Long Shot

Cherokee Falls #2

by D. Jackson Leigh

If you’re going to bet a long shot, you have to be prepared to lose.

Equine veterinarian Tory Greyson has always played the safe bet. That is, until she runs into a very cute, opinionated, jobless journalist. The small town of Cherokee Falls is just a pit stop for Leah Montgomery while she figures out how to put her career back on track and deal with her grandmother’s slide into dementia. Tory is unable to resist when Leah talks her into putting money on a long shot at the track and then spending the winnings to buy a wild pony. Will Tory take a chance on Leah, too? Or will she stick with the safe bet and pursue Bridgette LeRoy, the calm, Zen-centered artist who arrives to teach at the local college?

Genres: Lesbian Romance, Romance, Lesbian Fiction, LGBT, Lesbian, Horses, Animals

264 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 2010

About the author

D. Jackson Leigh grew up barefoot and happy, swimming in farm ponds and riding rude ponies in rural south Georgia. Her love of reading was nurtured early on by her grandmother, an English teacher who patiently taught her to work New York Times crossword puzzles in the daily paper, and by her mother who stretched the slim family budget to bring home grocery store copies of Trixie Belden mysteries and Bobbsey Twins adventures that Jackson would sit up all night reading.

It was her passion for writing led her quite accidentally to a career in journalism and, ultimately, North Carolina where she lives with her small pack of three terror, uh, terriers.

Reviews

[Kexx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah! At last a grown up novel for grown ups! Love the story, the layers, the interaction. Class. Highly recommended.

[Carolyn McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book's pace, characters, and consistent "will-they-won't-they" drama. I enjoyed the horses the best and cried at a funeral, and again at a birth. The characters are well drawn, there is conflict and a buck-shot leprechaun. It has funny moments, tear-jerking moments and everything in between. Nice fluff before bed that won't give you nightmares, but might make you want to research wild ponies.

[IndigoIris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved this story. Some bits were predictable but it is, after all, a romance! I really loved the sub-plot story of the grandmother and her experience it added so much, giving the book a much deeper and more robust storyline. Will definitely read this one again!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, it was a good mix of humor, horses and lesbian drama. This story follows Tory, the jilted vet from Bareback, the authors previous novel, and Leah an investigative reporter who is visiting to help move her grandmother with dementia into a care facility. Sparks fly after the buckshot does, and there is a decent amount of push and pull as each woman works to overcome their issues and insecurities. Like with a lot of novels, the happily ever after is a little quick for my taste, but still results in a satisfying end,

If you’ve read Bareback, I think this book is a lot better - the characters are more fleshed out and relatable - but the nice thing is you get to see Sky and Jess as they have a strong supporting role in this book.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. This was a fun read with engaging characters and a good solid story line. and did I mention horses? Dr Greyson is a vet who mainly deals with large animals who never finds time for a relationship. Enter not one but two eligible women at the same time. Leah, an out of work investigative reporter and Bridgette, the college professor. Throw in a bunch of rag tag horses and the equestrian world and you have a delicious book. The writing is decent and the story flows. The underlying "mystery" while easy to see evolve, adds to the story. I liked the book.

[Hope Freed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I returned to Cherokee Falls for the second in this loose trilogy. This time, it’s the turn of vet Tory, rejected by Jessica in favour of Skylar in book 1, to try to find love. Instead, she finds herself attracted to two very different women, but only one has a hold on her heart…
This was a simple story but nicely done and an enjoyable quick read. It had a few heart tugging moments, especially with regard to Leah’s grandma’s story and Leah’s childhood horse, Nighty. I’m looking forward to reading book 3 in the near future!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had not read Bareback prior to reading Longshot. Capable of being a standalone book, although, I will go back and read the rest of the series. Tory is a very interesting character and I feel sorry for her in parts of the story. I also love the secondary romance.

[Andi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rarely regret no half stars - keeps my world simple, but this could be a 3.5.
I wasn't crazy about main characters. More angst and less action than Bareback. But I LOVED the Grandma Lori/MG side story.

[Margaret L. Hedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I loved Long Shot. What’s not to like? Beautiful women, an elderly reunited couple and horses. Just a great story.

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is unfortunate. I thought I'd written something for this one before now. It's tougher to do so when days have gone by, 3 to be exact, and I'm 52% into the third book in this 'series'.

I'll start with that, with that '' around series. Skylar and Jessica are in this book as well, and in the third, but this is one of those 'switching the main characters' type series. Also tending to use some relatively minor character from the previous book as the 'star' of the new. Well, in this one the main character is Tory, the veterinarian from the first book.

