The Ultimate Blindside by Leslea Wahl on Amazon
Flashbulbs in your face. Meeting actors who are playing you and your girlfriend, Sophie. Your entire town turning out for a winter shoot in the middle of summer, with snow guns blasting fake flakes all over Main Street.
This is the life of Jake Taylor, snowboarding phenom and inadvertent hero. Book 3 of Leslea Wahl’s Blindside series ups the ante on this young Catholic man, and his beautiful journalist. Jake and Sophie find themselves once again the center of attention, but this time an entire movie about their lives threatens to derail their future and their reputations.
Jake’s former friends show up, angry at all the success he’s having. Sophie’s emails mysteriously go missing. The two teens from Silver Springs are in over their heads. To top it off, Sheriff Miller can’t help the people Jake saved in a dangerous rescue, if he doesn’t know where they are.
But Sophie and Jake know.
A dangerous man and his cronies are searching for a missing wife and child, and will search every cave in Colorado until they find the pair. But with the film crew on location, things get messy with teen drama, paparazzi, and the director changing Sophie’s part in Jake’s story. When Sophie’s best friend, Kate finds out that Sophie hasn’t been telling her everything, Kate’s absence leaves a huge hole.
Truth, lies, and forgiveness.
The truth always wants to be set free, even in the middle of a movie set. The stakes are really high throughout this story. Will the mafia men find the pair hiding in the middle of chaos? Will Sophie square it with Kate, and find what she seeks with Jake in a creepy ghost town?
(As a parent, this book is hard to read because I want to keep screaming at the kids, “Tell your parents what is going on!” But at least Sophie isn’t like Nancy Drew, who always gets hit over the head.)
The Ultimate Blindside was the perfect wrap to my own ski season. Come ride the halfpipe with Jake and his stunt double, while Sophie’s keen knowledge of Colorado history saves the day. In everything, these two characters and their growing Catholic faith are wonderful examples to the teens in our lives.
Eight Hobbits 