When tragedy strikes, racing trainer Jack Carmichael is in danger of losing everything he holds dear – his wife, his reputation, his sanity… And when Aspen Valley’s runners start to fall foul of the authorities, the question arises is the wreckage that is his personal life compromising Jack’s ability to train or is there something more sinister going on?

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A book for the ladies containing no steamy smut! This is book #5 in the Aspen Valley series but can be read as a standalone novel.

Rated this book 4 stars because I truly really liked it.
One of the most balanced books I’ve read where the amount of tragedy and sadness is equal to the lighthearted and happy moments. While a few readers would have liked a trigger warning at the beginning of the book I think Hannah Hooton has done a magnificent job at pouring all the emotions into this book. The utter breaking down of a person, of a parent, of a family and then finding their way again, finding themselves again, healing.

While the MCs were dealing with business and personal troubles, there were characters who were having fun as well and then of course the aspect of horse racing. I liked all the characters in the book, specially Finn the Irishman! The “language” was very true to the Irish and his character very well depicted.

I have to confess I am not a fan of horse racing so I skipped over the bits where the action was happening. My own fault- I just have this dislike to racing even though I did learn to see it from a different angle thanks to the book. This is no shape or form took away from the reading experience as you can see from the rating and the praise in this review.

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