horses

Spirit of the Wood

/ Book Girl / Leave a comment

Spirit of the Wood by Kristen Britain

It’s a lovely surprise when you find out that an author you like has a book that you’ve overlooked. This 2023 fantasy novella is a compelling read. This is not a cozy fantasy, but a more traditional epic fantasy. Britain is known for her Green Rider series, and this novella features a regular character in the series at an earlier time in her life. Laren Mapstone is assigned to take trainee Tavin Bankside on his first long ride. Tavin has recently been called to the Green Rider messenger service and is unsure of his magical gift. Inwardly, Tavin thinks of Laren as the Ice Lady, and she is mostly silent on their ride. When she is injured, Tavin and their two horses manage to get Laren to a warded waystation. A forest ranger and a hermit help him care for Laren. The hermit, who can only be found by seeking the spirit of the wood, helps Tavin control his magic, which is empathy. This appealing story is full of wonder, adventures, and danger, and includes a squirrel plus stories from the now conscious but still tart-tongued Laren. I just discovered that a new novel in the series, Falling in a Sea of Stars, will be published in September. The first book in the series is Green Rider.

Brenda

The Christmas You Found Me

/ Book Girl / Leave a comment

The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler

This is not your typical light and fluffy Christmas romance. It’s very heartfelt holiday novel, even a bit of a tearjerker, and very hard to put down. The author has been through some loss and her writing here is richer and deeper than her popular Moose Springs, Alaska trilogy, beginning with The Tourist Attraction.

In northern Idaho, recently divorced rancher Sienna Naples is embarrassed when her friend Jess places an ad in the local paper: Husband for Hire, with excellent medical benefits. She kept her family’s large ranch in the mountains in the divorce, but has only a mule, a horse, two donkeys and her older dog Barley to care for a herd of 63 cattle. She can certainly use help on the ranch, but not another husband. Then Jess says they’ve sent an applicant to meet her at the local coffee shop. When Sienna meets Montanan Guy, he’s most interested in the medical benefits the ad mentioned, as his little girl, Emma, has some serious health issues. When Sienna meets the adorable 4-year-old Emma, and her dog Barley falls hard for her, she is stunned to find herself offering a marriage of convenience.

Guy does chores on the ranch when not working construction in town. Christmas is a big deal in Caney Falls, and he’s helping build an enormous walk-through snow globe. The three of them have a magical time enjoying it, though Emma wants to be just like the other kids.

Sienna’s ex, Micah, will be no reader’s favorite character, but he’s a surprisingly complex one. Micah even helps out when Sienna’s elderly father, who has dementia, takes a turn for the worse. This slow-burn romance is joyful, briefly funny, heartwarming, and occasionally achingly sad. I found this to be a compelling and memorable read. Robyn Carr is a good readalike.

Brenda

The Last Ride of the Pony Express

/ Book Girl / Leave a comment

The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey into the Old West by Will Grant

Readers who enjoy real life adventure, American history, armchair travel, or horses will likely enjoy Will Grant’s new memoir. The Pony Express, in which a letter could be delivered by horseback from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento in a blistering 10 days, only lasted about 19 months from 1860 to 1861. In 2019, horse trainer and journalist Will Grant set out to ride the same 2,000-mile path. He planned to take 100 days, with two horses, riding one and leading the other with packs, riding four days, and resting one. Of course, the journey doesn’t go quite according to his plan, partly due to weather. The selection of the horses begins the tale, then Will sets out in early May, with an escort over the Missouri River bridge from St. Joseph, Missouri, into Kansas. Sensibly trailering his horses around a few cities on the route, Grant details life on horseback, the history and present state of the Pony Express stations, and the people he meets along the way. In a few arid locations, he has water and hay caches located for the horses. Grant rides his horses at a walk, not the gallop of the Pony Express, and he ponders how challenging it would have been for the Pony Express to keep enough horses ready at the stations, and supplied with enough feed and water for the horses and their handlers. Grant clearly loves horses and the American West, and is very good company for the journey. Rinker Buck’s The Oregon Trail and Life on the Mississippi are very good readalikes.

Brenda