David Parsons is winning, on the best calf-roping horse in the country. Muddy might not be much to look at but he knows his job. Then David does the unforgivable - lets himself get distracted from taking care of his horse. Fireworks spook Muddy and that's the last David sees of him, despite offering a reward.

David comes across as a really nice guy, who ignores offers from ladies because he's got a fiancée at home. But when we catch up with him four years later, he's alone. Everything seems to have gone wrong after Muddy's loss. He's still competing, but without success, and his family ranch is drought struck. Depression and debt have sunk him. Then a friend calls to say he's spotted Muddy in a high-school rodeo. The Blackfeet Reservation looks far from prosperous. But it's Muddy all right, and David won't let anything stop him from taking the horse home. He hardly spares a thought for the kid riding him now.

Mary Steele is the family of young Kylan Runningbird, who has the chance of a better life if he can qualify for national rodeo finals on Muddy. Mary is smart enough to take Muddy back to the Rez where only the FBI can best tribal police in matters of jurisdiction- and they won't bother for a horse. Mary admits that Muddy belongs to David, but she wants Kylan to have his chance of success. She proposes an unorthodox deal - but having served in Afghanistan, Mary Steele is no ordinary lady.

Atmospheric and strong, the tale by Kari Lynn Dell brings us the unceasing west wind, a grizzly, and warm huckleberry pie. The interpersonal story is complex. Mary is Kylan's guardian but he is slightly disabled and tends to behave impetuously. Whether he has much of a future with or without rodeo wins is a moot point. David actually does come up with a trade Kylan could learn, one which interests him, and to me this is far more valuable than a horse for the summer. As David spends time around Mary, he sees more than he likes of the challenges facing people every day on the Rez. Full marks to Kari Lynn Dell for showing us this side of the story.

THE LONG RIDE HOME is a splendid romance at heart, showing an upright man out of his normal surroundings and a determined woman who maybe overdoes the protectiveness, because her people have always had a bad deal. There are horses so real you can feel them kick up the dust, and the romance can be read without blushing. I highly recommend the unusual story, THE LONG RIDE HOME, and I can't wait to see what Kari Lynn Dell, herself a roping champion, will write next.