Hot Coco

The Unbridled Series #2

by Cindy McDonald

Librarian Note: Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN10: 0985726717 / ISBN13: 9780985726713.

HOT: Coco Beardmore.
NOT: Coco’s calamities.

HOT: Mike’s fantasies.
NOT: Mike’s reality.

Let’s face it, everyone knows a beautiful woman who can’t walk through a room without tripping over the coffee table, or turning every situation into a total debacle. Trainers at Keystone Downs have been dumping Coco Beardmore and she’s landed in Mike West’s lap. The problem is that Coco is a complete klutz! Her driving skills are a real bang—into Mike’s horse trailer. Her sultry seduction will set the room on fire—the kitchen that is.

What’s more are her Thoroughbreds: one flips while being saddled, one sits down like a dog in the starting gate, and then there’s the one that’s an escape artist. It’s enough to drive a normally calm and collected Mike West to the very edge.

Mike’s not the only one having problems with women. His father Eric has taken on more than he can chew, and he’s about to get spit out by two women: One that he’s in love with and one that thinks he’s in love with her.

Oh yeah, things are hot around Westwood Thoroughbred Farm … and someone’s about to get burned!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

202 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

After enjoying a career as a professional dancer/choreographer for twenty-six years, I have retired to write my book series and spend more time with family and friends.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review can also be found on my blog.

Hot Coco is a hot mess. There is no clear protagonist, instead it's a hodge-podge of main characters from the start.

We meet Coco Beardsmore, described as a hot chick, clutzy as all out, leading with her boobs and causing havoc wherever she goes.

We meet Doug O'Connor and his daughter Margie. He's described as an old grump, while her description leads us to believe that she's unattractive, mousy, and shouldn't be touched with ten foot pole.

We meet Mike West, horse trainer, who seems to think more with what's in his pants than what's in his head, and thus takes on clutzy, hot, boobylicious Coco's horses to his barn. He has a younger brother, Shane, who also wants into Coco's pants, thus leading us to believe there's gonna be a brotherly fight about who's gonna get the girl.

Actually, scratch that bit about it being Mike's barn - it's his father's barn. Meet Eric West, widowed for ten years, possibly having a thing for hot nurse Jen, but unwilling or scared to act on it.

And then there's Kate West, sister to Mike and Shane, and Scott, who works on the O'Connor farm as stable hand and has a thing for Margie. And Ava, Mike's ex-wife, Carl Lugowski, local cop/homicide investigator, Dan Quayde, local a$$hole, and a bunch of other, minor, one-dimensional characters who don't really bring much to the table.

Bunch of bumbling fools, all of them.

I realize that the author is trying to show how the characters grow throughout the story, what with Margie learning to read and stand up for herself, and Coco outgrowing her clutziness (not sure how she managed that), and Mike trying to stay away from his bitchy ex-wife, and Eric finally figuring out that Jen is not opposed to his feelings for her, and - gosh, there is so much going on that it's difficult to figure out what is going on.

And that's why this book fails. Subplot after subplot after subplot all intermingled, and that's not even counting the antics the horses get into. Sure, the author weaves them all together nicely, and certainly deserves credit for that, but in the end this book suffers from main character overload.

The only person I somewhat connected with (and only because I felt sorry for her) was Margie. And in a book that encompasses more than six main characters, that's not a good thing.

I don't even know what genre to put this in - is it romance? A romantic comedy? A comedy? Some parts are funny, and in some scenes people kiss and/or get naked. Maybe I should title it chicklit, and then call it a day.

The writing is a wee bit on the flowery side, especially in the beginning, and might put off readers like me who like the prose crisp and concise. The numerous inner thoughts in italics also didn't help to make this an easily flowing read.

If you like your prose a little purple, and you like books that take you on a wild ride you didn't know you signed up for, this might be the book for you.

