A Dark Horse

by Blayne Cooper

Mid-western college professor Natalie Abbott is estranged from her dysfunctional family. It happened so slowly she barely noticed... Then it was too late. On the cusp of landing her dream job, Natalie is forced to New Orleans in search of her runaway teenaged brother Joshua. Desperately short of clues, she’s grateful that NOPD Detective Adele Lejeune seems to genuinely care.
Detective Lejeune's interest in Joshua's disappearance dangerously shifts from professional to intensely personal, as do her feelings for Natalie. The women doggedly navigate the depths of the city's seething underbelly as they work to solve the tangled mystery that is poised to crush Natalie's heart and leave Adele’s life in ruins.
Best-selling, award-winning author Blayne Cooper
exposes the intrigue of the Big Easy in this epic story of
dedication, risk and passion.

Genres: Crime, Lesbian, Romance, LGBT, Mystery, Thriller, Femme Femme

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

Blayne Cooper has also written under the pen name Advocate. She is the Royal Academy of Bards 2005 Hall of Fame Author and a recipient of the 2014 Academy of Bards Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in Northern California in January 1969, Blayne Cooper is the best-selling author of a variety of fiction ranging from mystery/romance to outrageous parody. With each novel she tackles a new personal writing challenge. The result is a diverse collection of lesbian fiction.
Blayne has held a number of interesting, and sometimes rather unusual jobs (sunflower sexer), and completed a stint as a Combat Medic in the Army National Guard. Today, she is a project manager for a legal publishing company by day, and writer by night.
In 1990 Blayne graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. degree in political science. The next year she married and in 1995 she graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and was admitted into the Oklahoma Bar Association.
That same summer, her spirited daughter was born. A gregarious son completed the family in 1997. She easily ranks her children as her greatest accomplishment.
Blayne has always harbored an interest in fiction, but it wasn’t until 1998 that she tried her own hand at writing by reaching out to an online audience. A couple of years later, her work was published. While she enjoys the challenge of working in multiple genres, it's writing about the humor found in everyday life that gives her the most pleasure.
Blayne loves travel, reading, and spending long, sleepless nights crouched over her computer in search of the perfect words that will make people laugh or weep uncontrollably. She's still looking, but having a great time on the journey.
A rolling stone at heart, Blayne currently resides in the Midwest with her loving spouse, two children, and Wheaton Terrier. (from the author's website)

Reviews

[lov2laf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a disjointed read for me. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, all the way up until...I'll call it the phone snatch scene. Hopefully, that doesn't spoil anything for new readers. Anyway, once that happened the book took a turn for the worse and my liking dropped way down. Combining my feelings, I'd set this in the high 3 stars (3.7/3.8, maybe).

What I liked about the first half was that it actually spanned years and added some realism to a missing person's case. The characters felt really defined, especially Adele. The interactions were natural, dialogue was good, chemistry was there, and the mystery was interesting. We also got to see the lead characters develop and react to each other in new ways since they were in different emotional states each time they met due to the span of time...At this point in the book I kept reading chapter after chapter and was really pulled in.

Then...at the 60% mark, the melodrama set in. Disclaimer, be aware my tolerance for melodrama is fairly low. What I call melodrama other readers tend to enjoy so take that for what you will...Anyway, yes, melodrama...where the story goes further than it needed to while not going far enough where it should have. It'll be a spoiler if I explain more but something happens that's extreme...and then the reaction and recovery, both physically and emotionally, is just way too unrealistic...and so strange, the author describes the extent of...what happened...and within a couple of scenes we're at a love scene. It had me scratching my head.

It was also here that the lead characters started behaving in ways that I didn't think was congruent with their earlier selves and, for the rest of the book, reactions just felt off. Throw in a damsel in distress, some more drama, and a mushy ending...and, yeah, overall a really mixed bag for me.

For readers looking for a balanced mystery and romance, this book does have that...neither is neglected.

And, on a side note, for those that are interested, there's really good bisexual representation here and one of the leads is a mother so I give it points for that, too.

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was a really good book! I fell in love with the characters and with the story.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an extraordinary book! I recently read Blayne Cooper's Unbreakable and loved it, so I picked this one expecting something about as good as that, but this turned out to be even better, which is saying a lot.

