Melanie's Double Jinx is actually more like double vision -- just look at those two sexy men on the cover! Thoroughbred #69: Melanie's Double Jinx.

Melanie's Double Jinx
Thoroughbred #69
By Mary Newhall
January 2005

Can Jinx beat a curse?

With Christina sidelined by a broken ankle, Melanie is doing a lot of riding for Whitebrook, but none of it is quite to her satisfaction. There are just too many distractions. Jazz is more distant than ever after nearly selling Image to Brad Townsend. Kevin, who has been helping Melanie train Hi Jinx, has been stirring up old romantic feelings in Melanie. And even though Hi Jinx's training has been going pretty well, Melanie is worried about his prospects for the future. No matter what she does—or how she looks at it—Hi Jinx seems to be … well… jinxed.

The Summary:

Yeah, um, no. Let's deconstruct this and assign point values for accuracy:

• With Christina sidelined by a broken ankle (true +1)
  
• Melanie is doing a lot of riding for Whitebrook (false -1)
  
• Jazz is more distant than ever after nearly selling Image to Brad Townsend (true, but he was already pretty distant, so we'll call it 0)
  
• Kevin, who has been helping Melanie train Hi Jinx, has been stirring up old romantic feelings in Melanie (false. WTF? There is, like, one sentence when he asks, "Do you remember when we broke up?" -1)
  
• And even though Hi Jinx's training has been going pretty well (false -1)
  
• Melanie is worried about his prospects for the future (true, but that hardly counts, especially because we already disproved the "training has been going pretty well" part.  Net score:  0)

So our grand total is -2. I think that speaks for itself.


The Cover:

OH WOW. I'm pretty sure words cannot do this cover justice, but I will certainly try, because this one is too amazing to go unreviewed forever. So, first we have Melanie, who has apparently been transported to a summer camp out west or something. (Yes, I know there's no saddle horn on Jinx's saddle, but the whole feel of the cover is very Colorado somehow.) She is wearing a fetching lavender T-shirt with the longest short sleeves I've ever seen, and her entire ensemble looks more like Christina than Melanie (not to mention her reddish-brown/auburn/brown/strawberry blonde hair, also very Christina-ish), but other than that, I'll give her a pass.

The leading men … hoo boy. We have (I'm assuming) Jazz on the left, in green, and Kevin on the right, in red. But honestly, these boys are twins. The one on the right has slightly more reddish hair and looks slightly more goofy, which is why I'm assuming he's Kevin. Neither one of them looks a bit like a rock star or has a ponytail, as Jazz does. And freakily, they are dressed alike. The green one (presumably-Jazz) is wearing a T-shirt, the red one (supposedly-Kevin) is wearing a polo shirt. Other than that, they're both wearing jeans, docksiders, and watches with brown leather wristbands on their left wrists. So I don’t know, maybe they've just come from some sort of twins lookalike contest and are ready to unleash their combined manliness on Melanie? Your guess is as good as mine. For what it's worth, the horse doesn't look very impressed either.


The Plot:

It's November, shortly after #68. Melanie has moved Jinx to Tall Oaks, and Kevin is helping her train him. They decide he's ready to race. Okay, so to be perfectly honest, I have been so caught up in the exciting time-travel experience that was Samantha's unofficial diaries, I didn’t actually reread Breaking the Fall because Claire already did that for you. (We can ignore Kaitlin's Wild Ride since it's all about Kaitlin's autumn of luuuuurve and has no bearing on The Star Show.) So if you have more patience than me, have at it.

The main plotline of this book is that Jinx is an asshole, Melanie is worried that Jazz will sell him, and Melanie and Jazz have grown apart. Or apparently they broke up or something already and I missed that too. Kevin and Melanie take Jinx to Florida to run in the What a Pleasure stakes. Melanie rides a horse for Ghyllian Hollis and brings her in third. Jazz is in Florida recording an album because there are no recording studios in New York and pops onto the page long enough to have a fight with Melanie: he thinks she's not paying any attention to him and that every time she ignores him, God kills a kitten. He also says that the horses are an investment and "if they aren't bringing in a return, you've got a problem." Melanie thinks how much he's like Brad, which is true, but it's also hard to argue with. Sorry, Mel, you may be able to pay the bills by running around in the pages of a book and wearing ugly jeans, but the rest of us have actual bills to pay.

So after that little nugget, Jazz drops a second bombshell: He's going to sell Image. Melanie decides that Jinx better start earning his keep and win some purses so she can buy both horses from Jazz. Unfortunately, she screws it all up during his very next work, when Jinx gets away from her. They come in third in the What a Pleasure stakes, and she has a less-than-stellar ride on Gratis as well. Kevin yells at her for her sucky concentration, and they go back to Kentucky. Ashleigh tells Melanie that Jazz asked if they wanted to buy Image, but they can't pony up the cash right now. Kevin feels bad and apologizes. He says that Melanie can get through to Jinx and he'll prove it to her.

So then we're treated to a rehash of the Champion Theory of Horse Training from Champion's Spirit. Remember that one, guys? It was all Cindy's fault because she was sad about Storm and making Champion behave badly? While I would love to blame everything on Cindy, let's face it, Champion was also an asshole sometimes. (Of course, I suspect that he was also an asshole the way entitled, bratty little kids are assholes and you can usually blame that on their parents, so maybe we're onto something here.) Anyway, Melanie decides that the secret is to relax and "think of an easy gallop on the beach rather than a tough race on a crowded track." And because this is Thoroughbred, it works out wonderfully and Melanie decides she's going to listen to Kevin from now on. Barf.

Jazz drops by to tell Melanie he's sold Image, but she doesn't want to hear it. Christina makes a Very Special Guest Appearance to spill the beans on that one: Ben bought Image, and she'll be going back to Tall Oaks. (This part is kind of cute because as Christina says, "She's going home to where she was bred.") Jazz admits that he didn’t really know what he was getting into when he invested in the horses, and that "we had such a good time when it was all going right," until they hit financial problems. "Things go wrong," Melanie says, "it's part of life." It's a pretty fair assessment of the situation, and if I were feeling charitable, I might even say that it's a pretty good life lesson as well. Beginnings are easy, it's continuity that's hard. (Thank you, Rita Mae Brown.)

Jazz has more good news: Ben is paying him so much money that Melanie can keep racing Jinx and buy him. I guess Ben is like a combination charity/bank here. Oh well, what's the use of being rich if you can't buy presents for annoying teenage jockeys? I have to say, though, the purchase of Image puts Cindy's Arabic saddle and bridle to shame.

Allie (henceforth Mary Sue) starts bonding with Jinx, and he's a big ball of fluffy kitten happy rainbow fur with her. It's Christmas, and Melanie thinks up the perfect gift for Sue: a plane ticket to Florida to see Jinx race. How thoughtful, Melanie. So your gift is to bring Susie with you … so she can work and take care of Jinx … thus giving you the money to buy Jinx. Very generous. We are also treated to a "poor little impoverished orphan" scene in which Mary Sue gets "new clothes, makeup kits (WTF? No Thoroughbred heroine is ever allowed to want makeup), horse supplies," and a journal. Oh God, if the series had gone on longer, we would have been treated to some special editions featuring the journals of Mary Sue Allie Allison Gordon Avery al-Rihani. Thank goodness they pulled the plug when they did.

Oh right, and then of course Melanie runs Jinx in the Spectacular Bid (get it?) and Jazz comes to congratulate her and she lets fricking Mary Sue into the winner's circle with her. Ugh. I mean, oh, how sweet. Not.

And that's it. Melanie and Jazz are finally officially broken up and I guess the idea was to get Melanie and Kevin back together, but the series ended just a few books later and anyway I was so exhausted by this point that I truly didn’t care that Kevin was even working with the horses again, much less who he was dating. So, for those of you who were really looking forward to a lengthy Twilight-style love triangle between Melanie and Kevin and Jazz, sorry to disappoint, but on the plus side, it means you don't have to slog through this drivel.

Points of Interest:

• It's Thoroughbred, starring the vapor lights again! They are the very first thing mentioned in the book. No joke. Right after the word "The."
  
• It seems that both Brad and Christina have honored their deal from The Price of Fame—Melanie thinks that Brad just backed out of the deal to buy/breed Image, and she and Kevin wonder why.
  
• Our famous horsie sighting comes up early, when Kevin encourages Melanie to point Jinx toward the Derby. Melanie is worried about the curse that says any horse who wins the Breeder's Cup Juvenile won't win the Derby. Kevin rebuts by mentioning Spectacular Bid. Later Jinx runs in the Spectacular Bid stakes.
  
• Mary Sue starts high school in this book, because someone in TB-land finally has some sense: "The school wouldn't allow it [homeschooling] for more than a few weeks," Melanie said. "Cindy said they require parents to meet certain education requirements themselves, and she doesn't even have her associate's degree. Besides that, she and Ben both agreed that Allie needs to be around more people her own age."
  
• Melanie rides a Whitebrook horse named Determined in this book. I sort of like that because it was one of the names that AU-Rebecca proposed for AU-Jazz in Ashleigh's Christmas Miracle.
  
• Apparently Terry, the groom from Townsend Acres, has defected to Celtic Meadows. His last name has changed from Bush to Conley. Perhaps he's joined the witness protection program. (Or maybe he's not supposed to be the same Terry and I just missed that.)
  
• On a date with Jazz, Melanie wears "green jeans, a green-and-purple shirt that echoed the Tall Oaks colors, and sneakers." Dear God, she really is channeling Christina. Stop the madness!

