Falling Hard

Saddlehill Academy #3

by Jessica Burkhart

From the author of the Canterwood Crest series comes the third book in a middle grade series about an equestrian boarding school as Abby feels her friends withdrawing and her rival circling.

Abby came clean and apologized to Selly for costing her a shot at team captain—but no good deed goes unpunished, especially with her highly competitive teammates.

Now Abby has to be ready for the retaliation that Selly promised is coming and deal with the fact that her best friends Vivi and Thea seem extra distant lately. And with her new friend and crush Mila joining the Foxbury team, Abby is guarded. If her own BFFs are avoiding her, what could she have to offer to Mila?

Meanwhile, things in the arena are heating up as the Foxbury riders prepare their applications for a winter clinic ran by Sasha Silver of Canterwood Crest fame. Can Abby juggle the pressure of impressing her idol and making amends with those around her? Or is something bound to fall?

Genres: LGBT, Queer, Horses, Young Adult, Middle Grade

283 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 12, 2024

About the author

Jessica Burkhart is the author of the best-selling Canterwood Crest series which has sold over 1.6 million copies in multiple languages. She has also written the Unicorn Magic series, the YA novel Wild Hearts, and edited a YA anthology--Life Inside My Mind.

Reviews

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable installment:)

Selly getting her "revenge" wasn't as bad as I thought but still was rotten. Abby handled herself well when she was stressed over it.

Now I want to watch a horse 🐎 show someday:). Put it on my bucket list.

Can I jump into the book and be friends with these girls please?

Glad certain things worked out and we're explained as well. I've had some experience with ghosting and friends pulling away and changing so that hit harder for me

Would recommend this series 👌 👍🏼 👏

[Kate Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stars: 5 Stars
Format: Print
Series: Saddlehill Academy Book 3
Steam Level: Not Steamy

I have never been interested in horses or the competitions around them; that was always my wife’s thing. But I continue to find myself on the edge of my seat for these practices and competitions.

Quick Thoughts:
- I am so far out of the intended demographic for this series that I’m not even in the same universe and still find myself enjoying these books immensely
- There are fancy college campuses that aren’t nearly as cool as Saddlehill
- There were more than a couple of times I had to remind myself that these are kids in these books, not young adults. Of course their decision making skills stink. Oops
- Something I do appreciate in these stories is how Jessica Burkhart allows her characters to feel all their feelings, even the unpleasant ones
- I want to take this book and chuck it at a few people. See! Communication is so important that even kids realize it, you dummy!
- A great, big part of me wanted so badly for Selly and Nina to get caught for everything they’ve done
- I absolutely don’t trust those two riders from Canterwood
- In this book you can tell this is a sequel series. I have not read that series, and most likely never will, but I was able to follow things just fine and didn’t feel lost
- I was reading a review of the next book and realized this series isn’t complete. The last book was published in June 2024 and doesn’t touch on a few pretty big future events. I haven’t seen anything about a next book yet. Drats
- Because of this series I’ve been eyeing other books with this setting but with adults as the main characters

Overall I enjoyed the heck out myself with this. The ONLY reason it took me so very long to finish the book is that I misplaced it with the gigantic reorganization and moving of my 3k+ library of physical books. Once I found it I stayed up late to finish it. Such a fun series.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Abby, who has struggled in the past with anxiety over the fact that her mother left, the remarriage of her father, and her new stepsister is at her school, is now dealing with Selly's reaction to a secret Abby revealed, as well as feeling distant from friends Vivi and Thea. She also can't seem to act appropriately around her crush, Mila, and even claims to be taking another girl to an event when Mila clearly wants to go with her. Add to this the pressure of trying to get into a winter clinic at the Canterwood Crest school taught by her idols, and it's no wonder Abby is finding it hard to concentrat on her riding. While I bought the first two books in this series, my horse book fans find them a bit too full of drama; they want more horse details. Debating purchase. If mean girls with horses go over well with your readers, this is an excellent series.

[Emmaby Barton Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a sweet little series! big slay for sapphic equestrian books <3 definitely a bit young for me (despite them being unrealistically immature?? lots of coffee drinking and independence?) but still a quick fun read (even though the plots were sometimes very obvious/a lot of screaming to just tell an adult lol) i also really appreciated how ‘normal’ the eating/relationships with food were in this book!! i think thats really important to show to young girls, especially as athletes.

- sasha having a gf was v cute! even the stars can be gay haha
- keir talking about callie being a black equestrian and how rare that is was v important to include

book 4
- such strong friendships <3333

[Jess · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

The sheer and utter relief once Abby and her friends got past their friendship drama made this much, much better. The show mishaps, the tween girl problems, the first romances are all very realistic and well-written, particularly for this age group...also I am just so glad that Emery and Abby are starting to treat each other as, if not sisters, at least friends. Mila rounds out the riding group's personalities perfectly, and she and Abby are so sweet crushing on each other. Loved this one! Went through social anxiety hell to get book four from the library! I cannot wait to keep reading this series!

[Penelope · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book but the puppy loves and the “Friend drama” quite stressful to read when most read to relax. Good book but wouldn’t recommend for anyone outside of the age range 9-13 for more mature themes involving LGBT romance and romantic themes/and or thoughts involving the main character.

[Marissa Secreto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elite drama as always

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty harmless book for middle schoolers. Cute story line. Characters very much reflect middle school girls.

[destrieroflesbians · Rating 4 out of 5]

might be my favourite of the bunch for now! i really like it, but damn emery is always alone cause she doesnt really have friends

[Nika Chapin · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️

I said it once, I’ll say it again, Canterwood Crest is my home. I started reading the Saddlehill Series because I felt like I should just to see how Jessica Burkhart’s writing had changed. Book 1 I thought, eh it’s cute I’ll keep reading; book 2 I thought, ok ok I actually kind of like this; this one, I have no words. I grew up never really feeling at home anywhere but I found home in a little book series called Canterwood Crest and literally just touching the front covers of those books makes me feel instantly better. This book was written as a love letter to all the readers to found a home at Canterwood and missed the world and the characters in it. This genuinely healed a part of me that I didn’t know needed to be healed. Also, I called it 😘