This book was a wild ride and I couldn't possibly have had a better time reading it. For starters, the blurb had me one-hundred percent unprepared for how the story actually went — during the first parts, each and every time I thought, "oh, okay, now I can see how the story's going to continue for the rest of the book", the next chapter went and basically laughed "nope!" at me. It was one surprise after the other and when the story finally established the setting for the rest of the story, it was nothing like what I was expecting from the beginning.

I tend to expect mystery stories to get gradually more intense as the plot evolves, but this book had jaw-dropping twists from early on, and balanced that mystery storyline with the romance really well. And the characters were so great. Adele was just fantastic — she was selfless and so damn fierce and brave as hell but at the same time insecure and vulnerable and just real. She and Natalie went through so much shit that they did nothing to deserve and I just couldn't wait for them to get a happy ending.

And god, that epilogue! I don't know what I would've done with my life if the book had ended without it. I needed all that fluffy happiness so bad after seeing all the endless awful stuff that they went through. I especially needed to see Natalie interacting with Logan and being a part of the family because children and domestic adorableness are my everything. And man, it was everything I wanted and more. The ending could not have been more perfect.

Nothing felt rushed; the intimate scenes were just beyond incredible; the action and most intense scenes felt so real I was anxious as hell myself while reading. Blayne Cooper is a really great writer.

[Tiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Dark Horse by Blayne Cooper is a FANTASTIC book! I absolutely loved every second I spent reading it. You want mystery, boom you got it. You want action, boom you got it. I know you want that romance, and boom you got that as well. Blayne Cooper has written a wonderful book that is every bit worthy of 5 stars!

Natalie Abbott is a young college professor, who has gotten her career on the fast track to tenure. She has worked and studied tirelessly to get ahead in life, while coming from a childhood of poverty. One day visiting her mother, she learns that her step-brother has dropped out of high school and has skipped town with his girlfriend and headed to New Orleans. So what would any big sister do, she heads down to the Big Easy prepared to drag his dumbass home.

Natalie's contact with NOLA PD is Detective Adele "Ella" LeJeune. Ella is a cop through and through. Her heart is 100% into helping the people of NOLA, and she will stop at nothing to help Natalie find her brother.

The story follows the lives of Natalie and Ella over the course of two years. Issues in the missing brother's case keep bringing the ladies back into each other's lives. Both of main characters are well developed and you really get to know their emotions and why they are the way they are. They are flawed but they are resilient. These are strong women you will read about, emotionally and physically. This is not your woman in peril type of novel. Blayne Cooper gave her characters depth.

While The Dark Horse is a mystery filled with twists and turns, it also has a romance that is every bit the mystery's equal. No part of this book felt rushed or glossed over. The story is long enough (you are definitely getting your money's worth) so that Ms. Cooper can work her magic. The love story is so sweet, it pulls at our heart strings. Isn't that what we are constantly searching for in reading the romance genre! SOOOO GOOD!!! This is one of the best books I have read in quite some time.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more books by Cooper that I read, the more I like her. She takes the time to develop her stories fully even if that takes more than 240 pages (I feel like there are a bazillion lesbian novels that are 240 pages...Has anyone else thought this?). I loved both the main characters in this book though it takes a bit of time to warm up to Natalie. I happen to be from Louisiana which is where this story takes place. I always enjoy reading stories about places with which I have some familiarity. Overall, a page turning read and a heartwarming love story.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit, I was a little cautious going into this one. The last thing I read by Blayne Cooper was the online version of The Last Train Home. Even though I read it about five years ago, and it was written longer ago than that, my brain just said: "That's what you can expect from this book." I believed that to be true because I am a giant stupidhead. I was also slightly worried because my Goodreads friends described the mixture of action, mystery and romance as "balanced," which my brain heard as "not enough romance." Again, I am a giant stupidhead.

Funnily enough, it seems like Blayne Cooper's writing, which wasn't bad at all in The Last Train Home, has improved over the last thirteen years. Because of course it did. (I'm an idiot.) Also, there's plenty of romance. Better than that? The romance is actually strengthened because it wasn't the only focus of the book. Rather than being tethered to the usual romantic tropes, A Dark Horse had room to wander thanks to the other story lines playing out.

