Capture the Wind for Me

February 10, 2003
Strong writing is tempered by a plot line pitched too young in this third and final installment of Collins's evangelical Christian Bradleyville Series. Shattered by her mother's death, 14-year-old Jackie Delham is left to bring up her two younger siblings and run the household for her grief-stricken father. When Jackie's dad finds love two years later with Bradleyville's prodigal daughter—the svelte, dressed-to-the-nines Katherine May King—Jackie rather predictably opposes their romance. But love is waiting in the wings for her, as well. Teen idol Greg Kostakis, lead singer of the boy band "LuvRush," is distantly related to Katherine, and not too many pages elapse before Jackie and Greg are infatuated with each other, despite his busy concert schedule. As Jackie explores the complications of romance, she cultivates empathy for her father and Katherine as they come to grips with demons from their pasts. The slangy eastern Kentucky dialect spoken by the characters is uneven (characters sometimes drop their "g"s at the end of words and sometimes don't), but the characterizations are interesting, and Collins pens some worthy descriptions. Readers of the first two books in the series will recognize various characters, but the novel succeeds well as a stand-alone. Although the book is ostensibly aimed at adult fiction readers, the novel's contemporary setting, teen protagonist and happily-ever-after ending should cinch its success with the YA crowd.