Next up: One more book of this to go. I'll take bets on whether I'm able to get through an entire book of Mary Sue or not.

Apparently the price of fame is to look goofy and wear hideous pink shirts. TB #64: The Price of Fame.

The Price of Fame
Thoroughbred #64
By Mary Newhall
April 2004

Christina saved Star from a stalker, but can she protect him from Brad Townsend?

When Christina first moved Star to Townsend Acres to keep him safe from his stalker, she couldn't stand the thought of keeping him under Brad's roof. But now that they've settled in, she can't complain: The facilities are great and Brad is keeping a polite distance. But just when Christina begins to let down her guard, she makes a shocking discovery. …

It turns out Brad is under a great deal of pressure from his investors to produce more moneymaking horses—horses bred from winners like Star and Light Fandango, a descendant of the famous Kentucky Derby winner Northern Dancer. Christina begins to suspect that Brad will force her to breed Star with one of his mares as payment for boarding Star. Christina will do anything to keep Star safe from Brad, but will she have a choice?

The Summary:

This is probably the most accurate summary I've read lately.  In fact, I considered just copy and pasting the first paragraph below, because that's basically the deal:  Townsend Acres is beautiful and well-managed, but Christina and Melanie wonder what on earth they're doing there.  Of course, you have to deduct about six points for the two famous horsie references in the second paragraph.

The Cover:

Oh man.  I'm pretty sure this travesty was the reason I wanted to get back into writing recaps.  That, and because it pays so well.  Anyway, the style is just completely bizarre, sort of like a cross between anime and CGI.  Or is anime all computer-generated these days anyway?  Well, whatever.  It looks 100% strange and cartoonish.  Christina's eyes (assuming that's Christina) are as big as Star's and I guess it's just the angle at which she's lovingly and protectively lying across his neck, but she also looks like the fattest jockey in existence.

The Plot:

So after Christina's questionable taste in new friends, she retreats to Townsend Acres with Star, even though the stalker left for California at the end of the last book.  I'm not completely clear on why Christina didn't just take Star back to Whitebrook and agree not to befriend any more weirdo stalkers, but I guess they had to get Christina to TA somehow, since, as we all know, Melanie isn't good enough to carry a plot on her own.  I mean, it wasn't good enough that Melanie wanted to be a jockey and Christina wanted to event, oh nooooo, Christina had to want to race too.  Whatever.  So Melanie is working with Jinx, who is even crazier than Image.  She's also agreed to let Brad breed Image to Celtic Mist.

The first third or so of this book involves Townsend Acres being beautiful and well-managed, but Christina and Melanie wondering what on earth they're doing there.  Christina overhears Brad and Lavinia talking about a syndicate meeting that Brad has to attend.  Apparently this means that Brad sells shares of his horses to investors so he can keep having cash to make improvements to his beautiful, well-managed farm.

Brad invites Christina and Melanie to dine with him (complete with "chilled forks"—is that a thing?) and asks them to exercise-ride some horses for Ralph Dunkirk.  Most of this dinner is actually taken up by Brad's snide comments about Christina and her parents.  Confession time:  I am not a big Brad fan.  I don't think he's Batman and I had a really hard time writing that Brad/Ashleigh challenge ficlet that Mara asked for one time.  But here he's probably the most interesting he's been since the OG books because everything he says is true:  Ashleigh and Mike have never really shown off Whitebrook.  Almost every great winner they've had did come from TA bloodlines (except for Glory, and TA owns half of Glory anyway).  Brad says, "The animals we breed and train are income-producing stock. The challenge of breeding for racing excellence, to become the best, is what it's all about."  Christina counters with, "Horses are glorious, magnificent creatures with personalities, and there's nothing so wonderful as connecting with one of them," and while that's probably what we're supposed to think, it sounds pretty ridiculous right this moment.  There was an early Saddle Club book that featured horse-racing and Carole coming to the realization that some horses are not just for fun and worth a couple hundred or maybe a thousand dollars; for some, they are big money and it's almost like they're not the same animal as a pleasure horse at all.  Sorry, Christina, but I think you lose this round.

Oh, and this is so important that it gets its own paragraph:  after Christina's little declaration, Brad comes back with, "I don't need to get attached to the horses to enjoy the benefits they provide me."  I guess maybe it's true; he never did love another horse after they had to destroy Townsend Prince.

Christina rides some horses with incredibly stupid names:  Townsend's Silver Spoon, TA Illumination, and Pride's Light Fandango.  Light Fandango is the one who's supposed to be important, because he has Northern Dancer bloodlines (famous horsie reference of the book).  Also, I think some of those names exceed the 18-character limit, unless that's supposed to mean "Silver Spoon who belongs to Townsend" and "Light Fandango who belongs to Pride" … no, that doesn't make any sense.

Surprising no one, Light Fandango is amazing and all that.  Ralph asks her to ride him in the Kentucky Cup.  At first Christina says no, because "Brad would never want me to race a Townsend Acres horse."  Ralph says that's true (zing!) but they need a jockey, so Christina says yes.  Jinx has been performing well, so Melanie plans to enter him in the Kentucky Cup.  She can't believe it when Christina says she's agreed to ride Light Fandango for TA.  Christina tells Ashleigh, who is clearly pissed but decides to go the passive-aggressive route and say she doesn't mind.

The Kentucky Cup happens (that was quick).  Melanie wins on Jinx, Christina brings Light Fandango in second, one of Ghyllian Hollis' colts runs third, and a Whitebrook horse named American Jazz is fourth.  Light Fandango is really tired, so Ralph says they'll leave him at the track overnight.  Christina gets back to TA just in time to find Brad showing off for the investors, who do not seem impressed.  They don't want Celtic Mist's bloodlines, they want a Wonderpony, and Brad failed in his quest to get Champion back to TA.  They ask if Star will stand stud at TA.

Christina freaks out and wants to move Star right away, accusing Brad of planning this.  Brad just rolls his eyes and tells her, "I didn't find someone to stalk your horse so that I could offer to let you keep Star here, I didn't call my foreign investors and invite them to have an unplanned stockholders' meeting so that I could show off Star and Image, and I didn't tell them Star is mine."  Brad tries three different tactics:  first he tells her, "We're really not all that different, you and I. We both like to compete and we both like to win. … For all your righteousness, you're as aggressive and focused as I am. The big difference is that I recognize it in myself, and I'm okay with it."  When that doesn't work, he says that if she loves Parker, she should want Brad to be successful so he can inherit TA someday.  When that still doesn't work, Brad tells her that if she takes Star away from TA, he'll buy Image from Jazz.  Well, that does it.  Christina's not sure what to do.

Melanie gets back to the farm and gets a call from Jazz.  Turns out Brad has already made the offer, and Jazz is considering it.  Melanie is heartbroken.

Christina spends several pages stewing and moping, until she comes up with a brilliant plan.  (Note generous use of "brilliant" in that sentence.)  She goes to Whitebrook to talk it over with Ashleigh and Mike.  They agree, but to draw out the suspense, we don't find out what the plan is for about 10 pages.

Christina goes back to TA with a ginormous check for Brad—the amount of money she won in the Belmont.  Christina says it's to pay for Image's therapy and for Brad to relinquish his interest in her first foal.  She and Brad get to do a little more verbal sparring, in which Brad tells her that "I get the same thrill out of cutting a smart business deal as you get winning a race. We have different priorities, but it's all about using your skills to come in first," and Christina can't really disagree.  In the end, Brad agrees, but adds one condition to the deal:  "A breeding with Star to the mare of my choice."  Christina figures he's just trying to get a foal out of Image, so she stipulates, "Any mare that is owned by TA."  Brad grimaces and says, "You outmaneuvered me on that one," which I don't really get.  I mean, they haven't signed anything, so they could just as easily continue to argue about it (though maybe the whole point is that Christina figured out what Brad was trying to get out of the condition?).  Christina's final condition is that Brad not tell Melanie or Parker about their deal.  Brad tells Christina that he'll call Jazz and she should get off the farm that night.

Then we have one more chapter in which Image is no one's Wonderpony and refuses to get on the damn trailer, and Christina and Melanie go back to Whitebrook and we end with a scene so sappy it rivals Full House, in which "all the nice stuff in the world doesn't mean a thing if it doesn't feel like home."  Thanks, Ashleigh.  That would mean a lot more coming from you if you weren't the worst mother since Alice Wakefield.

Points of Interest:

• Ah, OG canon check:  passed!  "Aunt Caroline" did indeed date Brad before he met Lavinia.
  
• Melanie is thinking of "Misty Image" as a name for the foal.  That's great Mel, because we don't have enough horses that sound like My Little Ponies.  I guess that's better than Perfect Celtic.
  
• One of the investors says that Townsend Pride "hasn't sired a foal of any renown for years."  If he were still alive, he'd been awfully old by this time.  In Ashleigh's Diary he is four, which I've always thought was a bit of a weird retcon given that Wonder would have been conceived that year, and the way they were talking about Townsend Pride's foals, it seemed like he'd been at stud for a lot longer than that.  But okay, if we accept that he was born when Ashleigh was seven, he'd be 35 years old now.  Maybe he needs horse Viagra.

Next up:  Sorry, I forgot that The Price of Fame hadn't been recapped, so next it really is the Samantha weddingfest of Bridal Dreams.

Try not to yawn as much through this recap as I did through the book. Thoroughbred #60: Taking the Reins

Taking the Reins
Thoroughbred #60

By Jennifer Chu

August 2003

It's time for Christina and Melanie to make some big decisions.

Christina loves being a jockey. But a heartbreaking accident at the Belmont track forces her to reconsider veterinary medicine. Working with a horse that has Charismatic's bloodlines reminds Christina of Charismatic's amazing story—how he unexpectedly won the Derby and the Preakness in 1999, only to go down in the Belmont with a broken leg. It would feel pretty great to help horses in similar situations. But how can she turn her back on Wonder's Star?

Meanwhile, Melanie finds her relationship with her cousin strained when she decides to ride a horse for the very couple Christina holds responsible for her accident. For Melanie, her prospects as a jockey seem clear, but her future with the people she loves—Christina, Jazz, and even Image—is less certain. How will Melanie prove to Christina that she puts the people she loves first?

The Summary:

I will give it a generous 2/10.  Yes, there is a heartbreaking accident.  Christina goes on and on about being a vet (again).  Other than that, everything, including that entire second paragraph, is bullshit.  Their relationship is strained for, like, maybe half a page.

The Cover:

Um, the less said about this travesty, the better.  Are there even stirrups on that saddle?  Why does Christina look like she's riding a rocking horse?  Why is that horse's head a veiny mess?  (Though to be fair, if I were having a "heartbreaking accident," my face would probably be a veiny mess too.)  Also, let's note that the front-cover tag says "Will Charismatic's tragedy cause Christina to give up her dreams of being a jockey?"  Sorry, HarperCollins, not even close.

The Plot:

This book zips back and forth between Christina and Melanie, until it doesn't anymore.  So chapter 1 is a Christina chapter.  We pick up after the Belmont—literally right after; Christina's still standing in the winner's circle talking to reporters—when Christina runs into Patrick and Amanda Johnston, those annoying California people.  They ask her to ride one of their fillies, Noble Answer (Nobie). Christina and Parker get back together … right before he goes back to England and she stays at Belmont for the rest of the summer.  Yeah, that makes sense.

Chapter 2:  Melanie wins a race on Blue Streak for the Johnstons.  She talks to Jazz on the phone.  Jazz tells her that Image is doing well, but Brad's served them with a massive bill, shocking no one.  Melanie angsts about whether she should give Image's first foal to Brad to pay the bills.

Chapter 3:  Christina rides some horses for the Johnstons and agrees to ride Matter of Time (Matt) in the Suburban.  She goes out to dinner with Aaron, and tells him that she got back together with Parker.  Burn.  Aaron gets sick, and Christina exercises Calm Before the Storm (Callie).

Chapter 4:  Melanie and Jazz have a hot date that includes walking Image and eating turkey and ham sandwiches.  Damn, they rival Christina and Parker for Passionate Romance of the Thoroughbred Century.  Jazz says he wants to buy another racehorse.

Chapter 5:  Christina rides Callie in a race.  He stumbles.  She's not sure what to do, but he keeps running, so she lets him … until he stumbles again.  He goes down, shattering some bones and tearing some tendons.  They haul him off to the vet clinic, which I think is the same as when they tell us at the shelter that a cat went to "the barn program."

Chapter 6:  Melanie asks Cindy for advice about being a jockey.  I’m not sure that Cindy is the right person to ask about this.  Melanie goes to Whitebrook for dinner with Ashleigh, Mike, Ian, Beth, Kevin, Sammy, Tor, Cindy, Ben … Jesus, what is this, a Whitebrook reunion?  These characters actually still talk to each other?  You could've fooled me. Christina calls to tell them about the accident.

Chapter 7:  The vet, Dr. Reuter, tries to operate on Callie, but he has "no chance of a meaningful recovery."  His owner, Marisa, agrees to have him put down.  Christina asks to see him, but the vet says that "he's in too much pain to recognize anyone."  Ahh, not bad work here, Jennifer, 'cause sometimes this is true.  (I may be a little bitter about this trope, having recently reread Goodbye, Midnight Wanderer.)  Christina gets all self-flagellating (wow, that sounds dirty) and blames herself for Callie's death.

Chapter 8:  Melanie goes to Belmont.  The Johnstons offer her a ride on one of their horses, Enigmatic, if Christina doesn't take it.

Chapter 9:  Christina is nervous and insecure about riding.  She lets Charisma get away from her during a work.  She's called to an inquiry about Callie's death.  She wonders if the Johnstons rushed him back to the track before he was sound.  Christina declines the ride on Enigmatic, and Amanda tells her that they already asked Melanie as a backup.  Christina proceeds to flip out and wonder how Melanie could possibly consider riding for such awful people who would kill a poor innocent defenseless horse.  Honestly, even for Christina, this is a stretch.

Chapter 10:  Melanie rides Enigmatic.  The stewards have dismissed the inquiry into Callie's death.  Christina is all sulky and crap, until Aaron shows her a tape of the race and she can't see the moment when Callie first stumbled.  After that, she's still all sulky and crap, but tells Melanie she just needs some time, and that she wants to be a vet.  Well, that wasn't so bad.  Only a few books of angsting and moaning; we're making progress here.

Chapter 11:  Christina tours Dr. Reuter's Super Secret Outer Space Other Hemisphere Ten Way vet facility and is all jazzed about being a vet, but decides she has to keep her word to the Johnstons and ride Matt in the Suburban.

Chapter 12:  Jazz comes to Belmont.  He tells Melanie that he made a deal with Brad:  they'll breed Image to Celtic Mist, and Jazz and Brad will share ownership of the foal 51-49.  Jazz and Melanie agree to look for another racehorse.

Chapter 13:  Christina rides Matt in the Suburban.  She's overly cautious, and at first he's 15 lengths off the lead.  Then she decides to snap out of it, and eventually brings him in third.  And thus ends Christina's racing career (I hope).  Thank God.  I've been waiting for this since book 40.

Points of Interest:

• This book is dedicated to "Barbara, Charlene, Cindy, Dominique, Marisa, and Patrick in honor of all our undergrad adventures," who all pop up as characters.  Barbara, Charlene, and Dominique are Melanie and Katie's friends; Marisa is Callie's owner, and of course Patrick is Patrick Johnston.  There's no Cindy, I guess because it would be too confusing with real!Cindy.  I can't decide if I find this sweet or annoying.
  
• We all know that Jennifer Chu was a fan of the books before she ever wrote any of them, which I normally like, but she's very hit-or-miss about the little details she throws in.  She tells us that Cindy missed riding Honor Bright, which is correct; she would've been eighteen (and in Dubai, then New York) when Honor was three.  We also find out that Honor and Glory's daughter, Honor and Glory (how's that for creative?  They must've really been missing Cindy's magic touch with the naming there), ran third in the Derby the year Christina was ten.  However, Jennifer also feels the need to remind us that "Cindy had played a large role in March to Glory's training. The horse had set a record in the Breeders' Cup Classic and had been named Horse of the Year after his three-year-old season."  As if anyone could have forgotten (and believe me, some of us tried).
  
• Also, Christina later rides March to Honor, another of Honor and Glory's foals.  I hope they didn’t have more than two; what would they have called it, March to Bright?
  
• In a well-meaning but misguided attempt to comfort Christina, Melanie tells her, "You have to believe that Callie will make it, just like Raven and Image did."  Yeah, that helps a lot, Melanie.  So far, I guess the accident count is Melanie 1, Christina 2.
  
• Whitebrook has a horse named Charisma, a daughter of Pride, not to be confused with Charismatic, who won the Derby and the Preakness in 1999 but broke down in the Belmont.  His jockey, Chris Antley, acted quickly to save his life.  Does that sound familiar?  I hope so, because that's your Famous Horsie reference of the book.
  
• Melanie thinks that maybe "Enigma" would be a good nickname for "Enigmatic."  She really has  been spending time with Cindy.
  
• Is it bad that I keep getting this book mixed up with Breaking the Fall?   Not on the basis of plot, just on the basis of title.  (Or maybe on the basis of plot after all; I think Breaking the Fall also features Christina and Melanie supposedly having a "fight" of some sort.)  I was always sort of glad that the Thoroughbred titling convention stayed far, far away from the Baby-Sitters Club-esque style of "Christina and the Broken Leg of Doom," but at the same time, it would be nice if the titles actually helped you keep the storylines straight.

Next up:  The hideously-titled Parker's Passion, already reviewed by Claire.  Next up from me:  I can't believe I'm about to say this, but in comparison to this festival of tedium, I'm almost looking forward to the Samantha Diary of Exposition.

Faith in an Extreme Long Shot

Faith in a Long Shot
Thoroughbred #57
by Alice Leonhardt

Does Image have what it takes to make Melanie's derby dreams come true?

Melanie and Jazz couldn't be more thrilled when Image comes in second in the Florida Derby. This is just the kind of proof they've been waiting for -- Image is ready to race in the big leagues! With high hopes, they decide to enter her to race in the ultimate competition: the Kentucky Derby.

Image has proven she has what it takes to win against other colts. But her competition at the derby will be really tough. Image will be running against Wonder's Star, Gratis, and Celtic Mist. Winning is a long shot. Does Melanie have enough faith in Image to make her derby dreams come true?

This summary misses the main point of the book, which is People Be Jealous. Otherwise, I suppose it's accurate. The cover, on the other hand, is composed based on all those winning shots of Kentucky Derby winners past, but in that style that makes you want to walk up to the artist and yell, "Since when do black horses look gray. Since when?" I'm having a hard time understanding this style's ability to depict black correctly. It's kind of basic. Then there's that buckskin in the background, which does make me a little ragey, I admit. They are running in front of a crowd that is wearing a lot of orange, blue and green. It does a good job of indicating the attendance of the race, but otherwise the colors amuse me. And Melanie's silks. Music notes on a field of green must be very hard to remember or draw...either way, she most certainly is not wearing red and blue.