It wasn't for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot Coco
Cindy McDonald

She’s hot, she’s smooth and she knows what she wants in a man and more ways than one she is a deadly weapon all by herself. She’s fearless when she wants to get things done and knows how to get men to fall at her feet. I mean literally. Coco Beardmore owns five horses and boards them at the O’Conner stables. Four thoroughbreds some how get out of their stables and create havoc on a daily basis causing the workers at the stables to have to clean up what they managed to wreck. Just how this could happen you won’t believe. Why would the owner of the stables hope that someone would not only take the four thoroughbreds off of his hands but Coco too? Coco walks into the stables at Keystone Downs Thoroughbred Racetrack and leaves a trail of ogling men in her wake. But, there is much more to this than just her beauty and charm. Coco is really sweet and Marge who works the stables loves talking to her and Coco always makes her feel special. So, why would anyone not want her around? She’s gorgeous, she’s sweet and her father is loaded and owns Beardmore Industries so what could be bad.

Did I forget to tell you that when Coco walked into Westwood Thoroughbred Farm head trainer Mike West knew in his heart he was doomed? Doomed to want to know more about Coco. But, will he be sorry? You decide. First, she trips on a loose piece of gravel and Mike has to catch her before she gets hurt. A small abrasion on her knew and a slight burn does not stop her from making sure that Mike knew she was interested. Explaining why she was there would prove more than must the downfall of many because her next move was to drive her car right into Mike’s horse trailer but there is plenty more. Introducing her to his brother Shane and making sure he knew that it was hands off just by his icy stare and meeting Punch McMinn who worked for the West’s was only the start of her reign of what would come next to these poor men. As Coco explains why she wanted Mike to take her horses from the other stable she forgot to tell him just how wild and untrained they were. Well, they would find out soon enough or at least he would find out the scoop from Margie who had a thing for Mike too. But, who wouldn’t he’s gorgeous, pumped, rich and too hot to handle and he knew it. So, why did he have a thing for his ex-wife Ava and why when the thought about her does he reflect on the “fun times” too? Okay Mike, time to move on and Coco just might be the right antidote for Ava. But, the fun has just started and what happens when Coco invites Mike for dinner is hilarious. She wanders over to him, greets him in a really seductive way, pours two glasses of wine so how does on get all over his white shirt which of course she offers to launder for him during dinner. But, the fun just started and their chemistry ignited when the skillet with the meat flared up and the end result, you guessed it 911. There is more. When Coco is invited to Mike’s what happens when his ex-wife shows up, Coco decides to get comfortable in his bedroom and his brother finds her there and well you guessed it, one more foiled evening.

When the four horses are finally in the stables they find out just how they got out with the help of a clever horse named Charlatan. When they enter one of her horses in a race he enters the starting gate and freezes the poor thing and never runs the race. The poor jockey was totally stymied and Mike was not happy at all and poor Coco was clueless. Enter sister Kate West who is self-absorbed and only concerned about signing and getting her new car. Working for the vet at the stables she puts in a days or nights work but her attitude is more like its coming to her and you find it hard to like her at all. When she meets Coco she is not impressed and of course let’s not get started with how she feels about Ava.

Hoping to receive a message or call from Mike, Coco is distracted, tries to retrieve her phone and what happens next is definitely right out of a wild movie as she destroys Kate’s new mustang not even one day old, her own father’s Lexus and cannot understand why she is one total disaster. Remembering what happened with Mike, the fire, falling and even with her ex-husband’s Bentley, you wonder she doesn’t carry extra insurance in case of daily disasters. But, when Mike decides to race Charlatan, gives the horse his peppermints and gets him saddled up, why does he go berserk injuring the jockey and creating havoc in the tunnel? Then things begin to change when Tom Mason comes back to Keystone Downs and he and Coco or Collette, as she wants to be called strike up a relationship that leads Mike and everyone to believe she might not be such a ditzy blonde after all. But, Mike tries to help Margie and things are misinterpreted and her father goes wild thinking he defiled her. Standing in the background is Scott hoping to score points with Margie who only has eyes for a West. But, when one man insults and tries to make her feel stupid it is Eric West that comes to her rescue and an unusual friendship is born as she is finally going to learn to read. But, someone else is after Eric and when Margie begins spending time with him learning to read she thinks he’s falling for her and her whole appearance improves as Ava does a What Not To Wear Makeover on her and she actually looks pretty. But, someone is out hurt her and even though Eric explains that he only wants to teach her to read and has no romantic interest in her, she lashes out and realizes or thinks that her father was right not to trust a West. But, Margie’s troubles are only beginning when someone slashes another woman’s tires leaving a note warning her to stay away from Eric. Brought in for questioning she is terrified of being arrested for something she claims she would never do. Just who comes to her aide you won’t believe and why cannot be revealed.

