops young love, right? *dreamy sigh*. I wasn’t sure what to make of Jack at first, thinking he would sustain the stereotypical snotty attitude that’s often associated with his status and social standing. Instead he quickly grew on me. His hesitations stemming from his need to show his dad he’s got what it takes to run the farm, not his monetary ranking. He also learns he has to stand up for what he wants. The romance has that great forbidden fruit vibe with a ton of chemistry, but it’s not all flowers and butterflies either. They both have to overcome obstacles built from their differences in class and realistic expectations of their futures – theirs and their parents’.

Fans of the series are sure to find themselves swooning over this newest installment in the Hundred Oaks series. Like the others, it’s not necessary to have read the prior books to fully understand this one. Though, it’s so much fun to see our old beloved characters from new angles, to realize everyone in this small town is all interconnected somehow, that I truly recommend reading this series as a whole.

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos