And We Danced

Dancing with Horses #1

by Toni Mari

Seventeen-year-old Jane had found the horse of her dreams—or so she thought. Windsong had the breeding, training, and the flashy good looks to win medals at national competitions, but conservative, shy Jane wasn't sure she was up to the challenge of riding the temperamental beast. He may have been an imported Swedish Warmblood, and he may have had Grand Prix dressage training, but he was wild. When her spirited, new horse races out of control, help comes unexpectedly—unwelcomed—from a loathsome cowboy, a horribly mean-spirited, condescendingly brusque, gorgeous black-haired, azure-eyed reining champion, who is positive Jane is most definitely not up to the challenge. As these two from opposite ends of the horse world are forced to work together, tempers blaze and horseshoes fly, but something else begins to spark. Can Jane overcome her fear and preconceptions to win her goal of competing in the National Junior Rider Championships…and not lose her heart at the same time?

Genres: Horses, Young Adult

234 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 11, 2013

About the author

Toni Mari has been a dressage trainer for over twenty-five years. She established and ran High Spirits Farm, a boarding, training, breeding and show barn. Immersed in barn life day after day, after closing High Spirits Farm in New Jersey, Toni began writing, indexing and proofreading. These days, she still rides with her daughter, going to local and youth championship shows. Grace rides their homebred and trained appaloosa-thoroughbred cross, Lilly, who remarkably has many similar qualities to Windsong. Visit her at tonimaribooks.com.

Reviews

[Cat Ziman · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main character in this book, Jane, was such a literal piece of shit, I do not know where to begin with why.

Oh maybe because it's always the horse's fault and she's not just a jackass.

You're not beating up your horse at all, Jane.

"This horse isn't doing exactly what I say when I say it. I don't care that he has emotional issuses, and I'm scared of him. I'm a nervous wreck whenever I get near him. But it's still his fault. Get me a new horse that I can just sit on to win all the blue ribbons."

Apparently Toni Mari had been a dressage teacher for just about 20 years. Bull to the fucking shit. Now I'm not saying she wasn't a dressage teacher. I'm saying that she has so idea how to handle, love, and care for a horse.

A horse is a being, Toni.

Not a stuffed toy that you can throw away when it suddenly has no use to you.

Don't buy this book. Do not read this if you like horses. Because obviously,the main character does not. She likes the bragging rights.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this book overall the story was good but the main female character is so horribly unlikeable through most of the book. She shows absolutely no personal growth until the last couple chapters.

The main guy character is a doll and I can not imagine why in the wold he would see anything in this girls nasty rotten attitude and poor horsemanship skills.

As a girl who struggled with a very difficult horse for many years. I really did enjoy the equine related part of the story and I'm looking forward to the second one. Praying the silly girl comes around and turns into someone who deserves this great guy and great horse!

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the dressage details and equestrian setting of this novel! I also enjoyed the deeper relationship challenges: the developing romance and attempts at connecting with the volatile talented Grand Prix horse. However, I was a little disappointed in how teenage whiny, jealous, and superficial the heroine, Jane Mitchell, is. I still cheered for her with her successes and mourned with her when things didn't go well both personally and in her equestrian endeavors but I found myself wishing she'd grow up a bit and get over herself. All in all, this is an enjoyable light read if you're willing to see life through the eyes of a overly-sensitive teen girl while reading it.

[Tammy Kenney · Rating 3 out of 5]

YA read. I have mixed feelings about this book. I love horses and enjoy watching dressage. The main character was a spoiled brat and I didn't like her mistreating her horse and blaming the horse for everything that went wrong. At the same time I realize this happens. I'm glad she did some growing up by the end of the book but I doubt I'll read more. Just not for me.

[BookD · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a good book and an emotional one. I admit, as other reviewers said, Jane had a bad attitude toward Windsong in the beginning. She was, as Cory said, a spoiled brat. But I feel like Toni was getting the message across that you need to become one with your horse, a team, friends and complete trust. Cory was trying to get Jane to see that and he not only got through, but his words constantly reminded him of that. The growth and development between Jane and Windsong grew, and she came to understand him and he came to trust her.

Being a horse lover, rider and trainer starting from a young age I had those special bonds. I never entered shows - it wasn’t my thing and had no interest - but I went to many. It’s not easy on the horse and they need plenty of reassurance and love.

Jane was young and naive. First starting off with a horse she didn’t know how to connect with (I really felt her trainer would have taught her that), then entering her first real relationship and having some real emotional hardships and seeing horses dying, was hard for her. She lost herself for a while, but she kept her connection with Windsong. She just didn’t care about anything else. She grew up and got through it. I truthfully LOVED the growth between Jane and Windsong!! This was a GREAT read and I look forward to getting book two!!

[Intellectual Magpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall rating 4/5 ✨
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The equestrian life and dressage life really sucked you in within the pages of this book... I soaked this book up while wanting to go jump on my horses and take a dressage lesson!
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I took one star off due to the main characters antics and personality.. she was alittle too judgemental and “spoiled”... depicting a classic rich stuckup “barn bitch”.... when she is the main character and we should be forming a positive relationship with her.
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I am excited to see how the next two books are though, because she seemed to have a slight change of light near the end of the book.
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[Marci Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome awesome and awesome

This book was awesome. I chose the rating I did because the book was fantastic. I love the suspense of the romance between Cory and Jane. Plus I love all the words the author used it really made it feel like you were Jane. This book is a must read if you love books about horses and romance. I would definitely suggest this book to all my equestrian friends.

[Nancy Cupp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of teen romance

The story was good, but it was more teen romance and less horse story. The main character was really a spoiled brat who was ignorant about handling horses. Written in first person, I hated reading , " I gave him a hard jab in the mouth".

[Sandy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent

This book was a decent read. Some of the character personalities made the book harder to enjoy and a bit of a struggle to read. I will probably still read the second book in the series to see if it gets better but may just be this authors writing style isn't my cup of tea

[Susan Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable story

I really enjoyed this book, I even got teary eyed a couple of times. Now to go and read the next book in this series. Curious to see what happens with Cory. Where he lands.it's

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book well written!

I enjoyed this book. It was about horses and different styles of riding. There has drama, excitement, Love interest, and just a real good read!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

And We Danced

Great book! I'm happy that there is a sequel to read. There were great elements of romance, coming of age and bond between horse and rider.

[Fran Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting

Loved this book. Couldn't put it down - except to go feed and care for my own horses! On to the next...

[Jim Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

I laughed...I cried..and felt like I was back in the saddle. Thank you for the great read! Is the next book out?

[bex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with realistic horses and horse people. It was very good.

[Rachael Eliker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Toni Mari's And We Danced. It was certainly a different approach to dressage and showing--I particularly loved her addressing the dynamics and similarities of western and english riding. Riding and showing dressage can be quietly thrilling and Toni captures it well. There are several scenes that gave me goosebumps, like I was able to relive some of my own riding career through her story.
I did enjoy the fairly tame romance between Jane and Cory and appreciate that though they made decisions I chose not to make as a teenager, guilt was also part of the experience and desire to not make those choices again. I think that's something anyone can relate to. Of course, it still felt like the focus of the novel was riding and how Jane's personal life affected her riding ambitions and ultimately, how she chose to overcome.
Overall, fantastic book and looking forward to see what Jane's up to in the next of the series!

[Deloomey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an awful book. You know, I thought Join Up was bad, but this one even worse. I opened it up, looking for a good horse book, and got a romantic (in other words, irritating) love story instead, in which the horse had maybe two pages for himself in each encounter and the rest is chasing after a cowboy while not actually chasing after a cowboy. Hated it! Didn't even make it through three quarters of the book. I got to chapter seven and decided to give it a chance, maybe it would get better, but it just spiraled downward from there. This is a perfect book for teenagers looking to stock up on romance novels (it's Kindle Unlimited!!) but not for any horse crazy girls.

[Annie]

Good enough read

I was disappointed wit some of the technical info in here, but for the most part, it was correct. I didn't like the drama Jane constantly showed in her relationship with Cory. She's 17, which is definitely an age of ups and downs. However, at 17 in the category she's in in the dressage world, people tend to be much more stable: dedicated, hard working, level-headed, and so forth. Jane's character really didn't reflect the attitude of a person who has worked her butt of to get where she is in this book. It just didn't jive for me. Still, I'm not sorry I read it, and I'm hoping the next will be even better.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone can read and enjoy this book, even if they are not familiar with showing horses. Toni Mari obviously knows what she is writing about, and well she should. The writer's style pulls you into the story and you can't put this book down! A must read for any horse enthusiast. Not only is this a great read, but you get to take a peek at behind the scenes of both dressage and rodeo horse show events. A great read, it was hard to put it down! I'd love to know when the next book is expected out?

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.
To repeat what everyone else has been saying, Jane is just not very likeable. And incredibly naïve. It read like a "Babysitters Club" book which is fine until you remember Jane is supposedly 18! Her maturity level seems more of a 14-15 year old and not an adult.
I liked Cory but found the romance a bit sappy, over the top, and redundant.
That being said, the horse plot is great and I enjoyed both the dressage and reining aspect of things.
I don't know if I can stomach another novel about Jane however.

[Jan Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

And we danced

I rated this book four stars because, while I immensely enjoyed the author's knowledge of dressage, I thought the book was somewhat repetitive in places. I do plan on reading the next one in the series because I can imagine how beautiful Windsong is and I want to know what happens to him.

[Becky Traxler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice Read

Having rode western on pleasure horses and cutting horses, I don't know much about the dressage world. But horseman is a horseman no matter the disciplines. You eventuality do realize it is the journey, not the ribbons that count. Great read with a message for young riders.

[David Craggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me laugh then made me cry. A masterpiece of mystery,suspense and passion both human and equestrian. Cannot wait to read more !

Well worth the picking up. Just one problem I was unable to put down. It definitely took precedance over sleep. Will have to pace myself on the next one.

[montgomery hawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun times



Brings you back to the days of competition and daily barn chores. The love of horses and chasing dreams. Some of us have gotten within reaching distance others it is a great story. I remember the good old days!

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 really.
This was fairly good - the dialogue was pretty stilted, but there's promise, and the horsey stuff was decent. And it's about dressage so I'm willing to forgive a lot ;)

[Anna Rue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starstruck

This is one of my new favorites with one of my new favorite couples ever in it! I love it

[Angie N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read couldn't put it down.

[KT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book