Eric seems to be in his own love triangle as Jen Fleming wants to get her hooks into him, Margie is what you might say infatuated with Eric and all he wanted to do was teach her some independence by helping her learn to read.

One 33 year old woman who just wanted to be recognized for being more than her father’s slave or worker and treated as an adult. When the truth comes out you won’t believe who slashed the tires and threw the brick through the window. Margie turns her back on the West Family but it is Mike that tries to explain and remedy things with her but can he? Why would she care when she feels that they really do want to be around her in any real way? When things get out of hand at the dance that she and Jen Fleming attend why is Coco the one person that comes to her defense?

An ending that will definitely surprise the reader and one you won’t see galloping down the racetrack in front of you. Just who gets Eric? Who gets Mike? Who will Collette or Coco trip over, fall over or ride away into the sunset with? What about Kate? Just whom does she owe a favor to and why? That’s for the next book in The Unbridled Series. Just who wins the race and which horse comes in first you won’t believe? One family so different yet really wanting the same thing: Power, money, love and the thrill of the win on the track. One again author Cindy McDonald delivers a plot with twists, turns and surprises and even one magic trick. But, it is about love, understanding, trust and the magic and wonder of reading and the power it holds when you learn. What that means and how it connects to the story you will have to learn for yourself. This is one great novel and I think I will rate it: FIVE PERFECT WINS AT THE FINISH LINE!

[Julianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed for THC Reviews
"3.5 stars" Hmmm... where to begin? I guess I'll start my review of Hot Coco by saying that I'm not really sure what genre it's supposed to be. Some readers and book websites seem to have it categorized as Contemporary Romance, but it really isn't. While there's lots of lusting and relationship turmoils, the story doesn't focus on one main couple, following them through to their HEA. In fact, none of the characters who are pursuing relationships even get an HEA. By the end, the few couples who do end up together have more of an HFN vibe. Even though this book is definitely targeted more to a female audience, there's too much comedy for it to be a true women's fiction book, and yet it also isn't really chick lit either because of the lack of a single female character's perspective. So, what is Hot Coco? Well, to me it contained enough lust and drama to rival any soap opera, but at the same time, it has enough over-the-top slapstick moments to rival any romantic comedy. In the end, I decided it reminded me of Desperate Housewives in book form, except that instead of being set in American suburbia, it all takes place in the wonderful world of horse racing.

Based on the cover blurb, I got the mistaken impression that the story was going to be primarily about horse trainer, Mike West, and horse owner, Coco Beardmore, but these two characters ended up being just two players in a huge ensemble cast. To start, there is the West family: dad, Eric, sons, Mike and Shane, and daughter, Kate, who are owners of Westwood Farms, a horse training operation. Eric is a widower. He and Mike, who was the oldest and already grown when his mom died, raised the two younger sibling alone. Eric is thinking about getting back into the dating pool and is interested in Jen Fleming, the pretty nurse who runs medical services at the racetrack, Keystone Downs. Jen is equally interested in him if not more so. Eric was one of my favorite characters. I viewed him as an attractive middle-aged man who was very much a gentleman with a caring side. I loved how he patiently taught Margie how to read and write. Oldest son, Mike, divorced his ex-wife after she cheated on him, but he hasn't entirely gotten her out of his system. Still, that doesn't stop him from going after the sexy Coco when she brings her horses to his stable. Shane, the youngest, is a bit of a youthful player, while middle child and vet assistant, Kate, appears to be a good girl with a crush on local police detective, Carl Lugowski. I believe these two met in the first book of the series, Deadly.com (I don't know much about that though, since I haven't read it yet.), and will become more involved in the next book of the series, Dangerous Deception.

