G is for Girls

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

I chose the books this year quite randomly from my Goodreads Want to Read page. Some are quite creatively added to letters.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

You can read reviews for from previous years for this letter here, here and here, and my year-end reviews here, here, here, here and, most recently, here and here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier

Set in the glamorous, competitive world of showjumping, a novel about the girls who ride, their cutthroat mothers, and a suspicious death at a horse show

When the nouveau riche Parker family moves to an exclusive community in the heart of Southern California, they believe it’s their chance at a fresh start. Heather Parker is determined to give her daughters the life she never had—starting with horses.

She signs them up for riding lessons at Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian, where horses are a lifestyle. Heather becomes a “Barn Mom,” part of a group of wealthy women who hang at the stables, drink wine, and prepare their daughters for competition.

It’s not long before the Parker family is fully enmeshed in the horse world—from mean girl cliques to barn romance and dark secrets. With the end of summer horse show fast approaching, the pressure is on, and these mothers will stop at nothing to give their daughters everything they deserve.

Before the summer is over, lies will turn lethal, accidents will happen, and someone will end up dead.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

Chilling. What these girls (I include the barn moms here) will do for the right horses and trainers are really scary.

I totally get spending all your time with your horses (groundwork, grooming, cleaning stables, etc.) as I’m a horse servant myself, but the lengths these people go to is way above my understanding.

I liked how the detective interviews are interspersed throughout the book. it made me wonder constantly about the identity of the victim (I mostly thought any one of the horse girls) and the motivations of the killer (I only had four suspects and one was correct). It was a fun exercise giving another dimension to the story.

The themes of parenthood, sisterhood, love, and secrets were well woven throughout the story. I liked how all of this created tension and mysteries throughout.

The twist about the paternity of Vida and Douglas changed how earlier events can be viewed. And the various “accidents” at the barn became downright sinister.

The horse-buying trip made me want to collect all the horses and bring them home where they can just be loved. Yeah, the whole buying and selling of horses isn’t for me. I was constantly worried about Commotion as he adjusted to his new life – and the horse girls fighting over him.

The kind of book that makes you go out in the middle of the night to hug your horse just to remember that you and she aren’t part of this cutthroat horse world created in this book (and strongly based on reality).

Well-written with a mystery (or two) that keeps you reading.

Trigger warnings: blasphemy, swearing, verbal abuse prostitution (definitely what Kieran had Douglas do to get the best horses), bullying.

My Book

Over the Hills and Far Away (Irascible Immortals #7)

Remember that you can request all of my books from your local library!

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

You can now support my time in producing book review posts (buying books, reading, writing reviews and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*

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