"warm contemporary romance"
At a Virginia horse auction, A.J. Sutherland buys four-year-
old thoroughbred Sabbath for thirty thousand dollars though
the steed has a nasty reputation and her stepbrother, the
family finance expert Peter Conrad, objected. Following
her instincts, A.J. pays with her own personal money. When
she returns to Sutherland Stables, Peter informs her that
he sold the horse. An upset A.J. blithely says he cannot
sell what the stable does not own and leaves with her horse
though she has no place for Sabbath to stay. A desperate A.J. travels to the nearby home of Devlin
McCloud to beg the once golden boy of horse jumping to
allow her steed to stay in his stable. Devlin still uses a
cane from the injury he suffered last year that led to the
euthanasia killing of his beloved horse Mercy. He wants
nothing to do with A.J. or Sabbath, but would never allow
an animal to suffer because of human stupidity. Soon he
finds himself training horse and woman. As A.J. and Devlin
fall in love, both fear commitment with a human. Though readers will wonder how the father of A.J. could
allow the cruelty of not stabling Sabbath for at least a
night, fans will appreciate this warm contemporary
romance. The story line is exciting as Devlin and A.J.
leap from love even though the dangerous matchmaking skills
of the key third character Sabbath pushes them together.
LEAPING HEARTS combines a good horse jumping competition
with a strong romance into a fine debut by newcomer Jessica
Bird. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 30, 2002
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