On the opposite side of the tracks, there are the O'Conners, who are essentially classic caricatures of hillbillies. Dad, Doug, is a crusty old codger, who views Eric as something of an enemy, although why that is, I'm not entirely sure. Doug's wife left him years ago, so he raised his daughter, Margie, alone. In a subconscious effort to keep Margie with him, he keeps a pretty tight reign on her life. As a result, she's illiterate and still unattached at 33. She spends her days taking care of their rundown shack of a house, and mucking out stalls at the stables. She's an excellent cook though, and a bit of a dreamer, who loves looking at her mom's old romance novels even if she can't read them. Margie was my other favorite character, probably because she's the underdog and because she grows and changes the most throughout the story. The only thing I didn't really like much was the way many of the other characters treated her because of her looks. I fully understood the first time the author described Margie that she wasn't particularly attractive, but to have several other characters, including Mike, Shane, Mike's ex, Ava, and others continually going on about how ugly Margie was seemed a little mean-spirited and over the top. The one person who truly seems to appreciate Margie is the O'Conner's stable hand, Scott, but then he went and did something outrageously stupid in an attempt to keep her. For a guy who was supposedly quite intelligent and simply stuck in his job due to generational poverty, his actions made no sense whatsoever and turned a nice, sweet character into a bit of a jerk, which was somewhat disappointing.

Last, but certainly not least, is Coco Beardmore, who epitomizes the phrase, “ditzy blonde.” She's rather short on brains and her father is a wealthy tycoon, which makes her something of a Paris Hilton wannabe. Coco appears to have a thing for older men, having already been married to one who was old enough to be her father. She's also accident prone in the extreme. She should have a hazard sign tied around her neck, because everywhere she goes and everything she does, she leaves complete disaster in her wake. However, we do eventually find out that perhaps some of her klutziness is tied to self-esteem issues, because when she finds the right man, who adores her crazy antics, she seems to calm down. Coco's horses are every bit as wacky as she is. One is a peppermint addict and mischievous escape artist who unlatches his stall every night and releases his buddies too. Then they proceed to “party” by trashing the barn and grounds. Another one sits down in the starting gate and refuses to race. All these guys were definitely good for some laughs.

There are several other characters too, but in general, we don't get to know any of the characters, main or otherwise, particularly well due to there not being any deep POV. The book is written in rapid-fire POV changes that were sometime difficult to follow. Occasionally, I couldn't figure out who was thinking or saying certain things, even after re-reading the passage. Every single character gets their own perspective, so it typically shifts every few paragraphs. I was also somewhat disappointed with the lust-crazed nature of several characters. Even when they were dating one person, they usually couldn't get another one out of their mind, so during the brief moments of introspection, it often seemed like the only thing they thought about was sex. Although I should point out that it was all thinking and no doing, as there were no explicit love scenes to speak of. The technical aspects of the writing could have been a bit better too. I found several typos and incorrect or awkward word choices, just enough to be a bit distracting.

On the upside, the author definitely knows the horse world, and really brought this aspect of the story to life. While I don't know much about horse racing, it has always seemed to me that there are some rather eccentric people in that world, so the bizarre, quirky characters of Hot Coco seemed tailor made for the setting. I also can't deny that this was a fast-paced, entertaining story, which aside from the POV issues, was an easy read. Anyone who has a taste for outlandish soap operas in book form should enjoy this one.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the author's publicist in exchange for an honest review.