I want to talk more about Ms. Cooper's quality of writing, though. She makes use of some lovely imagery, creates distinct personalities for her characters, allows for well-developed relationships between them, writes some wonderfully funny banter, and provides a strong sense of location without ever bombarding the reader with exposition. My favorite thing she does though, is trusting the reader to think. She trusts us to be smart, to connect the dots not only in the plot, but in the emotional lives of her characters. So often in lesfic, authors feel compelled to put everything, everything, right in front of the reader, to explain every last detail. Ms. Cooper leaves spaces for our imaginations to fill, and it makes all the difference. There is no overwriting here.

Now, there were some elements that weren't quite as successful for me. The early chapters of the book had several time jumps which, while required for the plot, slowed the pacing down considerably, making it feel like stop-and-go traffic. Fortunately, that settled down by the end of the first third, so it wasn't an ongoing issue. The other issue I had was with the mystery itself. Due to the relatively limited number of characters, there really weren't a lot of possibilities. While the final confrontation certainly had an abundance of emotion, I never had an "OMG!!" moment. If your primary purpose for reading the book is the mystery and you're not new to the genre, said mystery might not wow you.

In addition, I had three character-related issues that I'll spoiler tag (two of these will spoil the ending): I was a little sad that the only prominent male, African-American character in the book turned out to be a murderous thug. I'm not sure what the solution to that is, since the only other serious suspect was Landry, and turning the ex-husband into the big bad is probably the most common trope in lesfic. Still, I would've liked to have seen some positive representations of PoCs other than Georgia, who was, herself, a glorified servant.

Another issue I had was with Natalie being cast in the woman-in-peril role at the end of the book. I rolled my eyes hard when that happened, and almost caused myself eye strain doing the same thing when she stepped between AJ and Adele while their guns were drawn; I felt the author's hands all over that, and it seemed like a betrayal of the character she'd spent so much time defining as a woman full of agency and self-determination. Again, I'm not sure what the solution is, since it was important to have both leads involved in the climax. I guess I just would've liked it if Natalie had played a bit more of a role in saving herself, rather than simply becoming a damsel in distress.

Lastly, why was Logan even in this story? He factored into Adele's decisions from time to time, but he was mostly a non-event. It didn't seem like the story had enough time to define him as a character and, as a result, he really felt more like a set decoration than a living, breathing child.


The last thing I want to touch on is the epilogue. Epilogues can often feel cheezy, like tacked on fan-service trying to do too much in too little space. The epilogue in A Dark Horse, however, took its time, dotting all its i's and crossing all its t's. When the story ended, I was left feeling as though there were ample room for sequels, and yet there were no loose ends. Everything was resolved to my satisfaction, and I may have swooned just a little. Just a bit. There may have been tears; it's difficult to remember since I was [allegedly] in mid-swoon at the time.

Despite my criticism, this book really worked for me. Yes, the mystery could've been a bit more mysterious; yes the early pacing could've been a bit more stable; yes, I had an issue or two with some of the supporting characters, but this is still an extremely well-written book. There is enough romance for this to be considered a romance novel. There is enough drama and action for this to be considered a thriller. There is enough mystery for this to be considered a mystery novel. Most of all, there is enough quality writing for this to be considered a Good Read.

5 stars. Favorites shelf.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second book that I’ve read penned by Blayne Cooper, and all I can say is that I loved poring over the books. A dark horse is a really compelling story that had me going till very late into the night/early morning. There was romance, suspense and a crime that needed to be solved. Story spanned over many years, from the time when Adele first met Natalie when Nat’s brother went missing and Adele was the presiding detective to when she lost her job as a detective when she was severely injured in one of her calls. Plenty of actions and intense situations to keep me on my toes. And for once, I’m glad that I was wrong in guessing who the baddie was...

Solid 5 ⭐️

[Just a man's point of view · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that when you finish them, you feel a little bit lost and then you ask yourself: And now? What can I possibly read after such a book?
This novel can be defined as a perfect blending of a romance and a mistery, with a predominance on romance.
Adele is the tormented heroine and Natalie is the brave counterpart, who becomes the lighthouse in her life.
There's much drama in Adele's life, she suffers losses in family life, in professional credit as well as physical menomation, until Natalie comes back in her life to gradually resurrect her with gentle feelings that naturally grow into mutual love.
The two ladies are wonderful indiviudally, and great with each others. There's great chemistry, attraction. They are both sexy and femmes. Adele is also a little butch, but only inside, which I found nice.
And there's humour, banter between them, important little moments, really great dialogue. Everything is so rich in this book, even details.
And another point, they both behave like adults in the story, and I so much appreciate that!
For example, Adele is bisexual. She has a break up with her husband years before starting her story with Natalie. During the last part of the book it's clear that her husband still loves her and wants her back. But simply, Adele knows that she now wants Natalie and doesn't call anything into question. As simple as that: adult choices.