But moving on...because pointing out the flaws of the covers and summaries is often like shooting fish in a barrel, right? Let's focus on the book, because Melanie is insistent on driving Image to Keeneland for the Ashland Stakes. For all of us wondering, that puts us back in April. So, that means that the events of Derby Fever have already happened, but Cindy's Last Hope is currently happening, and Great Expectations will happen...in May. Those being the three books leading up to Faith in a Long Shot. (Don't get me started on Hoofprints in the Snow.)

So, Image is entered in the Ashland Stakes after coming in second in the Florida Derby. Melanie starts to sense some attitude coming from the Whitebrook camp when she finds out that Ashleigh didn't want to put Catwink up against Image in the Ashland, and so decided to enter her in a claiming race because "Catwink needs it." I don't know why, exactly, but there you go. Impetus for drama ahead! Image wins handily, spurring Jazz into making crazy-eyed comments to similarly crazy-eyed reporters that this horse is running in the Kentucky Derby. OOOOOMG, says everyone. And then Melanie gets all crazy-eyed angry that Jazz hauled off and told everyone when she wasn't prepared for that sort of...reality? I thought they were thinking Kentucky Derby since Florida, but apparently this is news to Melanie.

Back at the shedrow, some guy tells Melanie that she doesn't know what she's in for with the media. They are relentless vultures that she cannot hope to handle, because she is a) a girl and her horse is also b) a girl. Also? The other Derby entrants are boys. OOOOOMG girls vs. boys! It's the biggest headline ever, because sex battles are the best. Everyone knows this. Melanie brushes him off. Surely the media frenzy for the Kentucky Derby won't be that bad, she thinks to herself. Surely!

And then she discovers that Catwink was claimed, which is somehow Melanie's fault because no one can trust Ashleigh to make a sound business decision if her life depended on it. Dear Ashleigh: if you want to keep your horse, totally and completely, don't enter it in a claiming race. You're not cut out for that type of gamble. But anyway, now Melanie thinks this is all her fault. Racing Image in anything means that Whitebrook will get screwed over, and then she realizes OOOOMG I'm racing Image against Star in the Derby! What will become of us all?!

So then we need Jazz to step in and tell Melanie that when he got famous, all of his previous friends who couldn't handle it got all butthurt and jealous of his success. People Be Jealous, he says. But that's okay, we're better than them. Did he lose a lot of friends chasing his dreams? Yes. Tons of them. They dropped like flies. But don't let that stop you from being a special snowflake, dammit! Melanie tentatively takes this advice and proceeds with plans to run Image in the Derby, despite what she feels is an increasingly icy atmosphere at Whitebrook. So icy, she stops riding Image on the track because that is apparently where Christina spends every waking moment relentlessly racing Star against the clock.

Compounding matters is the media frenzy. Because Whitebrook employs two people and lets random passersby wander their paddocks, the farm is trampled by reporters desperate for interviews and photo opportunities. Ashleigh has a meltdown about Whitebrook not being able to handle the attention. They've never had to go through this before! Ever! (Um, yeah.) And it's all Melanie's fault for entering an unworthy filly in the Derby as a distraction! Melanie tells reporters that she wouldn't have entered Image if she didn't think she could beat all the colts, upsetting Christina's delicate sensibilities, and causing to deepen the rift. And then Christina nearly runs over a reporter with her car, crossing the line between innocent girl we should feel sorry for and assault with a deadly weapon (vehicular.)

At school, Melanie is told she sucks at chemistry, and so she decides that she will force Parker into tutoring her. Because apparently he is back from England, although I was pretty sure he was supposed to be training for Burghley. But whatever. Apparently he has time to skip back and tutor Melanie in chemistry so he can hang around Whitebrook and make eyes at Christina, who has suddenly taken an interest in clothing and proper hair care. She is dressing and blowing out her hair like this girl who has walked out of a teen drama, much to Melanie's consternation. Feeling slovenly and unworthy, Melanie slinks off to talk to Jazz on the phone, who tells her he won't be in town until Tuesday. OOOOMG. Or whatever. It's like a week from the Derby now, and Melanie just wants this over with all ready, except then some guy decides that jumping into Image's paddock at night to get a photograph is the best time to do this ever and causes another collective meltdown. Image isn't safe! There could be people with cameras hiding in her stall! Lurking in the bushes! Sleeping at her feet! (Wait, that's Melanie...) She has to get out of here!

ENTER BRAD TOWNSEND.

So, apparently Celtic Mist isn't getting the attention Brad thinks he deserves. So he listens to Parker's business proposal that they allow Melanie and Image to stay at Townsend Acres so that Parker can finally have sex with his on-off girlfriend, and hears instead that he should have Image live at Townsend Acres so he can get in on the media frenzy. He approaches Melanie about his proposition, and Melanie is of course a petulant brat at first before Brad employs his awesomeness and she is stunned into accepting. In a haze, she tells Mike and Ashleigh about Brad's plan, and of course they all say that Brad is awesome and she should clearly do this. Of course, this could just be them trying to get rid of her, but Image must come first! Horses, then family. Always.

Melanie settles into her gargantuan and exquisite surroundings at the Townsend Acres guest house, and Image settles in under the watchful security cameras and Brad's all knowing stare. Much to her irritation, Melanie loves it. She loves the manicured grounds, and the helpful groom that has to work for her or be kicked out on his ass, and the microwave that looks like a bread box. She loves it. So much that she goes to a formal event at Townsend Acres. She wears a dress. And it is tight, and mid-thigh, and low-scooped, and splashed with primary colors. Even Jazz decides that tonight is not the night for his all black ensemble, or his groom outfit, or his geek costume complete with pocket protector. Tonight is the night for no ties and no socks. Jazz cannot be contained. Nor can Christina. She waltzes in wearing a short blue dress and strappy heels.

For a second--a brief, almost horrifying second--I imagined this as a CW show. And it almost worked. I could almost see it happening. But then Christina opened her mouth and started to accuse Melanie of abandoning family for the enemy, and then I couldn't decide if that made this vision worse or better. Melanie insists that she did it for Image. It was all for Image! Only Christina doesn't believe her and flounces off, somehow managing not to break her ankle while wearing heels for the first time in her life. Melanie then overhears people talking about how little a chance they believe Image has, and because she is a Thoroughbred series character she seriously takes this to heart.

When derby day dawns, Melanie puts Jazz's new silks on and stares at herself in the mirror long enough to feel self-conscious when someone else walks into the jockey's room. It was just a loose thread! Ha ha! I wasn't just staring at myself, or anything. Christina gives her a look, and probably rolls her eyes. Then Wolf gets into a jockey war of words that is ridiculous, and Melanie has to break it up before they start calling each other jerkface and proclaim that the other will eat their dust. OOOOMG. Jockey fights are the best.

Out in the paddock, Jazz kisses Melanie for good luck and off they go. Admittedly, I was bored, so I skimmed through the race, but rest assured that the announcer said something stupid and all the horses are so evenly matched that they all tried to run in front together. Only at the very end of the race do Image, Celtic Mist and Gratis break free of the clump and race on to victory. Star, as fate would have it, got stuck behind horses, which is a phenomenal achievement when there are only nine horses in the race. Nice work, Chris!

But then, after the high of winning the Kentucky Derby, Image breaks her leg and falls to the ground. Melanie goes into shock and wakes up in a hospital bed with a broken rib and a bruised lung, which means she is just sympathetic enough now for Chris to make the effort to make up. Everyone group hugs, and Melanie decides to let Image die, which is probably the most adult decision anyone has ever made in this series, considering it's a series of completely ridiculous recoveries and declarations of "we must try!" Melanie just throws in the towel, knowing that Image is the second coming of Ruffian and isn't going to stand for a sling and will probably tear down her stall.


And thus Perfect Image dies.

Ha! No, wait. This is still the Thoroughbred series. Here's what really happens: Melanie goes back to Townsend Acres, under the impression that she will stay there for a few days with Christina and Parker and Jazz and this is okay with all their parents despite them being rowdy teens. They are rowdy teens in mourning, I guess, so whatever. Before Melanie can get to the guest house ENTER BRAD TOWNSEND who is all come, Melanie, allow me to show you my super awesome medical facility that is part of my super awesome Thoroughbred farm because I am so super awesome I can barely be contained. COME WITH ME. And Melanie, because she cannot say no and has no power against him, goes. Brad shows off the whole place, and forces Melanie to agree that he is awesome. Although she is suspect, because Brad is cheerful and chipper, and for whatever reason everyone in this series gives Brad the side eye when he's happy. Then he shows her the pool, and lo...there is Image treading up a storm.

Melanie falls to her knees, totally stunned, and Brad lets out one final, "Yes, I am this awesome" before he magically disappears before Melanie or Jazz can find and thank him. At one point, someone actually says they should thank Brad..."wherever he went."

Brad Townsend = Batman. I'm just saying.

So then Melanie jumps in the pool and swims out to Image, and it's heartwarming and actually an okay ending. So there.