[Kimberly Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must say that "Hot Coco" was a very entertaining read. As stated in the interview, these books were originally designed to be a television series and that's just how I envisioned everything when I read it. I loved the setting of the horse farms and dipping into the life of Thoroughbred racing. The characters were very likable (although some of them I absolutely hated at first but then they grew on me). Coco seriously is the most klutzy person I have ever read about, lol. How that girl managed to walk sometimes without falling over amazed me:) Mike's interactions with his family (especially the constant jabs from his younger brother, Shane, and vice versa) were very entertaining. The one character that just completely broke my heart was Margie. She is a 33 year old woman who still lives at home with her controlling father and is unfortunately lacking in the looks department. And there is a secret about her that I won't disclose but when I realized what it was I just felt so bad for her. It was wonderful to see her blossom throughout the story and I was a little scared when I saw her turning in a not so nice direction -- but everything turns out for the good:) All in all I enjoyed this novel very much. It is an easy read and keeps you interested throughout the duration of the story.

[RaeBeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot Coco by Cindy McDonald is a pleasant read for those who like to laugh mixed in with a bit of romance. The characters are loveable and easy to fall for. I loved how the Pittsburgh Steelers was mentioned several times within this book as well as some places around my home which pulled me in even more. I loved the horse farm setting with the cowboys. I love Coco and her klutzy character and I felt for Margie. By the end of this novel, each character felt real and this is why I enjoyed this book so much.

I give this novel 5 ***** stars.

[~ Becs ~]

I have to identify with this girl - I am the clumsiest girl in the known universe after all!

[Lauren Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does your life have strictly romance, but no adventure? Is it a mystery without comedy? Is there paranormal that is devoid of romance?
Life is not a genre. People, circumstances, and, yes, even stories, cannot be put into a box and labeled: Comedy, Romance, Adventure, or Mystery. What some readers today fail to realize is that these boxes and labels were created by publishers in order to organize their business. Does this book go to the romance staff on the fifth floor or the mystery staff on floor three?
Today, writers are free to write simply great stories that don’t belong in any box and give them to readers to enjoy without labels.
Cindy McDonald’s latest installment in the Unbridles Series is one of those books. It has romance, thigh slapping comedy, and drama—all of it entertaining.
Cindy’s style of writing is easy and conversational. She takes the reader by the hand and skims the surface before diving deeper into the souls of her characters. First, she introduces you to the characters who, on the surface are two dimensional, but still interesting. Then she takes down deeper to reveal what is underneath. Before you realize it, you’ve been hooked and don’t really care to get loose. These are characters that you feel for and really care about.
Coco (Colette) is more than just a blond bimbo providing comic relief with her antics. She yearns to be valued for more than her boobs, and realizes that if that is to happen, she needs to do it on her own. Then, there’s Margie, who most men will not touch with a ten foot pole. But there’s a person behind that big nose. She wants so much to be like Coco and the West family. In one fabulous scene, McDonald shows the two women looking over the fence into each other’s yard wishing their grass was as green.
Then there is romance blooming between widower Eric West and the track nurse. The middle aged couple have been yearning but fearing to take that first step for so long. Cindy McDonald easily makes the reader empathize with their apprehension.
There are more characters and all of their lives collide. Each one’s interaction affects the other person until in the end—no one is the same.
So what is Hot Coco? Is it a comedy with Coco’s clumsiness? Or is it a drama with Margie’s dilemma? Or is it a romance with Eric and Jen? Who says a box has to be put into a box before we can read it?
What is important is that it is a good, entertaining read. I give Cindy McDonald’s Hot Coco Five Stars.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coco Bearmore, a Barbie-like heiress, is having trouble with her horse trainer and her five thoroughbred horses, who get into lots of mischief. When Coco tearfully asks Mike West for his help, he agrees to take on the training of her horses, and drama ensues, especially because Coco is very clumsy and her horses have very bad habits.

HOT COCO has romance, intrigue, and great characters, but it isn't like most mainstream romances. HOT COCO tells the story of the West family and some of the people associated with them. Mike West is the oldest son of Eric West, and he helps run the family stables. Mike is attracted to Coco's outward appearance, but because of her clumsiness, has trouble getting close to her. At first, I didn't like Mike much, because he seemed to be all about outward appearances, but as the book progressed, he seemed to realize that there is more to a person than their looks. Coco has a good heart but is terribly clumsy and always getting into situations. Toward the end of the book, Coco becomes more self-sufficient.

