Bursting Box Publishing

UPDATE: This trilogy was RE-RELEASED in Jan. 2024 with new covers and “additional content.” My review is based on the first editions.
(I hope that with the re-release, “additional content” means that they cleaned up some of the editing.)

Undercurrents was Traci Hunter Abramson’s first book, published back in 2004. Since then, she has written over 30 different novels and now averages two published books every year. Unfortunately, I picked up my first book of hers in 2015 and ended up reading all of her books out of order. Oops. It doesn’t help that most of her earlier books are no longer available in print. (<UPDATE: the first editions are no longer available in print.) For this reason, when I saw her very first book returned and marked 90% off, I bought it.

The Undercurrents trilogy focuses on Christal Jones/Shaye Kendall (later named CJ) and Matt Whitmore. All CJ wants to do is swim for the Olympics and go to church like a normal member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Unfortunately, she’s also in the Witness Protection Program and struggles not to stand out with her talents. To make matters worse, she develops a friendship with Matt Whitmore: a man surrounded by reporters because his dad is a Senator and he’s an up-and-coming baseball star. (Apparently both occupations are popular on the East Coast).

The trilogy revolves around their weaving romance that defies their struggles. Ripple Effect (book 2) has a secondary romance and conversion story, though (unlike most of Mrs. Abramson’s series of stand-alones) all three books in the Undercurrent trilogy revolve around CJ and Matt. Unlike her Guardian and Saint Squad series, these books really should be read in order.

The biggest downfall of this story is the fact that these books use third-person omniscient, which is just a pain to read as it bounces back and forth between characters. Also, editing expectations have improved immensely since 2004 (especially from traditional publishers). (UPDATE: this should be fixed with the re-release.)

If I read this trilogy again, it’ll be to refresh my memory of CJ and Matt’s backstory as the Whitmore family interacts with the characters of other books by Traci Hunter Abramson (namely my favorites Obsession and the Saint Squad and Guardian series).