Romance tropes are wonderfully subverted here. The necessary angst is not artificially created by an unlikely, whim-born separation, incompatible whith the nature of the mutual feeling. Instead, it's provided by the mistery narrative line which comes artfully into play with its blows when everything seems to go well romantically.

The mistery line deserves its own discourse.
Being romance the larger part of the story, mistery is somehow limited. But Blayne Cooper is so skilled to manage a perfectly edited, sensible crime story complete with surprising twists and ending surprise. If we cut away all romance, we would still have a really enjoyable, free-standing, crime novella.
Much more as it is part of a larger story and it is functional to it.
When the mistery fades out after its proper conclusion, the author provides a long epilogue where she makes the readers see how the romance evolves happily as Natalie and Adele meet and solve the practical problems still left open, and the book closes as a perfect stand-alone story.

What else can I say? In my opinion this is a little masterpiece.

Should I try to find defects? A bit too much violence suffered by both the leading characters? Maybe, but that made me feel for them, it was worth reading it.
In dialogues sometimes I had to reread because I didn't understand which one was saying what... very minor details.

5 stars

PS: Just to say what I managed to do after reading this book. I started to read another Blayne Cooper's book! Unbreakable
I'm enjoying it, but this will be another review. :)

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite possibly the author's best work yet. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thrilling page turner. I enjoyed the stories within the story and how they all connected. This is not a light and easy read. There are some bad people doing bad things. There is betrayal, drug use, violence, and mystery. What kept me reading was the simmering undercurrent of a love story and the stories within the story. The interaction between the two main characters was fantastic. Nicole Abbott is an interesting character as she interacts with her family and goes after resolution. Adele Lejeune is a strong confident women and detective. When her world is turned upside down, you only hope she will keep it together. Expect the unexpected. Prepare to be enthralled. I appreciated the detail description of the characters through narrative and self-talk. I felt right along with each of them as they navigated the creature filled streets of New Orleans to find out what the heck is going on. Oh, yeah, being the romantic that I am, this is one of my favorite lines from the read..."Give us a chance. Take leap. I swear to God I'll catch you." The last few chapters of the read are magnificent as story after story is dealt with.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like crime/mystery/thriller books with a little romance thrown in. And this book didn't disappoint. A few surprising twists in the book kept me on the edge of my seat and also kept me interested from start to finish. I do believe this could be a series and I hope Blayne Cooper runs with it.

[Linh Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Love this book. Enough thrilling moments and sweet, well-built romance. Would have been a full 5 stars had it not been for the ending when Natalie suddenly turned into a helpless princess who needed saving.

[Vic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good read. I didn't know quite what to expect from the book, but having read most of Cooper's previous books I was fairly certain I wouldn't be disappointed, and for the most part I wasn't.

I say for the most part, as books slightly erring on the thriller side of the genre aren't quite my thing. I'm glad the romance didn't take too much of a back seat to the plot, however. In fact, it was a pretty good balance all round, so I can't complain too much.

The characters were well developed, interesting and likeable - apart from those we weren't supposed to like of course. The story flowed nicely, rolling along at an even pace. I didn't feel I wanted certain parts to hurry along, or others to linger. And although I'm really not a fan of the whole "women in peril" trope, I can understand the need for it here, and it was at least well written.

So all in all Cooper remains as one of my favourite 'lesfic' authors, and I hope we're not left waiting quite so long for her next book. We need more well written plots like this, with great characters that you can actually root for rather than question.

[Loek Krancher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story!

Trapped in a web of dirty secrets, blackmail and horrible crimes. Driven by greed, revenge or insanity. This is a world of suspense, mystery and intrigue. Victims left without justice and the guilthy walking free. It's horrifying to think that this can happen in your hometown as well. This story has a great plot, unexpected twists and an awesome setting. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. It has several highly emotional scenes and moving situations. The romance was very satisfying, a really touching love story. The characters were wonderfully written and they grab your heart and don't let go. This was a phenomenal explosive story that kept me totally hooked.