Talking Points:

• A lot is made of Whitebrook really depending on Star and expecting him to do well in the Kentucky Derby, but I'm not sure that's ever been the case. Case in point: see all the times everyone didn't want to race him after the virus. 
• Ashleigh never won the Triple Crown, apparently. She just won "jewels," much like Julie Krone.
• Also, Wonder never won the Derby after Winning Colors. 
• Also, Champion never won the Triple Crown. Whitebrook has now "never had a Triple Crown winner."
• Ashleigh, at one point, says that the farm isn't able to handle the kind of attention they're receiving. She waves her arms around and says, "Look at this place!" I think...I may be imaging some of it because I find it super amusing. But it's still basically what happened.
• I highly doubt Ashleigh would act like that much of a bitch to her niece. Christina, yes. I mean, that's a given any day of the week for any reason at all, but Ashleigh never had it in her to make Melanie feel that unwelcome. I think there's always been an undercurrent of Ashleigh finding Image unruly and not worth the trouble, but this book takes it too far. And where the hell is Mike to temper this craziness? 
• Brad has Melanie's dad and her stepmom ride some boat in some Kentucky Derby festival thing and they're all besides themselves because to ride this boat is reserved for dignitaries or whatever and I imagined Brad Townsend standing atop it, staring into the wind, being so full of awesome no one dare approach as the boat wins their festival race by daylight. 
• And then Image won and Star came in last. I still can't wrap my brain around this. Years have passed and I am still awed and confused by this decision.

 Anyhoo. So that's the Kentucky Derby. Next up, the Preakness (wherein Star still doesn't win.)

Perfect Challenge, or today we confirm that Florida is totally insane.

Perfect Challenge
Thoroughbred #52
by Alice Leonhardt

Melanie Graham knows Image is Triple Crown material. The problem is, the filly is too smart for her own good. She's difficult to train, hates to be stabled indoors, and fights with other horses. But if Melanie is going to run Image in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont, the filly is going to have to get over herself.

For practice, Melanie takes Image to Florida to run in an easy fillies-only race. But when Melanie gets to the track, she discovers that her father has entered Image in the prestigious Florida Derby instead. He badly needs the purse money to save his failing business and he truly believes Image can win. Melanie is doubtful. Will Image rise to the challenge?

I'm kind of loving that this blurb automatically assumes that Melanie has been dead set on pointing Image toward the Triple Crown since day one. In fact, I've got to hand it to Melanie (for a change): Image was only ever the filly that didn't want to race, but had potential to possibly race well one day, and Melanie had the presence of mind to at least know that much. Image was never Super OMG Wonder Filly with fifteen exclamation points. It was only the casual change in plans brought to us by Melanie's dad and then Jazz that turned Image into Super OMG Wonder Filly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's fifteen exclamation points typed out. It's frightening, isn't it? Yes, I know it is. You have Mel's dad and Jazz to thank for that. Not Melanie, for a change. No sirree. 

Also, let's examine this book cover. It's atrocious, for one thing. The bit is sliding right through that bay's mouth, mainly because his jockey is exerting a lot of effort to punch Melanie in the face with his crop hand. Melanie has been captured in that "ooooh, shit" moment, right before she's about to get clocked in the head. Image, for whatever reason, is wearing a ginormous breastplate I am sure has never seen a racetrack ever in the history of time. Also, both horses look like tired plow ponies plodding into a headwind. In fact, Image looks like she's in the middle of stumbling over her own feet. This is kind of inspired by a fleeting moment in the book that I think someone took out of context or greatly exaggerated, but I guess of all the moments someone could have chosen to draw for this cover, I suppose it will do.

Anyway! So in the last book, Christina was training Star in California. The events in that book actually occur after the events of this book, since Melanie actually went to Florida when Christina was left at Whitebrook during Rising Star and was back in Kentucky by the events of Distance Runner. Melanie actually calls home to talk to Christina, who is mentioned as having Parker problems, which actually were mainly resolved during Distance Runner when they broke up. To make chronological sense, this book should have happened right after Rising Star, but for whatever reason...didn't.


We start out Perfect Challenge with Melanie and Joe stubbornly hauling a very petulant Image to Florida via van. There is screaming, destruction of property, and lots of blood along the way. I love how everyone's first thought concerning an animal who can't handle being contained in small spaces for more than thirty minutes and was banned from a relatively small time track in their backyard is to put it on a truck and haul it to another state to try racing it at a bigger track against better competition. Of course! Naturally this is the best option for everyone! Only when they finally get to Florida, they are immediately turned away at the gate of the farm they were supposed to board at due to strangles. So Image finds herself all cooped up at Gulfstream instead and Melanie is literally on the verge of a mental breakdown. Again.


But Image must race in the Bonnie Miss, since she won some race at that other track and now has to "prove herself" against better horses elsewhere for some reason. Melanie just wants to take this day to day, but her dad and Jazz collectively wear the pants in this relationship and she knows it. So Melanie is being a good employee, only she puts on the brakes severely when her dad says, "Oh, by the way, we're racing in the Florida Derby instead and it's kind of a week from now. Hooray?"


Melanie isn't feeling it. She decides that under no circumstances is Image ready to race a mile and an eighth against colts, and I'm all "Good for you! Logic has its uses, right?" But then Will puts on his puppy dog face and whines that his business is failing due to his unprecedented and horrible decisions. (Tip: Never, ever, support a band called Bugg Spray. The name should have been his first clue that the band members were unmanageable druggies. Not that being an unmanageable druggie has ever really been a bad thing in the music industry...but I digress.)


So Melanie is won over by her dad's plight and decides that hell, yes, she's totally running Image in the Florida Derby. Even despite Alexis, evil lady who once managed Tall Oaks, who's back with a Derby entrant called Speed.com who is owned by the fictional Bill Gates. I am about 100% positive you can't name a horse Speed.com, since it looks so incredibly stupid when I write it in a sentence. Speed Dot Com, sure. But I don't make the rules here, obviously.


Anyhoodle, Melanie decides to breeze Image to make sure she's good and tired and will therefore feel less inclined to terrorize everyone in her path. This ends disastrously, with Melanie falling off and Image taking a solo cruise around the track. Had Cindy been there, I'm sure she would have insisted Melanie be banned from American racing for life. But Mary Anderson isn't writing this book, so thankfully Melanie and Image get another chance. Only to blow it later when Image somehow gets loose (possibly due to Alexis, but Melanie cannot prove it so she suffers in silence) and decides to flirt with another Florida Derby entrant without a chaperone. That Image, she's such a harlot.


Being proactive for once, Melanie decides not to let the racing commission make a show of kicking her out of the track and trailers Image to Pine Haven, a rundown farm consisting of a pony called Baby and Jazz's band, Pegasus. Now Melanie is forced to divide her time between attempting to enjoy Jazz's band (and not degenerate into a self-conscious mess at the sight of Kristi, the bikini-clad wife of Pegasus's drummer, Nuke...I do not make up these names, you guys, I don't) and keeping an eye on Image. You see, guys, to listen to Jazz's band would be to have fun, which is a grave sin, because when one has fun something inexplicably horrible always happens. Like someone will take Baby to a birthday party and upset Image's delicate mental state. Or a teenaged, tube-top clad girl will get stuck in a tack room somehow. The point is, bad things happen. It's just better for everyone if Melanie puts away her black one-piece swimsuit she was so ashamed of anyway and camps out in Image's pasture, okay? Why can't we understand? It's best for everyone!

But despite all of Melanie's attempts to keep Image's life orderly and secluded, reporters find her anyway and descend upon her like a pack of starving, carnivorous squirrels. During her second attempt to work Image on the track, Melanie is peppered with idiotic questions by a school bus sized hoard while Alexis yells profanity-laced (I imagine, anyway) accusations about how Melanie has only entered Image into the Florida Derby to detract from Speed.com because Melanie has a vendetta against her. There are even hecklers. Hecklers! You know, I try to imagine this in my head and I just can't. Heckling at a racetrack has always included a good amount of alcohol, in my experience. This was a morning work. 


My only conclusion is that people in Florida must be downright crazy. But wait, it gets better!


On their way to the track for the Florida Derby, a pack of reporters is waiting, Mad Max style, to swoop in behind Image's trailer en route to the racetrack. And then, to really punctuate the unrelenting hospitality of Floridians, someone throws beer bottles at the truck and screams at them to take their horse back to Kentucky. Florida doesn't want Image. Florida never asked for some uppity girl horse thinking she's better than all the boys, okay? So the windshield shatters (although I'm suspicious that this is possible) and Melanie is screaming and all hell breaks loose. Only one of those Mad Max reporters decides to disengage from the pack and help them out, although that just confused me, really. If Joe can't see out the windshield, how is following Nice Guy Reporter going to help them out?


Well, they make it to the track, and Image and Melanie somehow survive on their way to the starting gate despite random Jazz kissage, and they come in second, which is like a victory because Speed.com came in third. So it looks like Will shouldn't have assumed horse racing was going to pull his business out of the toilet, although it doesn't matter because it went belly up anyway and he's decided to sell his interest in Image to Jazz. Melanie is all "oh hell no" because she doesn't want Jazz to be her sole boss, which he tells her isn't that important because he'll never sell Image. (Ha! So he thinks.) And then they kiss again, but they are super awkward about it because Jazz keeps insisting on talking about the Triple Crown in Melanie's mouth.


So I guess Image is going to the Triple Crown, and it ain't Melanie's idea either.


And you know what? I actually liked this book. Despite some things (Jazz's dangling gold earring, Alexis's black leather pants, Melanie's aversion to all activities that aren't standing sentry at Image's stall, the name Speed.com...all just the tip of an iceberg of reservations) it's solid. I could actually see a little bit of spark in Melanie this time around, but maybe that's just because Christina and Parker have been dominating my time lately...and as we all know neither one of them have any concept of life outside of their respective obsessions. And Melanie and Jazz have super cute banter when they put effort into it. Conversation between Christina and Parker is about as interesting as reading a legal document. 