All in all, I enjoyed HOT COCO and became involved in the lives of the characters. It was nice to see how they grew, and I look forward to reading more about this family.

[Ruth Albarran · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a long time to finish reading this story but i finally got through it.

I would say it was entertaining, the writing was good and different from what i had previously read or what I'm used to reading. I felt like i was reading, picturing or watching one of those soap operas from TV.

This story includes a lot of characters to the mix, and you do have to keep that in mind in order to keep up with the different topics of the story and of each character. This is not you typical romance novel. but once you get in to, you get very involved with each character and you want to know more as per what the deal is and what happens with each one of them.

I would recommend this as a great summer read. i loved the way the horse business was described and it made it easier for me to understand what exactly was going on and what the author was referring to. I liked the way each characters had their own conflict and how we get to see the struggles and resolution for each one of them in their own ways.

[Cindy McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to make sure that HOT COCO was a story that my readers would not be able to put down. HOT COCO would make them smile and laugh and as the plot unfolds, it will employ the reader to contemplate the metamorphosis that the characters are experiencing before their eyes.
This isn’t just a story about a beautiful klutzy blonde, goodness no! It goes much deeper than that. Read closely. This is an expedition where the characters find out who they want to be, where they want to go, and how much forgiveness it requires of themselves and others to reach their destination.
Enjoy!

[♡B♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now the title of this story is Hot Coco SO when we got to meet Coco in the story this hot and clumsy woman...well I thought okay we got the main character... not so much. This was about a lot of different people. I was a bit confused on the title as I got further into the book.

That being said it did draw me in and I couldn't wait to find out what was going on with who and who did what. I enjoyed reading this.

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, great characters, all the conflict was delicious to read!

[Traceys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characthers for me. The book started off ok, but then just veered off into different stories.

[Tomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is impossibly bad. Nobody is that perfect and the list of calamities is too exaggerated, even for fiction. Not wasting my time on any more of this author'so disappointing one dimensional characters and plot lines that go no where.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horses, racetracks, sexy and sultry characters and massive misunderstandings are the major components in the contemporary read Hot Coco by Cindy McDonald. I thought that the story was going to center on Colette "Coco" Beardmore given the title, and it does . . . for a while. Coco is attracted to Mike West, Mike is attracted to Coco but he's also still attracted (sexual attraction) to his ex-wife Ava. Ava is in a relationship with Carl, who is attracted to Ava's ex-sister-in-law Kate. Mike and Kate's father, Eric, is attracted to Jennifer and vice versa. Eric is also generously donating his time to teach Margie, another trainer’s daughter, to read. Margie starts off infatuated with Mike, begins to date a co-worker, and then thinks she's in love with Eric. Whew! Confused yet, I was and I read it!

The basic premise for Hot Coco is what attracted me to this book, but it didn't take long for the premise to fall flat. Coco and Mike are the major characters for about three or four chapters and then the story goes off on numerous tangents. To put it bluntly, Hot Coco is a "hot mess." There doesn't seem to be a main storyline or major characters throughout the story. Characters may be major in a few chapters and then become extremely minor in others. There is no main story to pull everything together other than the setting of the racetrack and training facilities. Ms. McDonald appears to have had a great idea for a story that centered on mutual attraction that is confounded by the klutziness of one of the characters. Unfortunately that story was over within a few short chapters and the remaining storylines just seem like filler. Hot Coco is a fast read but it simply didn't work for me due to its lack of storyline and major character development.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot Coco by Cindy McDonald
4 STARS
I was thinking that the story would go one away and it went in a total different direction that I thought it would. I was drawn into the lives of the characters. I like how most of them grew and changed. I wanted to see what would happen next in thier lives.
Coco Beardmore is a beautiful rich klutzy woman. Things are always happening around her. She needs a different horse trainer the one she has wants her horses out of his barn.
Mike West is a trainer with his family. He sees the beautiful Coco and agrees to train her horses without asking his father. Both Mike and Shane like Coco's looks.
Margie Oconner works for her father in his barn. She has a crush on Mike West. Margie is a plain women and shy. She does not have a lot of skills of how to attract a man. She also needs to learn to read.
Doug O'Conner is a horse trainer. He is a hard man but will stand up for his daughter. Thier place is not well maintained.
Eric West is Mike's father and boss. He is not too happy to have Coco around with her trouble horses. I really ended up liking him a lot.
Coco's troubled horses are funny one sits down at race time. Another flips over backward.
I really enjoyed reading this book and would love to read more books by Cindy. She keeps your interest in her characters and wants to see what happens next in thier lives.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley.
Publisher: Acorn Book Services (May 30, 2012) pages 202 ASIN: B0087SUA2K

