Wild Horse Summer

by Lauren St John

Deeply romantic, edge-of-your-seat exciting, with a love for horses at its core and handsome surfers as a for fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty and Fake Skating.

When American teenager, Morgan Taylor, arrives to spend the summer with her British cousins, all anyone knows is that an accident has left her scarred inside and out. But Morgan is hiding a secret she'll do anything to keep.

Then the town's hottest surfer, Cal Heyward, saves her life and suddenly the truth about her past feels harder than ever to hide.

To escape, Morgan takes a job at a stableyard, hoping that horses will heal her as they've done so often before. But everything changes when she's asked to help Night Dancer, a horse with his own dark history...

The perfect clean teen novel! Bursting with romance, adventure, mystery - and horses - it's a compulsive, explosive read.

Genres: Young Adult

Paperback

Published July 2, 2026

Reviews

[theliterateleprechaun]

Saddle Up!

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time! It held my interest from cover to cover.

There really is something magnetic between horses and teenage girls, isn’t there? I’m watching it happen with my niece and realizing that, despite the passing of time, I haven’t lost that connection either. The author captures that allure of untamed freedom, the possibilities of life past the insular confines of the ranch, and the empowerment of the equine connection. Her tale of adventure, drama and life lessons is not to be missed.

I think I’ll remember this book because of how Morgan Taylor’s vulnerability was addressed; she was so vulnerable and trying to exist in a world that had dismissed her trauma. The horses become her emotional mirror and the partnership offers her pure empowerment. Callum was the last piece of the puzzle she needed to start healing. I’ll also remember the message that connection doesn’t always need words.

To share more would be doing you a disservice. Know that this is an exciting equestrian adventure filled with family drama, mystery, teenage angst, first love, and healing.

Your horse-loving heart will be prancing for joy if you add this one to your reading list.

I was gifted this copy and was under no obligation to provide a review.

[Hannah Rials Jensen]

My inner childhood horse girl loved this and is ready to go live on a farm with the wild exmoor ponies. And something about this was propulsive and kept me interested, but it was overwritten and a slightly unbelievable circumstance. But the unbelievability also made it intriguing. Just hated the use of the word teenager so much 😂
But otherwise I still enjoyed it!

[Hannah]

2.5

If you're looking for a quick, cozy escape then Wild Horse Summer will definitely deliver, but it might leave you with a raised eyebrow more than once.

This middle-grade adventure follows Morgan as she heads to a ranch in Cornwall for the summer. It’s a very fast read, perfect for a lazy afternoon when you want something low-stakes and atmospheric. However, "low-stakes" might be an understatement here.

To put it bluntly, Morgan is a tough pill to swallow. She isn't exactly the "relatable hero" type, in fact, she’s often downright unlikeable. And if you hate the miscommunication trope, consider this your trigger warning. It’s the driving force of the conflict and, honestly? It takes the biscuit. Most of the drama could have been solved with a thirty-second adult conversation.

I’m all for animal healing stories (hello, Heartland), but the pacing here felt a bit... magical? Both Morgan and her horse, Night Dancer, have significant PTSD, yet it feels "miraculously cured" after a single session.

I know, I know, I’m definitely not the target audience for this one! Being an older reader means I look for a bit more grit and realistic progression. In this story, everything just feels a little too easy.

If you want a sugary-sweet, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it ranch story, give it a go. But if you prefer your character development with a bit more substance, you might want to gallop past this one.

[Beth Jones]

I absolutely loved this book! It is the kind of story my younger self would have been captivated by, and let's be honest, my adult self was no different. I picked this up on a bit of a summer break, and it was the perfect time to dive into the story.

From the first page, I was in love. We are quickly drawn into the compelling world of Morgan's life, and moving to Devon with her for the summer made for such a fun and exciting read. I loved that we had an underlying mystery element to follow the thread of throughout the book, but we also had romance, friendship, family and more. Although I have never really been around horses in my life, it did not take away from the love Morgan has for them, which shines through the pages.

I really couldn't put Wild Horse Summer down and will definitely be recommending it for the tweens and teens (and adults!) in my life.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

[Dawn Lawrence Read_with_Lola]

What a great story - perfect for teens and young adults, in particular horse lovers. Well written, lots of action with a small touch of romance. Morgan arrives in the UK damaged goods, she has been through a massive trauma that left her heart horse dead. She is staying with her cousins on Exmoor but really struggles to fit in and connect with them or find the joy in life. Things start to improve when she starts work at the local trekking centre, can the magical Exmoor ponies mend her broken heart? Very enjoyable book, I’m a horse lover and definitely would have adored this book as a teen/YA.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for my review. Publication date 2 July 2026.

[Farah G]

American teenager Morgan is nursing her emotional wounds when she arrives at the home of her British cousins. But it turns out that there is more for Morgan to experience there than she has bargained for...

And in the course of rehabilitating a problematic horse at the stables where she starts working, and thanks to her encounters with people she had not expected to meet on this side of the pond, Morgan begins to discover sides of herself and emotions that she has access to that she had never imagined that she could...

Romantic, emotional, and guaranteed to be a hit with horse lovers, this book is a great read.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[mrsbookworm5]

#mythoughts I enjoyed this as it was my first book by this author.

Troubled Morgan heads to stay with her aunt and cousins in the UK after a traumatic time in her life, where she was injured in a fire and, heartbreakingly, lost her beloved horse.

Until my late 30s, horses, stables and show jumping were a huge part of my life, so this book completely immersed me back into that world. You can almost smell the stables and feel the atmosphere—if you know, you know.

With romance, mystery, Exmoor ponies, stables, friendship and a beautiful countryside setting, this made for an enjoyable summer read.

[Jen]

This book deserves to be more popular! It is a YA thriller / mystery reminiscent of we were liars but with horses! I think it was well written, with good points of tension in the plot as well as romantic chemistry. Perfect teen beachy read for horse girls!

[Liv B]

like the summer i turned pretty meets flicka. former horse girls GET UP

[Nikki N]

Free rein meets surviving summer, the horse genre meets small town meets mystery meets beatiful people who have beautiful character arcs, all in a digital age with online hate and deepfakes.

[Sarah Smith]

This is a brilliant book for a young girl or boy! I’m not sure why but at 45 for me it’s too young. Would recommend it especially for animal or horse lovers.

[Jess Young]

I really enjoyed this YA, it was a really easy read and actually had a really good plot that really gripped me. I wish the hunt for what really happened from the fire had started earlier in the book as this was really good and could have definitely been pushed more and been more throughout the book. I did guess what had happened but this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.

[Jasmien Belet]

3,5

[Alice]

Seen this in a cute shop while I was staying in this little village and thought it looked super fun.
I was right 🤗🤗

Perfect mixture of horses, page turning and Cal 😆

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Kirsty]

Really enjoyed this. beautiful setting. Lots of horses. Lovely coming ofage story