Plus, you have to respect Image. She's the one horse in Thoroughbred land that doesn't seem to give a crap about being anyone's Wonder Pony. I do appreciate that. Now, if only Brad had been in this book. But I suppose I can't have everything.

Racing Image, and bankrupting friends.

Racing Image
by Alice Leonhardt
2001

I am pretty positive that the plot for this book is only possible because Fredericka Graber is completely incapable of making good decisions, and our beloved main character is putting on a front of helping her when in fact she is profiting off of her horrible mistakes. Yes, I'm talking about you, Melanie.

Will Image ever behave herself on the track?

Melanie Graham's dream has come true - a chance to ride Perfect Image in her first race. Image has been running great, and it looks like they may even have a shot at winning some big-time races.

But Melanie and the black filly's trainers have forgotten how unpredictable Image can be. When she's disqualified from her first race, they wonder if she has the temperament to race at all. How will Melanie prove that with a little special treatment this very special filly can make it all the way to the Triple Crown?

Anyway, Claire already wrote up a beautiful summary of this book, which means I get to be a little lazy in reporting my own findings, which I will present to you now in the form of a list. Fantastic? I think so.

Finding #1: Melanie makes selfishness look like pure philanthropy. Way to love your fellow person, Melanie! The problem Melanie is facing is great indeed: she is in love with a horse that is owned by a person who cannot figure out her own finances. For Fredericka, this means bankruptcy and the inevitable fate of living out her life in a retirement villa while our Thoroughbred Series characters remember her fondly, but routinely fail to visit. For Melanie, this means that she may lose the horse she loves to the evil clutches of Brad Townsend, who still wants to retire and breed Image, and we all know this is the absolute worst thing that can ever happen to a horse. Especially Image, who just wants to roam around in a field all day, can't stand the track, and can't tolerate being left in a stall for more than two minutes straight. I mean, obviously a racing career is perfect for her. Retirement as an unshod broodmare would be too low a path to even consider!

As Freddy bemoans her stupidity, hinting at Brad's ruse of sincerity by wanting to buy up her stock, Melanie puts her foot down. Like hell she'll let Brad buy all of Freddy's stock and thereby help her save her farm! That means Image will be swaybacked and pregnant by the time she's three instead of four! She will train Image herself to race at the end of the month, and surely the tiny purse of a maiden race will convince the bank that Freddy is good for the rest over the course of two or three years in which Image might win the amount Brad is willing to pay now--probably in cash, because that's how he is--excluding the cost of feed and board and fees and things of that nature. This plan totally makes sense! And Freddy buys it all, allowing Melanie to puff up her head with silliness about talking to the bank and telling them how important she is despite having no money. Therefore, Melanie's brand of helping a person out is to protect her own interests and make it look like she's really in it to help Fredericka. Which is brilliant, but probably not what the series is going for in terms of teaching morals to preteens.

Finding #2: Image hates racing. Seriously, that's not even me reading between the lines. It's pretty obvious. Having never read the books that lead up to Image's run at the Kentucky Derby, I never really got why she was such an extreme dark horse. She is the definition of a dark horse, and now I get why everyone (everyone who recognized the insanity of the plot, anyway, and didn't just support it because at least it wasn't Star and Chris) was more or less disgusted that she actually won the race. So I am more in awe of the way Melanie and her band of merry followers can dismiss this plain fact, as if babying her will make Image a sane, even enthusiastic racehorse. Because sure, she has talent, but she hates it. Even Melanie seems to recognize this on more than one occasion, but she keeps pushing it as Image's "career." And I keep wondering what is wrong with this girl and why she has to push the whole feminist movement onto a two-year-old filly that hates what she's doing and/or is terrified about 75% of the time and homicidal the other 25%.

Finding #3: (This is sort of a general series observation.) Why are these people even invested in horse racing? I am always amazed by the hypocritical statements they always make about racing and retiring. You can't race a horse because it's possible abuse, but you can't retire a horse because you can't for varying reasons, one of them being (as it is here) that breeding is vaguely awful for no reason I can quite figure out other than it makes mares swaybacked and fat. Thoroughbred, your weird issues are hurting my brain.

Finding #4: I would like to see a horse sudden stop dead at the quarter mile pole, spin around, run the opposite direction into oncoming traffic, spin back around after having dodged a couple of horses by the narrowest of margins, and still win the race. I mean, people got upset when Glory won the Breeders' Cup Classic by 31 lengths, but I'm thinking this is the more impossible scenario of the two.

Finding #5: Melanie finds herself irrationally upset when she finds out that her father doesn't have $500,000 of capital sitting around to invest in a racehorse for his little girl, ultimately going to Jazz to be co-crazy racehorse owners. This results in a talk with Ashleigh and Christina concerning how she just can't expect horse racing to be like 4-H. Come on, Melanie. You don't just give away racehorses! Sure, Ashleigh may have been handed half interest in Wonder out of the goodness of Clay Townsend's heart. Samantha may have been given Shining because Ashleigh and Mike are nice like that. Christina may have been given the opportunity to buy up the Townsend share in Star because Brad was feeling sort of charitable that day. Allie may have been given a stallion for no reason at all that anyone can figure out ever. But you? You don't get handed a racehorse because that would be silly! This is a business, Melanie. Look at Cindy. Did she get her own horse? No. And why? Because no one liked her. Take from that what you will.

Finding #6: Funny quotes. Example: "Well, Vince is Image's trainer so I guess he has to be involved." Yes, Melanie. I guess he does, like, have to do his job.

Finding #7: Fashion. Thoroughbred, you fail at it. Example: Jazz's all black ensemble. Freddy's all blue pants suit, complete with blue pumps, handbag and gloves. Everyone's love of variations on brown and khaki, especially when wearing tweed.

Finding #8: I liked the book. The ending was predictable, but well done. Sure, Melanie may be forcing a career on a horse that wants no part of it, but she's realizing her dream. Which is to force things on others and bankrupt good friends along the way. Way to go, Mel!

Dead Heat: Because it's more fun if we could all be winners.

Dead Heat
Thoroughbred #35
by Alice Leonhardt
Published: 1999

Um. So here's this book:

I believe Claire pointed out the silk blouses on this cover, and I'd just like to echo that observation. Because, seriously, what's going on here? On top of which, shouldn't they look like they're blowing around in the breeze, given how loose they are? Other than that, this is a scene from the book, which I don't know why I bother to point his out because it's not like it matters.

Galloping head to head...

Melanie Graham is thrilled. She loves exercise riding, and she's good at it, too! Her aunt Ashleigh says Melanie would make a great jockey - she's really thriving at Whitebrook.

But Melanie's not alone. Her friend Kevin McLean also wants to exercise-ride, and soon Melanie an Kevin are galloping together on the Whitebrook track. Racing for fun turns serious as Melanie becomes more and more competitive, testing their friendship to the limit. Kevin thinks Melanie is pushing herself too hard. Will she slow down before it's too late?

One thing I had a hard time with during this book was the complete spasticness (if that's not a word, it is now) of the plot. Sure, there is a bit of a rivalry between Kevin and Melanie, but it's not like that was going anywhere, and half the time Melanie seemed pretty confused about it. This equaled extreme boredom on my part, which is why it's taken me so long to get around to posting this review. It actually took me over a week to wander my way through this book, much to my shame. Although I imagine it's going to be worse for me when I go through Ashleigh's Hope. Just looking at that book makes me sigh.

Well, moving on. Melanie wants to be a jockey, so she's daydreaming about winning the Kentucky Derby all the time and is falling back on her school work. Everyone knows this is what she's doing, but no one really seems to care enough to smack her, tell her she's thirteen, and really she can eat like a normal teenager because she isn't jockeying anything for three years. Seriously, kid, you can live on more than half an English muffin and a tablespoon of yogurt right now. But because Naomi has scared Melanie into believing that she has to start exercising and ruining her body now instead of three years from now, Melanie is taking her anorexic spin seriously. People sort of notice, but yeah, no one really holds an intervention or anything. They just let her continue on, sucking at school and trying desperately to fit into the Cindy mold, which is proof positive, again, that Ashleigh is a horrible guardian. How Christina turned out relatively balanced in all the Melanie books is anyone's guess (of course, this is followed by Christina being a relative pain in the ass in all of her books, so it's a toss up, really. Maybe Ashleigh just sucks at being a parent in general.)

Lately, Kevin has been being a jerk for mysterious reasons. Again, no one really notices or acts like it's a big deal besides Melanie, who reacts by trying to one up Kevin in their exercising horses and trying to groom the special horses and what all. Samantha and Ian buy this Wind Chaser horse, who is god in the form of a horse, and Melanie and Kevin compete to be the horse's groom (Where are the god damned grooms at Whitebrook?), and Melanie gets the job seemingly randomly (well, totally randomly) and Kevin is further pissy.

Melanie continues to suck at school, and she gets her mid term grades only to discover she's failing two classes. She manages to side step Ashleigh easily enough for a day or two, but eventually Ashleigh acts smart finally and calls the school, resulting in learning the grades and forcing Melanie to call her father, who does as much long distance parenting as he can to make up for Ashleigh's huge amount of tremendous fail. Ashleigh and Will come up with a contract that will force Melanie to realize she needs a life outside of the farm and trying to be a jockey before she can actually be a jockey. You'd think Ashleigh would have seen the signs of Melanie pulling a Cindy, but not so much. Melanie grudgingly accepts the contract and accepts the fact that she's going to be forced to attend this camp out with her friends. God, who wants to deal with friends on a consistent basis? It would be so much better to just sit and mope in the barn without human companionship.

