Bold: The Eventing Series: A Prequel

Eventing #0.5

by Natalie Keller Reinert

It's Jules against the world.

The beginning of a thrilling equestrian saga.

Jules knows she can make it on her own. Eager to put distance between her childhood as a working student and her future as a pro event rider, she's putting the finishing touches on her very own farm. All she needs now is a start with a little income. Before all the bills come due.

Counting on her skill as a rider to land her a job with a top eventing barn and earn some much-needed cash, Jules pits everything on a single horse trials. But when she displays more grit and determination than skill and analysis, her hopes for a quick paycheck come crashing down.

Is Jules simply not ready for the big time? Or is the big time not ready for Jules?

This prequel novella shines a new light on Jules Thornton, the prickly heroine of The Eventing Series!

Genres: Horses, Fiction, Young Adult

106 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2021

About the author

Natalie Keller Reinert is the award-winning author of more than twenty books, including the Eventing series and Briar Hill Farm series. Drawing on her professional experience in three-day eventing, working with Thoroughbred racehorses and mounted patrol horses, therapeutic riding, and many other equine pursuits, Natalie brings her love of equestrian life into each of her titles. She also cohosts the award-winning equestrian humor podcast Adulting With Horses.

Natalie lives in north Florida with her family, horses, and cat.

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the parts about the horses and the riding but the protagonist is annoying in how cranky and rude she is. Don't remember her being quite so bad in the original series but she is fingernails-on-black-board irritating now.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast and extremely fun read as an introduction to The Eventing Series. Finding young Jules in a start up horse farm bought with a small inheritance meant for her college fund. Getting to know this feisty and talented equestrian and her sidekick Lacey was a look into how everything got started.
On an equestrian level this series is a 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read and a four if you just enjoy a great romance with horses 🐎 You can feel the heat all the way from Ocala.

[Rachel V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jules is young and insufferable, but I viscerally felt the stakes and this sets up well for the series. Wholly appreciate the realistic details about the equestrian world.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a prequel this is an amazing, detailed and involving story, full of character, horses and sweat. Yes, it's hot in Florida. A young woman's brave decision to buy a ten-acre farm instead of college looks like an enormous challenge.
We see that some factors of the horse world are universal, like young people being willing to do just about anything to ride, love for that one special horse, and blatant exploitation of the youth element.
I read this eventing and catch riding story with my heart racing, and would read it again, but I've already read the next book, Ambition, the first chapter of which is appended at the end. Now I need to see how the series continues.
This is an unbiased review.

[Teresa Bryce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this well-written prequel to the author's series. The main character wasn't always likeable but her conflicts are relatable and interesting and I could see her starting to grow as a person by the end of the novella, although in the very early stages. She has much to learn in the novels ahead! As a horse person myself, I loved the author's obvious knowledge of horses and equestrian sport.

[Ski Croghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book!!!

A short prequel to this series. A young lady is trying to become a trainer for eventing horses. She is very uptight and worried about money. She has a chip the size of Florida on her shoulder. She feels like everyone is against her. She is her own worst enemy. How will she work this out? She has a great horse but does she appreciate him enough? A cliffhanger at the end. Highly recommended .

[Lennie McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bold is a wonderful book for horse lovers of all ages. This is the first one in a series about a young girl whose passion is horse jumping. NK Reinert really knows horses and it really shows in this book.
Jules is a young girl whose lean on life is I can do it and don't need help. Not a great way to make friends! I understand as the books following this one she learns to be more cooperative and not so stand offish.
Highly recommend this book and any others in the series.

[Allison ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know zilch about Eventing and running a barn/stables but I love horses.

I've been looking for a horse book that isn't full of smut and this really hit the spot.

Jules is tenacious to a fault. I know people are complaining about how bitchy she is, but I have a feeling we are going to see some serious character development. I like how she stays focused and is willing to work her tail off.

[Mattie 📚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well thought out and decently accurate to the eventing world.

Jules got pretty annoying, but hoping she grows out of that “I deserve better” mindset as the series grows.

It was a pretty quick read so If you need a short book to get out of a slump, I’d probably recommend this to a friend.

[Haylee VanCuran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonder how Jules got her start? How has that drive fueled her all long? Natalie answers all of those questions in this prequel to the eventing series. Natalie is an amazing writer and always manages to pull me in from start to finish.

[Allisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m honestly so hooked on this series which is crazy because I’m now entirely confident the main character has a personality disorder. Already preordered the third book and am praying we start getting some character growth with Jules. Or at least give us more Pete content lol

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t read the main series, so this is my first introduction to the characters, and my god Jules is so delusioned that it’s funny. She made me mad, but I had fun reading, so🤷‍♀️

[Dom · Rating 2 out of 5]

As in intro to the series this fell pretty flat. The main Character Jules was, as someone else said in their review "finger nails on a blackboard cringe" lol. Her closed off, bitchy and self-entitled attitude got really old really fast, especially her disregard for her horse's well being at the expense of winning a ribbon. The only saving grace was a very small step in the right direction with her character development at the very end of the book. I am going to read the next book and hope this development continues and we see real growth in her character.
Otherwise, it's nice to read books set in the horse world, this brings me back to my young tween and teen years when my nose would be buried in the Pony Tails and Saddle Club books. Fingers crossed I can fall in love with this author and her series.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m reading this series in publication order so it was a bit uncomfortable to go back to an earlier version of Jules after experiencing all the growth she’s gone through in books 1-5. Still, it was fun to see how things all started. And I loved reading more descriptions of the actual courses and working through problems when riding a new horse.

I would recommend reading this before book 1 or right after book 1 if you’d rather read the first book published as an introduction to Jules. (As a note, If Bold is your first experience of Jules you may hate her…I don’t think she was quite this cringey in the first book.)

Love this series so much! Can’t wait to return to book 6 and see what happens next!

[Sarah Hickner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This prequel definitely sucked me in and got me excited to try out the series. We get a solid picture of the main character and her life and issues. I’m excited to read a horse series written by a horse girl for horse girls.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jules is a horse person

I liked her drive and directness. She is unashamedly not a people person. Ms Reinert gives just enough details to show the reader what it is like to be living through the horsy events.

[Elysa Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good, I cannot wait to read the eventing series and am so glad I read this. I can't wait to see how Jules progresses in her business and catch riding. Hopefully, she gets some clients.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting start

An interesting premise. Jules is a tough character to like, but hoping she becomes better in the series. It is a great start to a series for this for a horse crazy girl turned adult who has desperate wanted some adult hose books to read.

[jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ promising start! i love how this series is written for horse people by someone who is actually in the horse world!jules is a very realistic character as a young girl growing up in the horse industry working under shitty circumstances- we’ve all been there.

[Marilyn Burrows · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story of a woman who was great at training horses. She bought a place to house and train them. But she was not ready

[Opal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept me interested to find out what would happen to this poor girl in over her head would do to survive.

[Jane Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

too short!

[Chrissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t really a necessary prequel. I am glad it was available for free, I would have been bummed if I’d payed for it.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who found Jules to be cringey and difficult to like. The size of the chip on her shoulder must make it a challenge to find appropriate clothing.

[Paeton Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

If it wasn’t for the absolute irritable main character, this book would be a 4/5. She’s cringey, rude, and unrelatable. There’s a difference between being driven and being awful.

[Soraya Miser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty short book basically was a little more background to jules character

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the eventing series and then found this little gem! loved it and if you didn't already read it, go ahead. Now I just want more of Jules and Peter Morrison!