"warm contemporary romance"

At a Virginia horse auction, A.J. Sutherland buys four-year- old thoroughbred Sabbath for thirty thousand dollars though the steed has a nasty reputation and her stepbrother, the family finance expert Peter Conrad, objected. Following her instincts, A.J. pays with her own personal money. When she returns to Sutherland Stables, Peter informs her that he sold the horse. An upset A.J. blithely says he cannot sell what the stable does not own and leaves with her horse though she has no place for Sabbath to stay.

A desperate A.J. travels to the nearby home of Devlin McCloud to beg the once golden boy of horse jumping to allow her steed to stay in his stable. Devlin still uses a cane from the injury he suffered last year that led to the euthanasia killing of his beloved horse Mercy. He wants nothing to do with A.J. or Sabbath, but would never allow an animal to suffer because of human stupidity. Soon he finds himself training horse and woman. As A.J. and Devlin fall in love, both fear commitment with a human.

Though readers will wonder how the father of A.J. could allow the cruelty of not stabling Sabbath for at least a night, fans will appreciate this warm contemporary romance. The story line is exciting as Devlin and A.J. leap from love even though the dangerous matchmaking skills of the key third character Sabbath pushes them together. LEAPING HEARTS combines a good horse jumping competition with a strong romance into a fine debut by newcomer Jessica Bird.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 30, 2002

Summary

Her dreams are within reach...

All she has to do is learn to hold on...

A beautiful young woman with a defiant spirit, A. J. Sutherland spends a small fortune on a horse with a wild reputation, and is forced to sacrifice her position at her family's stables to keep him. She plans to ride the magnificent stallion in the biggest event of the show jumping season and she knows she can win. But without the backing of Sutherland Stables, A. J. must rely on a stranger to help her: a man who makes her heart pound, her head spin . . . and who just happens to be a legend in equestrian circles.

When Devlin McCloud's career was cut short by a tragic accident, he never expected to get back in the ring. But when A. J. asks him to be her trainer, he finds he cannot resist the chance?or his stunning new employer. And what begins as a business arrangement soon becomes something deeper, as Devlin and A. J. learn that even in a sport full of hazards, sometimes the most dangerous thing to risk is one's heart. .