So she's forced to go on the camping trip and eventually everyone gets stuck in the woods somewhere and Melanie has to save the day with Kevin, forcing the two to come to terms with their completely random problems. Turns out Kevin is annoyed that Melanie traded in her fun personality with the moping personality of a completely uninteresting middle aged woman, and Kevin is not attracted to that. And he was kind of pissed off that his dad bought Wind Chaser the wonder horse without his say (like...uh, what? Kevin, you're twelve. What reasonable adult consults their twelve-year-old son on a multi million dollar racing prospect? If you're not the Townsends, I should say?). And he was annoyed that Melanie was being all uppity and competitive. And this is why he's dating Heather now. So Melanie and Kevin are back to being friends and Melanie learns that interpersonal relationships are more important than sitting around moping in a barn with no one to talk to.

• This is basically Arabian Challenge rewritten for Melanie. Melanie wants to be a jockey, she spends too much time with horses and not enough time realizing she's only 13, her friendships suffer, Melanie acts like a brat, and then the message is rammed home in the end. Only there is a message in this book. There was no message in Arabian Challenge that wasn't friends and winning are important. You can have your cake and eat it too! That, at least, doesn't happen here.
  

• Stoney/Stone is sold. Random, but appreciated. I'll give Alice that.

• Alice spends a lot of time on damage control from On the Track. You can just tell. She has to explain the foal that Lois shoved in there, saying there is no way this foal is going to have a logical career (well, basically) because she was an unfortunate fall foal. I just got a kick out of that.

• Seriously, Ian empties his savings to buy this Wind Chaser with Samantha? Tor and Beth both thought it was a bad idea, so this seems forced to the point of ridiculousness.

• Mr. Wonderful gets a shout out because Wind Chaser looks just like him. Alice calls Mr. Wonderful the best sire at Whitebrook Farm, only she gets him completely confused with Wonder's Pride. I appreciate that Alice names Mr. Wonderful as the best sire at the farm, because I can really see that happening. However, she's confusing the two mainly because Wind Chaser has the flaxen mane, just like Mr. Wonderful. Pride was just a boring old chestnut. Sorry, Alice.

• I am convinced now that Kevin and Melanie had no real relationship. Which is fine with me because they are way too young to be taking this junk that seriously.

• Ashleigh sucks so hard at being a guardian. Really. She's a complete push over. Not doing well in school? Don't worry, Ashleigh was bad too! Doing something completely unrealistic with your horse? Don't worry, Ashleigh bucked tradition too! And Ashleigh takes this like a punch to the face every time.
  

• I also find it incredibly annoying that no matter what Ashleigh dresses in she always looks like "a little kid." This just disturbs me in general. 36 isn't old, but is isn't 12 either. I don't care if she's wearing a headband, a baseball hat, or lace underwear, okay? It's just creepy.
  

But, yeah, this was a pretty dull installment. In fact, I'm going to stop here and refer everyone back to Claire's review. Next I'm going to gather up a few of these requests and take a stab at some of those. If this means I have to read about the Irish...well, that's what I'll do. Cheers!

This book killed my ability to think of an interesting title. TB #34: On the Track

On The Track
Thoroughbred #34
by Lois Szymanski
Published: 1999



Well, clearly this is probably the most boring cover to come along since Shining's Orphan. Here Melanie shows us how not to lead a horse as she goes unsupervised. I guess she's just really thrilled by the prospect of possibly being trampled, but I've never seen anyone walk a horse around like that. On top of this irritating lack of fundamental horse sense, this cover is just ugly. Everything about it is horrible. From the yellow and black Whitebrook Farm sweatshirt to the background. The horse is the only thing that escapes being truly horrifying, only to fall into the category of boring.

Another tough choice...

Ever since Melanie Graham came to live with her cousin Christina Reese, she's had her eye on the track. She wants to be an exercise rider, and maybe one day, a winning jockey. With her aunt Ashleigh's Thoroughbreds. And she loves it. Finally, she's discovered her calling.
But Christina is jealous. She's been acting weird ever since Melanie began working with Ashleigh. Melanie desperately wants to continue her training, but is it worth losing her cousin's friendship?

I guess somewhere along the way, Melanie decided she wanted to be a jockey. This is proving to be a little difficult for her because, as we all know, Christina doesn't like it when her friends branch out. Being friends with Christina means you must be into jumping/eventing, and if you dare express interest in something else, however minor, forget it. She'll turn on you faster than you can blink. Unfortunately for Melanie, she's also got to deal with the fact that she's Christina's cousin and she's taking up Christina's mother's all time favorite love, horse racing. Because Ashleigh appears to have tried everything short of locking Christina in a jockey's room to get her to like exercise riding, Christina is even more livid about the situation, momentarily forgetting that she LIKES EVENTING. Say it with her: EVENTING. Thus she can be jealous of Melanie and pissed off that she dislikes racing so much when everyone else thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread.

So this is how our merry tale starts. Melanie gets the chance to learn how to exercise ride. She tells Christina about how excited she is. Christina demands to know why Melanie just won't settle for dressage and jumping like all her other friends she forced into line several books ago. Undaunted, Melanie persists in learning how to exercise ride, unwittingly being ostracized by Christina in the meantime. Because when Christina gets pissed off, she not only stops speaking to you, she cuts your group of friends out from under you also. She's such a lovely child, that one.

Because Melanie, like, rides one horse in the morning and appears to be doing nothing else that takes up her time more than it did previously when she was ponying with Pirate, she starts to miss out on things her friends are doing. Mainly because Christina casually "forgets" to tell her about any of these plans. When Melanie does get in the know thanks to Kevin, Christina further attempts to cut Melanie out of the group by changing the topic to shows and things that Melanie clearly has no say in. Lovely! Nicely done, Chris. Way to be a bitch.

Forlorn that Christina is being a heinous witch, Melanie forges on with her plan to super exercise rider princess. But then her dad has to call and send those plans spiraling. Ashleigh, for some inexplicable reason, didn't ask Will's permission to let Melanie ride race horses and Will is naturally a little peeved and forbids Melanie to ride until further notice. He tells Melanie to have Ashleigh call him...the stupidest thing a parent could ever say...and essentially gives Melanie the chance to procrastinate. Procrastinate she does, despite Christina's threats to tell Ashleigh. But then Melanie rides Pride's Perfection (just one of the really stupid names in this book) and Perfection stumbles and falls and scrapes Melanie up and everyone gets minorly injured and Melanie has to have some flashback to Milky Way.

Naturally this gives Melanie a chance to feel sorry for herself and mope. Kevin tries to cheer her up, but Christina isn't having it. She keeps hounding at Melanie and reinforces Melanie's belief that she's a walking accident. Melanie's low self-esteem, which usually cruises at a low altitude anyway, starts to nosedive. Just when Melanie can't continue with keeping this disapproval from Ashleigh, Christina tells Ashleigh anyway and Ashleigh is all pissed and has Will come out to Whitebrook to deal with his daughter. Ashleigh, you suck at being a legal guardian. Honestly.

So Melanie realizes it's all her fault and has a nice little heart to heart with Christina, who confirms all of Melanie's theories that Christina was upset that Melanie was hogging all of her mother's time and making her feel like she'd let Ashleigh down by not liking racing. Melanie admits to liking the attention. Will comes along and, in true Thoroughbred spirit, the kids come up with a plan to get Will to magically understand Melanie's true desires. Naturally, this plan is to saddle up the horse Melanie has worked with most -- Heart of Stone -- and work the horse from the gate, by themselves, totally without any consideration to the horse's training schedule. Because once he sees how fantastic Melanie is, he'll relent and let her do whatever she wants and because this is fiction, it works.

...

Did you think the book was over? Oh, sorry! It's not. We have two more chapters to get through, for some reason. So, everyone gets a chance to bond and eat and be nostalgic over Ashleigh's trophies. Then Ashleigh lets Melanie, Kevin, and Naomi do some mock race because it will be fun? Or something. Then they go to the "Keeneland Acres Yearling Sale" and sell some yearlings. Then they go home. Fun. Why those two chapters were there, I really don't know. The book should have ended at page 137, but I guess some editor somewhere screamed about word limits and reading levels and thus we got another twenty-five pages.

• This book is set a few weeks after Racing Parker, but I am extremely confused as to what season we're in now (which is, finally, autumn, for all of us keeping track) because Melanie keeps checking in on this Perfect Heart mare to monitor her pregnancy. There are some nice indicators of what a mare is doing a week or so before birth, but considering this is, at the very latest, October, we are so far off the mark it's not even funny.

• First Perfect Heart is in foal to Pride's Chance, and then I guess she's in foal to Wonder's Pride?

• Kevin has a "deep voice" now. He is twelve. With all the adam's apples, broad shoulders, and deep voices running amok among twelve-year-old boys in Thoroughbred I'm beginning to wonder about our dear authors.

• Wow, Christina is not letting go of that crazy Central Park ride from practically ten books ago any time soon, is she?

• So what had made Christina suddenly act so cold and distant? I think the answer to this is that Lois Szymanski got really bad luck in writing assignments. Yeah...I think that's pretty much it.

