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Summary
Summary
#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts delivers a thrilling story of family secrets and unexpected passions, set against the high-stakes world of championship thoroughbred racing.
Kelsey Byden always believed that her mother was dead. But now, after all this time, she has discovered the truth: Naomi Chadwick is still alive--after spending years in prison for the murder of her lover.
Now, at Naomi's Virginia horse farm, Kelsey is trying to sort out a lifetime of deception--and her feelings about her mother. The bonds of love can be fragile...as Kelsey learned from her recently ended marriage. But as the two women rebuild their relationship--and Kelsey finds herself swept into an unsettling new romance--she must decide once and for all who she can trust, and who threatens to betray her....
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The world of championship thoroughbred racing is the milieu for Roberts' (Born in Fire) latest, a fast-paced, engaging tale of envy, greed and romance. Kelsey Byden, 26, is in the throes of divorcing her unfaithful husband when she suffers a second shock. It is a letter from her mother, whom she has long presumed dead. Her father, it turns out, has been lying to her-at her mother's request, since Naomi Chadwick was in prison for murder during many of those years. Kelsey travels to Virginia to meet her long-lost parent at her horse farm. As mother and daughter get to know each other, Kelsey falls in love with horses, racing and the gambler next door. Gabe Slater is handsome, virile and unlike anyone the spoiled young woman has ever met. Their attraction is instant and explosive, but their romance triggers a chain of events that includes murder and sabotage, prompting the lovers to risk their lives as they race to clear Naomi's name and to deal with old enemies and betrayals that threaten their future. Roberts paints her story with a broad brush, but its colorful canvas, easily identifiable heroes and villains and swirling action add up to another winner for this popular author. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Thoroughbreds and Virginia blue-bloods cavort, commit murder, and fall in love in Roberts's (Hidden Riches, 1994, etc.) latest romantic thriller--this one set in the world of championship horse racing. Rich, sheltered Kelsey Byden is recovering from a recent divorce when she receives a letter from her mother, Naomi, a woman she has believed dead for over 20 years. When Kelsey confronts her genteel English professor father, though, he sheepishly confesses that, no, her mother isn't dead; throughout Kelsey's childhood, she was doing time for the murder of her lover. Kelsey meets with Naomi and not only finds her quite charming, but the owner of Three Willows, one of the most splendid horse farms in Virginia. Kelsey is further intrigued when she meets Gabe Slater, a blue-eyed gambling man who owns a neighboring horse farm; when one of Gabe's horses is mated with Naomi's, nostrils flare, flanks quiver, and the romance is on. Since both Naomi and Gabe have horses entered in the Kentucky Derby, Kelsey is soon swept into the whirlwind of the Triple Crown, in spite of her family's objections to her reconciliation with the notorious Naomi. The rivalry between the two horse farms remains friendly, but other competitors--one of them is Gabe's father, a vicious alcoholic who resents his son's success--prove less scrupulous. Bodies, horse and human, start piling up, just as Kelsey decides to investigate the murky details of her mother's crime. Is it possible she was framed? The ground is thick with no-goods, including haughty patricians, disgruntled grooms, and jockeys with tragic pasts, but despite all the distractions, the identity of the true culprit behind the mayhem- -past and present--remains fairly obvious. The plot lopes rather than races to the finish. Gambling metaphors abound, and sexual doings have a distinctly equine tone. But Roberts's style has a fresh, contemporary snap that gets the story past its own worst excesses.
Booklist Review
Roberts is, indisputably, a pro. The first writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame, she ensnares even the most skeptical reader with the sheer adrenalin of her calculated prose and the irresistible fashionability of her characters. Her latest tale, set in the high-stakes and glitzy but sleazy world of thoroughbred racing, combines garment-rending romance with cold-blooded murder. The action begins when beautiful blond Kelsey receives a letter from Naomi, her beautiful, blond, and allegedly dead mother. Kelsey is shocked to learn that her mother is not only alive, she is also a convicted killer who spent 10 years in prison. Defying the wishes of her staid English professor father, Kelsey dashes off to confront her mystery mother. It's love at first sight between the two strong-willed women, as well as between Kelsey and a hunk named Gabe who, like Naomi, raises and races horses. But love will have to wait as various stable hands and horses die violent and inexplicable deaths. It's all greed, revenge, and lust, lust, lust. A perfect summer indulgence. (Reviewed May 01, 1995)039914059XDonna Seaman
Library Journal Review
Although mystery writer Dick Francis probably won't fret over Roberts's invasion of his turfthat of big-time horse racingthis romantic thriller about shady goings-on at a Virginia horse farm comes on the heels of a string of best sellers (e.g., Hidden Riches, LJ 6/1/94). (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.