The Hollywood Horse (Ocala Horse Girls: Book Four) Signed Paperback US Only

In the opening pages of The Hollywood Horse, we meet Alison, who had a supporting role as Malcolm's barn manager in The Regift Horse. Now, she's struggling to make it on her own as a trainer, but a riding student's mother has just made her an offer she can't refuse...as you'll find in this excerpt from Chapter One!

THE HOLLYWOOD HORSE


In the arena, Nando ambles along, his long ears flicking as he takes in the scenery. I seriously love that horse. He’s a Thoroughbred and Dutch cross with a heart of gold, retired off the jumper circuit when he decided he was ready for the minor leagues. When I get on him, he still burns jet fuel, but with kids, he’s a big old sofa. Exactly what I need for up-down lessons—you know, the kind of riding lesson where you just call, “up, down, up, down,” for half an hour while they slowly, slowly learn rising trot?

Still on the phone, Mrs. C suddenly waves her free hand, startling me. I jump and Nando glances my way with his ears pricked. Something scary?

Mrs. C raises her voice. “No, no, no, I am telling you, Cary Davies, or no one. Yes, his screen test was perfect! Why are you asking me that? Why—oh.”

The change in her voice is abrupt enough to pull my attention from Sarah and Nando. Mrs. C pushes her luxurious dark curls behind her ears and nods, listening to whoever’s on the other end with a serious expression on her face.

“Fine,” she says at last. “That’s fixable. It’s fixable, Janine! Send him out here. Yes, to Ocala. There’s no reason to say it like that. This is exactly where he needs to be. We’ll fix the problem here and have him ready for preliminary shooting in late October.”

Oh, this sounds really interesting. Sarah and Nando walk past and I give her a thumbs-up, not wanting to speak and miss the end of Mrs. C’s conversation.

“Perfect. Yes, I’ll have the guest-house made up for him. No, he doesn’t need to bring boots. We’ll get him fitted here. Trust me, Janine. We have everything we need out here. Perfect.”

Mrs. C slips the phone back into her purse and sighs. She fluffs her hair with manicured fingers and gives me an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. Work crisis.”

“I thought you were retired from acting,” I say.

“Producing now,” she says with satisfaction. “We’re working on a feature for Arrowhead Pictures. A Western.”

“A Western? Like cowboys and gunfights? I didn’t know they still made those.”

“No, heavens,” she laughs. “Maybe Western is too grand a title. Let’s say it’s a ‘cowboy-themed romance picture’. You know, Wyoming mountains and a big city girl and a big rodeo prize to save the ranch. That kind of thing. Only, hopefully we transcend a few cliches.” She sounds a little doubtful they can pull it off, but her smile is still bright. She likes the idea, I can tell.

“Ah,” I say.

“You don’t sound impressed.”

An unlikely friendship...could it become something more?

Striking out on her own for the first time, Alison is a barn manager extraordinaire with a reputation for flawless horsemanship. Unfortunately, she might have underestimated the challenges of running a farm on her own. Teaching beginners to ride is the only thing keeping her little stable afloat...but Alison is holding tightly to her dreams.

When she agrees to take on a Hollywood has-been in need of cowboy lessons, she only has two goals in mind: earn enough money to keep her fledgling training stable in business, and make the payments on a horse she can’t live without. But Cary Davies, former child-star, brings a sunny, devil-may-care attitude to her strait-laced stable that has Alison equal parts charmed and confused. And as she finds herself growing closer to both Cary and the heart horse she’s bet everything on, Alison finds herself facing the past that has made her who she is today, in hopes of finding a fulfilling tomorrow.

Ocala Horse Girls is a bestselling, award-winning romance/women's fiction series featuring women chasing their dreams and finding love in the Horse Capital of the World, Ocala, Florida. Written with adults in mind, these books are thoughtfully created to be appropriate for young adult readers as well, making them ideal for horse lovers of all ages. The content is sweet, clean, and extremely horsey!