Jules Thornton and Pete Morrison have been a couple in the Eventing series, with Jules and her horse Dynamo a devoted partnership since the first book, Ambition. In HOME, everything changes. Almost.
Working as a lead trainer with the Alachua Eventing Co-op has enabled Jules to compete at eventing with Dynamo and the co-op’s horse Danger Mouse, stable name Mickey. Her longtime friend Lacey came to be a barn manager, as all the Florida pony moms bought their kids young horses for training and eventing. But now, Jules and Pete are engaged and expecting a baby. She can’t keep competing.
The cast of characters has changed with every book, but somehow, it hasn’t changed at all. There’s always a new farm to buy, train at or rent, a new bossy woman and somebody unreasonable. There are more young women and teen girls than men, and all the men have money and want to get their way, accepting Pete once his family home is sold.
What I feel this story is missing is excitement. Jules has moved to a new phase of her life, and suddenly, everything she has worked for is not that important in her eyes. She has precipitously retired her Advanced horse, Dynamo, from the upper-level competition as he’s getting older. Pete’s retired his mare, Regina, and now rides other people’s horses elsewhere. Jules can’t compete on Mickey but doesn’t want anyone else to ride the upcoming star either, strangely jealous about a horse that would only have a few years to reach the top. I don’t know what their sponsors, Rockwell Brothers Saddlery, make of all this.
We see more of Florida as the couple shop around for somewhere that they won’t be dependent on the co-op board for a place to live. They even revisit Briar Hill, but it’s true that you can never go home again. I found one item implausible – the kids at the co-op decide not to compete unless Jules is guaranteed to be their trainer. Any other book will tell you that wouldn’t happen. Kids learn from competing and they love to try to win trophies. Horses are very expensive and kids outgrow classes they can enter. Of course, my heart was in my mouth every time Jules sat on a horse, due to her condition. Otherwise, this is my least favourite book of the series to date. Seeing how a working woman’s life changes is an important issue, as biology isn’t stopping Pete from doing anything. I feel that HOME by Natalie Keller Reinert is a step on the way to the conclusion, hopefully, a good one, in the final book Flight. I also notice it’s true that you should make all the friends you can on the way up. No time to make them on the way down.
If Jules was sure about one thing, it was that she would never become a riding instructor. But suddenly she is the lead instructor at the Alachua Eventing Co-Op, in charge of the hopes and dreams of a dozen young riders. Her beloved working student, Lacey, is back; her star student, Lindsay, is becoming a devoted horsewoman; and though Jules never thought she’d be so sentimental, she loves training up a new generation of riders. Her own riding has never been better, and Jules will be able to afford a promising new horse to bring up through the levels if she and Dynamo can win at the Central Park Horse Show in the fall.
But cracks start to show as summer sets in. Pete’s overbearing new owner is pressuring him to push his horse too fast. Dynamo is suddenly showing his age on the cross-country course. And sparks are flying between Jules and her new coach, Evan Folkes. As mounting tension threatens her relationship with Pete, and the lights of New York City beckon, will Jules decide to chase new dreams? Or can she choose Pete and the life they’ve built together, and still move forward?
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