"The Most Important Catch" book review

The Most Important Catch by Jaclyn M. Hawkes is really a tale of two stories. The dominate, and most interesting, is the love story between NFL superstar Robby “Rocket” Robideaux and 23-year-old nurse Kelly Campbell.

Many parts of their developing relationship were very well written. It reminded me of when I fell in love with my wife. The interaction between Robby and Kelly is at times sweet, while at other times, is it downright hilarious. Hawkes has a real talent for dialogue and humor. I found myself smiling on several occasions.

The second element of the story is why Kelly is on the run. In an attempt to avoid spoiling any surprises, here is what is written on the back of the book:

Run or die! She knew too much, and she’d seen too much. And the police refused to help. Knowing that she was to be the next scheduled death, Kelly Campbell hid under head to toe black leather and a tinted motorcycle helmet and ran for her life. When the weather turned cold, she turned south. She ended up in North Carolina, home to one of the most famed and eligible NFL football stars in the whole league; only she didn’t know that. She thought he was a businessman. Not being a huge fan, all she knew was that he was incredibly attractive, kind, generous, and that she was safe with him. Or was she? His brand of fame proved to be all but deadly, but his fame wasn’t nearly as lethal as his attraction. He kept her safe and protected. All except for her heart.

I think Hawkes came up with a good reason for Kelly to be on the run, but that plotline played a significantly smaller part to the story. In other words, if you are expecting a page turning thriller, this isn’t it.

What is it then? It’s a love story with all its ups and downs, hopes and doubts, joys and heartbreaks. If that’s your cup of tea, you’ll enjoy this book.

Overall I enjoyed the book. It was a clean read with no objectionable material.

I should note this book is geared for LDS, or “Mormon” audiences. It pulls no punches in talking about faith, God and various elements of the LDS faith. The downside? If you aren’t familiar with LDS practices and beliefs, chances are you’ll be confused by several things in the book.

There are a couple of things that would have made the book more enjoyable to me. First, there was a lot of internal dialogue with the main characters sorting out their feelings. Some of it was quite repetitive and I found myself skipping over those parts. Second, it’s a picky thing, but there were a number of technical issues with the typesetting and layout of the book that distracted me. Then again, as a published author myself, I’m probably more aware of those things than most.

If you are a fan of LDS fiction and romance books, you’ll certainly want to pick this book up! It can be purchased at this link.