• "I heard Lethal Leopard is going to be running in this race." "Hmmm, where did you hear that?" Oh my God, it's the day of the race. WHERE could you POSSIBLY find ALL the entries listed in ONE CONVENIENT PLACE? Ian tells Ashleigh that he read an article where the owner of the horse mentions they're running her in a September maiden race at Keeneland (which means this is September? What the hell is up with that?) and this is where his knowledgeable opinion is based. Just...let me stick a fork in my eye repeatedly because that would be more enjoyable than reading this.

• "Let Faith save her energy. Keep her on Leopard's tail and then, boom, pass her in the backstretch!" ...this exclamation point seems to indicate that Ian is excited by the possibility of this shitty idea actually working. Who makes a move in the backstretch like that and actually expects to win? Really?

• Apparently horses first enter the paddock upon coming back from the race? What country is this?

• Congratulations, Whitebrook. Perfect Heart gives birth in September or October, officially making them completely incompetent. Good luck hiding that foal until January!

• The horse names in this book are beyond annoying: Perfect Heart, Pride's Perfection, Pride's Chance, Heart of Stone, Pride's Heart...

• Ashleigh makes everyone promise to come see the kiddies ride their race or whatever and Tor bows out because he has to work on Saturday...wow, even Lois, who wrote a grand total of one book for this series, keeps with the Tor's so busy trend. It's a little unsettling. It's like everyone got together, decided he was a cheating asshole, and decided to give him lots of opportunities to mysteriously slip away so he can be busy.

• Because this book will not end, despite all conflicts and plot points having been wrapped up a chapter ago, the kids get into Ashleigh's trophies and scrapbooks or whatever. Ashleigh: "Oh, my, that was so long ago." Ashleigh, you are 36. Please start acting like it.

• The 85th Annual Keeneland Acres Yearling Sale? There's a Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Where the hell this "acres" comes from I'm not too sure.

• I guess Samantha stumbled into some serious money between Racing Parker and On the Track because she just went from bowing out of buying Foxglove for $6,000 to buying some unnamed and probably immediately forgotten filly for $15,500.

Anyway, I'm going to have to wait for Dead Heat, and since I don't think the public system has Without Wonder I believe I'm going to be forced to buy it. In the meantime, Bonnie and Julie are next. Then I'm sure I'll find something amusing to blog about while Dead Heat remains in limbo. Cheers.

Yes, you too can get everything you want by moping: A Home For Melanie

A Home For Melanie
by Alice Leonhardt
Thoroughbred #31
Published: 1998

Oh my God, after long last I have finally read this book. How long did I await this book at the library, and, more importantly, why on earth was I waiting so long? Really, there's no rational explanation for this, so I'll just move on to the installment.

I hate these covers. Seriously, they're worse than those later covers that look like someone was doodling with a colored pencil set. This cover makes me think someone went to the trouble of actually producing artwork that was then handed off to some novice graphic designer who had no clue how to operate Photoshop properly so they could blur up Trib's body, superimpose someone's face on whoever is riding that horse, and then blacked out Trib's eye for reasons only known to the designer. I fail to see how this is supposed to look good. On top of all of that, let's focus for a moment on Melanie's outfit. Actually, no, scratch that. Let's focus on her jacket, shall we? What is this purple monstrosity? And, you know, it's not just the fact that it's purple. It's purple and fringed. Fringed. And it's probably suede. Purple fringed suede. I just don't think you can recover from that.

Is Melanie leaving the only place that's ever felt like home?

Melanie Graham expected Whitebrook Farm to be the most boring place in America. And she thought her cousin, Christina Reese, would be a snob.

But after an entire summer at Whitebrook, Melanie has changed her mind. Whitebrook isn't dull--it's amazing! There are so many beautiful horses, especially Trib, her favorite pony. Plus, Christina is totally cool--she's the first true friend Melanie has ever had. Now Melanie can't imagine living anywhere else.

There's just one problem: Melanie's dad wants her to return to New York City. How can she convince him to let her stay at Whitebrook--forever?

Oh, you guys, the summer that will not end is finally drawing to a close. Previously, summers used to take about three chapters of time. The early New Generation stretched this one out for eight books. The cover of this book seems to insist that it is actually fall, but we know better. It's still summer. It's the summer that will not freaking end. Although, thankfully, Cassidy's Secret seems to involve snow, so some end must be in sight for this season. Although for all I know it's probably just late September, and the cover artists were getting really sick of drawing summer greenery and began acting out.

Okay, so this book pretty much convinced me that Melanie is a masochist. Allow me to explain. Summer is drawing to a close, meaning that Christina is going to go back to school and Melanie is going to have to go back to New York. You know, where her dad lives. Realizing that she will have to leave Whitebrook Farm, Melanie writes up a list of reasons why she should stay in Kentucky in order to convince her dad that she no longer belongs in New York. Where he, her father, is. There's some talk about how Ashleigh and Mike would have to become Melanie's legal guardians if she stays, and Ashleigh urges Melanie to really think this through before she tries to convince her dad. Not that this helps. Her dad wants her back in New York because he's getting married in a week's time, and he wants to give Melanie the family she hasn't had since her mom died. All perfectly logical.

So Melanie prepares to leave Whitebrook. Everyone throws her a goodbye party, and Ashleigh gives Tribulation to Melanie under the stipulation that she'll return the pony to Whitebrook when she outgrows him. Kevin kisses Melanie, resulting in tween swooning before everyone climbs into the plane and heads off to New York for the wedding. Her dad and Susan get married and Melanie discovers that Aynslee is really annoying and her other friend, Heather, suddenly grew breasts over the summer, treating us to a very brief moment of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret before Melanie remembers she's a Thoroughbred character and proceeds to go about her business of sulking and complaining to herself about how life isn't fair. Christina and her parents go back to Whitebrook, leaving Melanie in New York with Trib, who is not pleased with his new digs at Clarebrook at all. Melanie's none too pleased either because everyone at Clarebrook thinks she's a horse killer and are treating her like the plague. Even her old instructor, Jonathon, wants nothing to do with her. Because even minor adult characters in this series are petty jerks.

The only friend Melanie has is Bettina, a twenty-year-old German student at Columbia who's riding her horse at Clarebrook. Bettina and Melanie become trail riding partners, only on their first ride these two kids Melanie just happen to know shoot fireworks in the direction of the horses and Bettina falls off and sprains her ankle. Pissed at these two kids, Melanie calls their parents and tattles on them, setting the chain of events in motion. The two kids tell Aynslee, who falls into league with them and gets back at Melanie by drawing a mustache on Abraham Lincoln's portrait in the main hall of their school. Melanie gets blamed for this, and instead of coming out with the entire story of how the painting was defaced, Melanie stays silent and takes the blame. Aynslee is thrilled, but Melanie is in deep trouble. Her dad tells her that if she goes back to her crazy ways he'll ground her and basically send Trib back to Whitebrook.

Trib, meanwhile, continues to grow more and more depressed by his surroundings and stops eating. Melanie, as per the usual, doesn't tell anyone about this because that would mean she'd have to fess up about not being happy. Trib then has to suffer some more as Melanie slowly slips into depression with her pony. She's so bored and depressed that she takes Aynslee up on the offer of a slumber party. Which, much to my disappointment, is just a slumber party and not some attempt to rob a store or launder money or be generally annoying in an evil prepubescent way. Only Melanie does want to do something fun because she's all depressed so what do they do? Aynslee takes them to the roof of her apartment building. And they do a moon dance. And this is totally against the rules and the cops come.

...

Yeah...frankly I think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of, but whatever. Melanie, pissed off at Aynslee for putting her on course for a severe punishment which means Trib will be taken away, storms out of the apartment complex before the cops get her and runs all the way back home. If this was a movie, right about here we'd have a montage of the girl running down the street to music by Coldplay or something all soul searching as she discovers the answer to all her problems but can't do anything because she's a masochist. This is Melanie's life: making sure everyone is happy before thinking about herself, thereby making herself miserable but "happy" because others are happy. Some might call this unselfishness. I, clearly, do not.

So Melanie goes back to Clarebrook and discovers that Trib is totally shutting down. Horrified, she calls Bettina's vet and the vet tells her that Trib is basically depressed. Upset by this, Melanie decides that it's time to do the right thing for Trib and prepares to tell her father that Trib has to go back to Whitebrook. Only her dad comes along and is all shocked by the pony's state and immediately applies it to Melanie before she has to come clean with anything and basically tells her he's going to send her back to Whitebrook because he's been the selfish one. Or something like that. I really find the whole end unbelievable, but this is Alice Leonhardt and it's the Thoroughbred Series. Characters get everything they want at the end of every book with a quick two page conversation that's mainly one-sided, giving everything to the main character with little to no work on their part. It's brilliant and horrible all at once.

Remarkably enough, I don't really have any points of interest collected for this book. I think I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how lame the great turning point was. Climbing up onto the apartment roof at night in New York? Please. People have wedding receptions on rooftops in New York. I've climbed around on an apartment roof in New York while drinking at 2am. I am not at all impressed with this. But then again, these kids also thought tipping over trash cans and spraying people with soda is serious juvenile delinquent business. At least, that was before Melanie became a Thoroughbred character and realized that being somber and humorless was more rewarding than being a typical twelve-year-old.

Oh, here's one point:

• Cindy is mentioned for the first time since Cindy's Honor. Apparently she's been living in New York for some time and while Ashleigh and all are in New York for the wedding there's a mention of going to Belmont to visit her. Weirdly enough people actually want to see her. Why still remains a mystery.
  

So, I'm off to read Cassidy's Secret next. Apparently horse racing appears in this book? I don't really see how this is possible considering Cassidy is like the most perfect of perfect riding princesses everywhere. Naturally I cannot wait to read it.