[Alealea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am amazed. I really enjoyed the pace of the story, jumping years makes it so much more real and believable.

There is everything we can hope for and more.

[oshizu · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars. I read this book since it's on the #Diverse Detectives listopia from which I'm reading this year.
So far, the listopia has led me to some great books, but this one was not one of them for me.
Too much cheesy romance.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did I wait so long to read this book?!

What a fantastic read. It has everything from murder, mystery, humour and romance. Natalie travels to New Orleans to search for her missing brother, here she meets detective Adele and together they work to find her brother.

This book spans a period of a few years as the story develops, I loved that this book jumped months and sometimes years at a time. It made the story more realistic rather than just over a period of a few months. This book also has one of the better epilogues I've read, it too jumps through time so we get an idea how this are after not only a month but several months.

Definite 5 star for me!

[Jem · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Karolmarce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy buen libro, de esos en los que quisieras que la autora le diera más importancia a la intriga que al romance, en el fondo estás todo el rato queriendo que el tema se desarrolle más y que el final no fuera tan rápido. Tengo que ser sincera que lo de Al me lo esperaba, solo que creí que no iba a ser solo el sino Landry también, lo que hubiera sido genial. Al final las razones de Al no fueron taaannn buenas, en el fondo había un toque de celos también. En fin, es bueno, es Blayne obviamente y debo decir que extraño que escriba más de estos. Este y Conexión han tocado temas bien fuertes que me gustan. Por otro lado cuando se dedica al humor tambien, así que... Básicamente es Blayne

[XR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh man... the betrayal! This was painful... in a good way. I loved how the story ebbs and flows, and how Natalie and Ella's relationship grows.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think everyone would like to think of themselves as heroes. What would you do if someone tried stealing from your friend with a knife in their hand? Would you stand by, quietly and let them or jump in and save the day?
Well Natalie would, and sometimes it seems, that she was being really stubborn about it, but luckily not in that unbelievable way and I didn't mind. So it's nice to see a story like that, where we think and hope, we would do the same thing, even though there would be big consequences for that.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I was a writer, this is the book I'd hope to write. It introduces the characters and then plumbs their depths as human beings. It brings to the surface their character, their resilience, their flaws...it paints a picture of everyday people and makes it believable. It is not just a hint of a plot, sex and the end. I will be reading more of this author!

[Cab · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It was a good mix of fiction/crime with a little romance without making this a typical romance story. Everything blended well and made sense.

[Mariah Lebron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it. The mystery and romance... very well conducted.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

I truly enjoyed this and hope to read more from this author. Loved the suspense even though I thought it was someone else

[Endlesscribbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A definite must read and hoping for a sequel.

[Julieta Steyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tengo una crítica imperdonable hacia este libro: si van a comer "comida americana", ¿cómo fue capaz de poner que escogió "gnocchi" como parte del menú? ¡Gnocchi, italianísimo si lo hay!
En fin. Bastante bien, las partes de sexo las miro por encima generalmente porque me aburren y esta vez se jugó (quizá por eso dicen por ahí que es el mejor que hizo, las conozco). Los personajes tienen sus propias características bien definidas y se complementan bastante bien, más allá que tienen tantas heridas como los superhéroes en los cómic. La trama en sí de misterios no será digna de Agatha, pero no hay nadie digno de ella en realidad, sí entretiene e incluso puede sorprender al final. El epílogo evacuó las dudas de las lectoras, muy bien. La parte sentimentaloide la detesto, pero es que detesto el sentimentalismo en sí, no por otra cosa.
Y, ya que ahora rara vez leo uno de estos libros románticos porque todos me resultan iguales, este obviamente es especial en el buen sentido.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this book that has taken me on so many different paths that I was not expecting at all. Loved the two characters Ella and Natalie, I could really feel the chemistry.

The romance was perfect and the ending was just right!

[Natalya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Was totally hooked.

[Verónica Díaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blayne nunca decepciona, puede gustarte más o menos pero siempre tiene un "no sé qué " con el cuál te enganchas y terminas disfrutando de sus historias.