Jump, Jive, and Wail

Kathryn R.
Biel
Genre: 
Contemporary

After fighting hard to get women’s ski jumping into the Olympic lineup, Kaitlin Reynolds suffers a devastating injury that ends her Olympic dreams for good. She has become angry and bitter, causing her estrangement from family and friends. She refuses to even watch the Sochi Olympics on TV - she just can’t; it’s too painful to even think about.

But a girl has to make a living, so Kaitlin takes a job selling TENS units, something she knows about from personal experience.

Declan McLoughlin is a figure skater who took the bronze medal home from the Sochi Olympics. Making his way through the airport, trying not to be too visible, he literally runs into Kaitlin by accident. They strike up a conversation, and Declan realizes that Kaitlin doesn’t know who he is, thank goodness. A friendship begins when their flight is cancelled, sparks fly, but neither act upon those sparks, at least not yet.

This is no insta-love story, which helps keep the reader engaged from page one. Ms. Biel does justice to the Olympic aspect of her novel and has done her research well. The only downside is that it is written in dual POV’s and gets to be a tad redundant when scenes repeat, each told from the other's POV. If one likes stuck-up, spoiled characters, Ms. Biel excels at writing excellent side characters that fit the bill. Like watching a ski jumper or figure skater land a particular scary jump, one will be rooting for that amazing ending!

Lynne Bryant