This book holds two stories and the first is Irish Rebel, the story of Keeley Grant, eldest daughter of Travis and Adelia Grant, and Brian Donnelly, just over from Ireland to see about a job with Mr. Grant. The Grant family is considered “royalty” to those in the “horse industry”. Keeley is unnerved by Brian Donnelly and doesn’t like him very much. Brian thinks Keeley is a spoiled rich girl with time on her hands. He figures she doesn’t know the first thing about hard work and is a pampered girl. Of course, Brian really doesn’t know the first thing about Keeley, he is basing his ideas on where he came from and not trying to know the real person. It’s interesting to see how preconceived ideas change and evolve as the story unfolds. Keeley is perceived as an “ice princess” throughout the story by a number of characters. In actuality Keeley is a woman that loves horses and children and created a “riding academy” in order to combine two of the things she cares about. Most people in her “social circle” talk about it as if it were a little diversion to her, not realizing she’s poured her heart and soul into it.
Brian Donnelly has been around horses, in one way or another, for as long as he can remember. He understands them and they in turn understand him. He’s not a man for putting down roots. He usually stays at a job for 3 – 4 years until he feels he can’t learn anymore or there’s nothing more he can give to the animals he loves. He is a “horse whisperer”. At Royal Meadows, the Grant’s holdings and livelihood, he meets a recalcitrant horse named Bad Betty. He feels she is a horse destined for greatness and he means to find out and train her to be the next Triple Crown winner. Brian and Keeley come together with Betty and the riding academy, working well together and getting to know one another a little better. See how their story unfolds in Irish Rebel.
In the second story, Sullivan’s Woman, we meet Cassidy St. John, a struggling writer whose first manuscript is making the rounds.She takes what jobs she can get in order to make ends meet. She has a job as a sales clerk in a trendy clothing boutique in San Francisco while she’s working on her second novel. Cass has a rough time holding on to a job. She tends to day dream about her characters and the novel she’s working on. Not keeping her mind on her job tends to land her in trouble with her bosses, hence she finds herself getting fired once again….
Cass decides to roam the city she grew-up in for the remainder of the day and then worry about finding another job in the morning. As she is walking along a marina, she stops to watch the fog roll in off of San Francisco Bay. She delights in it. The fog envelopes her and yet she can look straight up at the beautiful sky above her. All of a sudden she feels a hand grasp her shoulder. She is frightened, but unable to move. Then her fertile imagination kicks in and she tells the would-be assailant that she only has $10, he can have it and take off and her football playing husband is waiting for her at a shop just up the street. The stranger grasps her face and turns it to and fro. She is alarmed, but still unable to pull herself away. As it turns out, her “assailant” is renowned painter, Colin Sullivan, and he wants to paint her. Since she can use the money and have half the day free to write, she agrees to sit for him, never expecting the turns her life will take….
Trice
Harlequin Member for years! I love to read!
