Following the big once-a-year Rodeo in Cody, Wyoming David Parsons' horse breaks loose during a storm and flees. Muddy is an ugly horse with an attitude to match, but also the fastest around, making David a lot of money. Searching and posting a $5,000 reward generates nothing. It takes four years without his champion horse to lose it all--- the championship--money-- everything, including his fiancΓ©.
David has lost everything and at his lowest when his friend calls him after spotting Muddy at the Montana State High School Rodeo Finals in Kalispell, Montana. Kylan Runningbird, an 18-year-old Indian boy, is attempting to ride HIS horse. Kylan's aunt, Mary Steele, provides a bill of sale and heads home with the horse in tow without David's knowledge. Mary has guardianship of Kylan who is diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. David is forced to travel to Kalispell to negotiate possession of his ornery horse. Mary looks nothing like the rest of her family, being half white and half Indian. Trying to take possession of Muddy is definitely tangling up David's feelings when this this little slip of a special ed. teacher is thrown into the mix along with her nephew and his disabilities.
THE LONG RIDE HOME is the first I have had the pleasure of reading by the very talented Kari Lynn Dell. I really liked Mary's strong and committed character. The plot had just the right amount of emotion laced with romance. Including the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome issue made this story more interesting and educational for those not acquainted with this condition. Kari Lynn Dell is definitely a gifted author to follow in the future, as she knows how to keep things interesting and exciting.
He came in search of his missing horseβ¦and wound up losing
his heart.
David Parsons is on the verge of making his pro rodeo
dreams
come true when his one-in-a-million rope horse, Muddy,
goes
missing. In the aftermath, David loses everything. His
career, his fiancΓ©e, his pride.
Four years later, David is clawing his way out of the
ruins
and back up the rankings when he gets the miracle heβs
prayed for. Muddy has been found on Montanaβs Blackfeet
Indian Reservation.
But repossessing Muddy is unexpectedly complicated. Kylan,
the teenager on Muddyβs back, has had a lifetime of hard
knocks. His custodial aunt, Mary Steele, will fight like a
mama bear to make sure losing this horse isnβt the blow
that
levels the boy. Even if itβs at Davidβs expense.
David is faced with a soul-wrenching dilemma. Taking back
his own future could destroy Kylanβs. And ruin any chance
he
might have with the fierce, fascinating Mary.
Itβs a long, hard ride to the top of the rodeo world. And
for David, an even longer ride home. Unless he can find a
trail that leads to both.
Warning: This book is blush proof. Should come with a
βprim
and properβ warning label. There is no nudity, no violence
to speak of, but there is some sensual kissing and mildly
R-rated language.
No excerpt available.
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