Sophisticated international attorney Whitney Benedict is
given an assignment she feels totally prepared to
accomplish. Negotiate, orchestrate and finalize the
purchase of the infamous Lipizzaner horses for her clients
in the Austrian government. The unknowing seller is Gabriel
Mendoza and his family. Whitney discovers that all of her
experience and training hasn't prepared her for what the
Mendoza family has in store for her.
Whitney was raised in Kentucky horse country where her
family has been in the horse racing business for years.
After a brief and destructive marriage, she became a
successful attorney and enjoys an orderly life alone.
However, her mom wants Whitney to marry again and give her
many grandchildren.
Gabriel received an English degree and dreamed of teaching
at the university level. Circumstances changed and he ended
up helping his father raise and run the Lipizzaner horse
establishment. Gabriel married Kristen, a woman with two
children, Eric and Emma. Not long after their marriage,
they had Claire together and all seemed well. Not happy
with her marriage, Kristen left Gabriel and the three
children. Now living back home with his mother, who runs a
Bed and Breakfast, Gabriel builds the business and does the
best he can for the children.
In walks Whitney with an enormous offer that would set
Gabriel and his family up for life. But the proposal isn't
willingly accepted and everyone is surprised at the reason
Gabriel may not sell. Whitney stays with the Mendoza family
and soon ideas of a life with many people around her sounds
better than being alone. But are Gabriel and his family the
answer to her needs? Without losing touch with why she's
there, and while keeping her personal and professional
feelings intact, Whitney struggles with her feelings for
Gabriel and why his decision means so much to her.
THE LAVENDER FIELD is a warm and charming love story
involving more than just a man and woman. It includes a
great ensemble of family and friends who all seem to have a
stake in the Lipizzaner legend.
Cool, gracious, international relations attorney Whitney
Benedict hasn't completely given up on marriage, but she
does have a checklist of qualities for the man of her
dreams: affluence, intelligence, good looks and absolutely
no prior baggage.
So when she travels to California to make an offer on
behalf of the Austrian government for Gabriel Mendoza's
famous Lipizzan horses, no one is more surprised than
Whitney at the effect Gabe, his children, his
stepchildren, his ex-wife, his mother and the rest of his
zany family have on her heart.
When an accident prolongs her stay, she settles into the
routines of the "hacienda" with every intention of
organizing this dysfunctional family, only to find that
horses and children have a way of rearranging the best-
laid plans and that a checklist isn't always the final
measure for happiness.