Tory dates two women more or less at the same time in this book. Mostly without telling either about the situation. It's vaguely 'okay' since Leah kept saying, over and over again, that she just can't have a relationship right now. And kept pushing Tory away. Despite obvious feelings both share for each other.

Leah can't have a relationship, apparently, because she's only in the area long enough to put her mother into an assisted living place (she's got dementia, the mother that is), and find a new job. Elsewhere. As a reporter.

Tory is also dating someone new to the area, an artist-in-residence at the local college. Bridgette. To a certain extent I felt two things about Bridgette, 1) she might be an interesting character; 2) my she's cold. She's kind of an emotional basket case in the third book, so my second thought was wrong.

I've read 52% of the next book, as I think I mentioned, but I mention that again because I just now recalled that I kind of despised Leah when I first meet her. I'd forgotten that when she turned up in the third book. I didn't particularly like her sense of humor, her attitude or anything, really, about her. Playfully pointing a shotgun at someone who had just been shot by said shotgun, while giggling about wishing she had handcuffs so she could live a particular fantasy out in real life . . . which of the two women are the ones with some mental problems? Leah or her mother? I mean, shesh. That's just . . . disturbing.

The three books, at least so far as I can tell from the little I've read of the third, seem to have a certain formula. All three books seem to involve women, at least one in each book, who are 'players'. Either they, or the person they pursue, can't imagine settling down into a relationship. Skylar doesn't think she deserves to be in a relationship (book 1), and is a player. Leah doesn't want to be/can't see herself adding the "problems" of being in a relationship, while Tory, despite this going against her normal nature, gets honorary player status by dating two women at the same time. And then Marc, in the third book, is both a player, and someone who doesn't fancy they'll ever be in a relationship (plus she has a massive chip on her shoulder, and self doubt, like Skylar); Bridgette doesn't appear to be a player but she does suddenly find excuses to make her flings just be flings, and flees entanglements. She's got reasons, but . . it's fun to just word things the way I did.

So basically there's been only one character I've liked from the beginning, and while the other main characters have, mostly, grown on me (I've not reached that yet with the third book), I still find it interesting how much I dislike most of the characters in this series. At least initially. Except for Tory.

Oh. I forgot Tory and Jessica were in a relationship before Skylar hooked up with Jessica. So, that happened again in book two. There it involve Tory, Leah, and Bridgette. I keep forgetting if that's Bridget or Bridgette, but bah. That specific theme hasn't, as of yet, reared it's ugly head in book three. At least I only recall two people involved in it, romantic wise.

Well, this was a weird little write-up.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the series of Bareback, Longshot and Every Second Counts.

Longshot is my favorite. I like the good girl gets the girl as opposed to the bad girl always getting the girl. I like that Tory does all the right things but still struggles to get what/who she wants.

I read a lot of romaances and can honestly say Longshot is in my top three fav's of all.

The chracters are well developed and the sex is hot!

D Jackson Leigh did a great job of developing relationships and laying the foundation for Every Second Counts.

The added romance of Willie and Lori was touching.

All together a great read.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Bareback a little more, but this was still great too. As much as I enjoyed the three main characters and seeing who Tory fell in love with and how, I was just about brought to tears by the side story with Gram and Willie.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent story with a cute ending!

[Dawn Bellville · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read. Loved the characters, twists of the plot, and the conflict. I'd definitely recommend it! Great job, D.!

[MEC · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story starts with a bang when Dr. Tory Greyson, from Bareback, arrives at a farm to check on some horses and runs into Sniper Granny and her grandaughter, Leah. A rather funny scene that includes emergency surgery to save a leperchaun.

The romance starts from there, with a number of complications thrown in including the fact that Leah is not intending on sticking around once she is able to settle her grandmother into a long term care home. Tory is torn between the woman that she wants but can't have and a woman who she could be happy with- a difficult place to be for a woman who always does the right thing. Add to the mix Leah's dealing with being laid off and her grandmother's worsening dementia.

This book has quite a bit going on but Jackson ties everything together and gives resolution to the issues and situtations. Although the Greyson Estates solution was a bit too convenient, I liked Gram and was quite happy to see her get her own HEA .

Jackson writes a good romance with humour and a bit of sadness that makes a very good read.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting storyline at first read and then....

For me the storyline kept my interest up until the death and dying parts. All too often we read to get away from real life dramas. Although this book handled the death and dying scenes really well I personally did not want to read too much the background of each character's sad story,since I could relate all to well to family members dealing with dementia; and the loss of not only a job but a career due to the current economy.