Jules Thornton spent her inherited college fund on ten acres and a barn. She bought a ribby, scruffy, Thoroughbred and trained him up. Now she’s taking on the world of three-day eventing, young as she may be. AMBITION certainly describes this Florida horsewoman.
Jules lives in a temporary dwelling across from the barn, which has seen better days. Readers may be confused by the new cover of this edition. It doesn’t fit the first half of the book. The handsome house and railed fields do fit with a near neighbour, Pete Morrison, who is from a wealthy family and is, unfortunately, a rival. Jules has two working students, who keep the stable work happening while she tries to train thirteen horses a day. That number is too many, I could have told her. The star is chestnut Dynamo, already a three-day eventing horse and the love of Jules’s life. The other horses are for sale or belong to other owners who pay her for training. One such is about to throw a major spanner in the works.
The eight-book Eventing series brings to life the sweltering weather, which in this story becomes dangerously hot and includes the preparations for a hurricane. This could happen anytime in Florida, so horse owners have to be ready. We also see the tightly competitive world of eventing. Horses start as novices with a one-day event, dressage, jumping and cross country. The higher league extends the contest over three days and moves the showjumping to last. Rules are strict and entries are expensive. Jules is so desperate, that she even considers stepping outside the rules, and learns the hard way that there’s a reason top people don’t hire cheap farriers. If she can’t make a go of training, she can’t stay in business as a horsewoman; that’s all she’s ever wanted until now.
Natalie Keller Reinert is a well-established author of equestrian fiction, which is YA or New Adult, due to occasional alcohol use and strong language. Showing us fit, energetic young people, at the mercy of hormones and loneliness, makes the competitors human behind the scenes, and hard work takes a mental and emotional toll. Jules needs friends, but can’t see that. She doesn’t want to depend on anyone, except her horse. And having burned her financial bridges, she can’t afford to be wrong. There is nothing wrong with having AMBITION, but ambition for a team is a lot better and happier than solo ambition. Follow Jules through the excellent series to see how her career develops. You are guaranteed a Florida storm or three. There’s also a prequel, called Bold, which shows Jules’s arrival at the farm.
The first book in Natalie Keller Reinert’s beloved Eventing Series, set in the high-stakes world of three-day eventing, now reimagined and repackaged!
Jules Thornton didn’t come to Florida horse country to make friends. With her beloved horse Dynamo and her ruthless ambition, she is intent on becoming a world-class rider and trainer. Chasing dreams this big doesn’t leave much time for things like friends or vacations or properly cooked meals. And she certainly doesn’t have time for Pete Morrison, the handsome heir to one of Ocala’s grandest horse farms who keeps beating her at events and, for some reason, asking her out to dinner.
But even Jules has to admit that she is hanging on by a thread. As a new horse challenges her skills and her farm slips toward bankruptcy, she begins to realize her ambition can only take her so far. With hurricane season on the horizon, Jules will need to learn to trust her community—or risk losing everything.
In Natalie Keller Reinert’s beloved eight-book Eventing Series, we follow Jules and her friends through the joys and losses of competitive eventing, as they climb to the top of their sport—and into one another’s lives and hearts. Utterly immersive and propulsive, this series is an unforgettable journey for anyone who has ever fallen in love with horses, or humans.
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