Book Review: Stay the Distance

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this eBook to read and review. All thoughts are 100% my own and are given without restraint.

Stay the Distance by Mara Dabrishus

Synopsis

“July Carter’s world is perfect from the back of a horse. From the ground, everything is a complete mess: her jockey mom ran off for California years ago, her dad always seems more interested in the horses than in her, and the horse July wants for herself will never be hers.

Even though the New York racing circuit has taught her not to get attached, July can’t help connecting with Kali, a hopeless filly that refuses to run when it counts. When bankruptcy rumors start swirling around the barn, the future is murkier than ever. July can’t stand losing one more thing, and Beck, the barn owner’s son, knows more about the rumors than anyone else. July will get the truth, even if she has to pry it out of him, for Kali’s sake and her own.”

-from Amazon.com

Review

This is the second of two reviews I’m doing of Mara Dabrishus’ work and you already know I am a big fan of hers from the first review but I loved this book even more than Finding Daylight. I loved July. I loved Beck. And I LOVED Lamplighter.

This story has a lot of ups and downs for July but I thought she also really grew as a character through the story. Your heart will break for her when she has to deal with the reality of life with horses: which is that sometimes, despite all you do, they just don’t make it. And you will cheer for her as well.

Stay the Distance was technically written before Finding Daylight but since I’m doing this review second, I’m going to talk about Dabrishus’ work as a whole in this review.

Dabrishus loves strong female characters, both the two legged and four legged kind. This is great, I love strong female characters as well. On the other hand, in both novels there has been a fantastic filly that is undefeated and running against colts and that feels a little unrealistic for me. I suppose you could argue that these two novels aren’t necessarily in the same universe and so there can be multiple really great fillies. You can also argue that there have been years in real life where there have been multiple great fillies (i.e. Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra) but it was just something that bugged me a little bit.

Another similar thread in both novels is the handsome owner’s son being the love interest. I’m not really bothered by this as the way they were handled was different in both novels so it kept things feeling fresh. But it was something I felt like I should bring up in a review.

Overall, though, Dabrishus’ writing is strong, her plots keep you engaged in the story, and you’ll fall in love with at least one of the horses. I had several that I’d be willing to give a home to if they were real horses looking for a retirement home.

Final Thoughts

I highly recommend Stay the Distance to anyone who loved the Thoroughbred series as a kid. You will get a good injection of nostalgia from this book and fall in love with a whole new set of characters. I have already downloaded and read the prequel short story, Whirlaway, and have the sequel short story, Saratoga Summers, on my reading list.

Book Review: Finding Daylight

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this eBook to read and review. All thoughts are 100% my own and are given without restraint.

Finding Daylight by Mara Dabrishus

Synopsis

“Georgie Quinn and the filly Sweet Bells are an unbeatable team. When they win the Breeders’ Cup Classic against colts, the world can’t seem to get enough. Overnight, Georgie becomes the face of horse racing, and Sweet Bells becomes its queen.

Although they’re the morning line favorites, Georgie feels like she’s barely keeping her head above water. Her parents’ farm is a crumbling has-been, her jockey career consumes her time, and Harris Armstrong, heir to Tupelo Stud and grandson of Sweet Bells’ owner, won’t forgive her for telling a lie that kept her family together as the truth ripped his apart.

Georgie refuses to apologize, so she’s stunned when Harris asks her to ride his new colt. The most tenuous partnership in racing has begun. One that threatens to swallow Georgie whole.”

-from Amazon.com

Review

This is the first of two novels I’m reviewing for you by Mara Dabrishus. Look for the second review, Stay the Distance, sometime next week.

I want to start this review off by saying just how much I loved the main character, Georgie Quinn. She is a real girl and has real problems. Sometimes she handles them with grace and maturity, and sometimes she handles them like the seventeen year old girl she is.

While the synopsis seems like the story is going to focus on both Sweet Bells and Harris’ colt, Roman, the real focus is Georgie’s journey. Things start off on a real high for Georgie as she has just won the Breeders’ Cup Classic with her parent’s homebred, Sweet Bells. Things should be smooth sailing. But things are never that easy, as Georgie has to come to terms with when her riding starts to suffer and she’s taken off her beloved Bells.

And that’s not the only thing that Georgie is struggling with. Her home is up for sale, her father is struggling with a drinking problem, and, if that’s not enough, Georgie is struggling with her feelings for Harris.

While I loved the main character, Georgie, the story was a bit hard to follow with it’s back and forth nature and no clear switch from present to past. In my opinion, the narrative also made the reveal a bit anti-climatic and when we found out the big scandal I sort of went, huh, that’s it?

Despite that, the ending was perfect. Not everything is resolved with a happy ending but I did feel like everything was resolved perfectly. And while Dabrishus does leave you on a bit of a cliff hanger, it really was the only way to end Georgie’s whirlwind of a story.

Final Thoughts

I had so much fun reading this novel and it brought up a lot of nostalgia. I felt sort of like I was reading a Thoroughbred novel only set in the more modern era. This is one author I will be keeping an eye on for future work!