This follow-up to The Perfect Blindside and The eXtreme Blindside by Leslea Wahl continues the story of Jake Taylor, an international snowboarding icon, and his girlfriend, Sophie. In The Ultimate Blindside, a movie about Jake’s life is in the works, but even as their past is being replayed for the screen, their current lives are full of intrigue and excitement.

Jake rescues a woman and her daughter, who were trapped in a car in an icy pond, but the woman is on the run from her dangerous husband. Sophie helps her hide, while the couple attempts to discover the truth about who she is and who she is hiding from. Jake also has to deal with some old “friends” from the past who seem set on hurting him, and Sophie’s laptop is hacked, wreaking havoc on her life.

This is a fast-moving story, sure to keep readers turning pages. I definitely recommend starting with The Perfect Blindside and reading the whole series.

Q and A with the author, Leslea Wahl

How did you get the idea for this new adventure?

               I’d always known I’d wanted at least three books in the Blindside series. So, while I was working on the second story, I thought it might be a good idea to jot down a quick rough draft for a third story. I asked my son if he had any ideas, and he provided an exciting thought that became the opening scene of the book. After jotting down a few scenes and plot ideas, I put it on the back burner for a few years as other projects drew my attention. When I finally decided to focus on The Ultimate Blindside, I knew something wasn’t quite right, so I asked a few author friends for their feedback. That is when the story really took shape.

What is the hardest part of writing a sequel?

               Since I’d always believed that the idea for The Perfect Blindside was divinely inspired, creating the other stories felt like a daunting task. After all, how do you compete with God?! When I was inspired enough to write the second story, eXtreme Blindside, I was surprised how difficult it was to get back into the characters’ minds after working on other projects—especially Jake. That is why I tried to write at least some of the third book before I jumped into other projects.

Do you see more adventures in the future for Jake and Sophie?

               I’m not sure what the future holds for these characters. I have one more idea for when they are older, but I’m not sure yet what will happen in those intervening years. We’ll just see if inspiration strikes.

If readers want more from these characters, where could they go?

There are four short stories that feature Jake and Sophie, as well as, Sophie’s cousin Ryan, and his girlfriend, Josie. Ryan and Josie are the main characters in my novel Into the Spotlight. My husband gave me the initial idea to have the characters of my first two novels intertwine in some way. Writing the short stories has been a lot of fun. Between Sophie and Ryan’s prank wars, Jake and Ryan’s competitiveness, and the clumsiness of Josie, a lot of chaos occurs when these four characters get together. The stories can be found in my all for One series which is available on Amazon.

The first story of that series, One Blessing at a Time is actually a prequel to The Perfect Blindside and shows how Jake and Sophie had a connection before they even met each other. And More Precious Than Gold was originally published in the Catholic Teen Books anthology, Secrets: Visible & Invisible.

In addition to the short stories, I have additional content on my website, including fun facts and playlists featuring songs that inspired my characters and stories.

Tell us more about Catholic Teen Books?

               CTB is a joint website that features numerous authors who all write fictional books for Catholic teens. I am one of the co-founders. We have grouped together to provide a place where families can find edifying fiction for their teens, all in one place. The site features many books across different genres and age groups. We also offer bookpacks, giveaways, book clubs in a box, catalogs for schools and bookstores, a blog, and a newsletter. Working with these authors has been such a fun and rewarding experience in my writing career.

What is the underlying theme of this book?

               There are always a few themes running through my stories. One of the main themes in The Ultimate Blindside is the healing power and importance of forgiveness. Interestingly, that theme was not one I initially planned to include but developed alongside the story.

As with most authors, music inspires my writing. I draw on certain songs when I’m creating scenes and characters. There was one song in particular that I listened to over and over when writing this story, Only Jesus by Casting Crowns. The song is about realizing that the accolades of this life are not what truly matter. Our relationship with Christ is all that is important. Amid Jake’s fame, this concept was something that I really wanted him to understand. As I continued to listen to that song, I realized that in order to get to that point, Jake needed to deal with his past and the broken friendships that had caused him so much pain. This led to some of my favorite and, I think, most meaningful scenes in the story.

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