[A Book Vacation · Rating 2 out of 5]

To see my full review:

http://bookvacations.wordpress.com/20...

I have some mixed feelings about this second novel in the Unbridled series. First of all, the writing was good and the mystery aspect of the novel, once it began, was also quite interesting. However, the overuse of adjectives and words like “naked” didn’t do much for me as a reader, especially as the focus always seemed to be on the buxom blonde, Coco. The characters all seemed obsessed with sex, as well, and as that’s not something I enjoy in my novels, it somewhat put me off as I read.

Truth be told, I wasn’t really sure where the story itself was going. The first portion of the novel was all about Coco and Mike, and then suddenly she’s out of the picture and it’s about Margie and Keith. Then, it’s about Coco and Tom… and I wasn’t really sure where the plotline was truly headed, who the story was really targeting. Based on the synopsis and the beginning of the novel, I would have said it’s about Coco and Mike, but by the end, I think the story was actually about doing the right thing, focusing on Keith teaching people to read.

Overall, I think it’s well-written, but I’m not still not sure exactly where the plot itself was going, or if I perhaps missed something important along the way. Truthfully, I was hoping for another mystery novel, like the first novel in the series, Deadly.com, but there wasn’t really anything but life and awkward relationships in this one.

[Richard Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, which is, I believe, the first in a series is about the people who run, work at and train horses at the stables at race tracks. It shows the owner, both of the horses and the stables. The workers who do the day to day jobs.

You have Coco Beardmore, a woman who has everything, good looks, brains and money, who is also a total klutz and walking disaster area. You have the West family, Eric the father, Mike and Shane the sons and Kate the daughter, who run one of the higher end training stables. Ava, Mikes ex wife who loves to try and control people and stir things up and Margie O'Copnner, a young lady whoes father runs one of the lower end stables, who has a secret, she can't read or write. It sets up the characters, their day by day lifes as they try to work, love and overcome lifes obstacles.

Si if you are looking for a book with details about racing stables or one with a lot of sex and action, this book is not for you but if you are looking for a book that is a good way to enjoy a lazy day or two just reading an entertaining story it is.

NOTE: I received a copy from the author/publisher for an honest review.

This review will appear in Net Gallery, LibraryThing, Goodreads and if available, Amazon

[Iris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Other than the hilarious events with Coco and her horses, there was nothing for me to like. The rest of the book didn't have a real story. Just a lot of characters, who each get a turn to say something or do something. There were just too many different story lines in too few pages. There wasn't even the tiniest bit of real romance and the characters didn't have much depth.

I was very disappointed after finishing.

[GONZA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many people in this book and Coco was really to much of a klutz for me and so I didn't connect with her enough to get lost in the story, oh sorry the stories, there were so may plots and subplots, specially at the beginning that I start to write down names to remember who's who.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND ACORN BOOK SERVICES FOR THE PREVIEW

[Charleen Marx sowards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story but it jumps around a bit. It's also part of a series and apparently it would make more sense if you had read the others.

[Michelle [Helen Geek]]

ARC on 08/25/2012.