A Goose Girl was a very interesting book to read. I hadn’t previously heard of the fairy tale The Goose Girl but loved the cover of this book, so was intrigued. So it was a whole new story to me without having any awareness of the similarly named fairy tale. Now that I’ve researched the fairy tale, it seems that A Goose Girl had a lot of the main concepts of the key story.

I really enjoyed reading about Falada, the talking horse. And the idea of the Princess and her hand maid, changing positions, for whatever reason was also interesting to read about. I loved Rynn’s story and how that was quite different to the fairy tale.

I really empathised with the position that she was put in and couldn’t talk herself out of. It was interesting to read how Rynn and Princess Davina’s relationship changed over the course of the novel. I also loved the relationship between Rynn, Geraint and Conrad and how that developed over time. And of course, how the story revolved around a goose girl within that particular town of Astoria.

This fairy tale was a delight to read. I thoroughly enjoyed K M Shae’s version or spin on the tale, and the main horse character who also happened to have a voice and could talk with the people around him.

It was a lovely read, interesting mixture of fantasy and magic and a delightful romance. I loved the ending and the way things worked out. A very amusing tale that was well worth the read.

Author: K. M. Shea
Fiction – fantasy/fairy tale
In My Library? It is as an ebook.

Gift Horse is an entertaining Christmas novella by Tudor Robins. This horse focused book was a quick, easy read and really enjoyable. Although it is a little after Christmas – and I am used to a very hot Christmas! – it was nice to read about the snowy weather in this novella.

Kiki rides with her closest friend Georgie and a couple of other girls in lessons each week. She longs for a horse of her own, particularly a beautiful grey named Pitch Perfect.

Unfortunately, Pitch is owned by one of her lesson mates. Still, a girl can dream!

In an unusual turn of events, Kiki wonders if she could own the beautiful grey horse, after all. He is well behaved and talented – how far could she go with a horse like that? And yet, even with a horse that does all the right things, she comes to learn that it is still up to the rider to lead the horse in the way they wish it to go.

Gift Horse does a wonderful job of exploring the dynamics of relationships between some teenage girls who may only have horses in common. When the very different personalities need to work together to gain the best Christmas gift of all, it makes for an interesting and entertaining read.

Gift Horse has a good focus on horse care and stable work, working together in a team, in spite of differing opinions and a possible budding relationship. Recommended reading.

Author: Tudor Robins
Fiction – young adult
In My Library? It is as an ebook.

2022 was often a mad rush of reading some great horse books! And then I was onto reading the next one and seemed to have missed reviewing a few! So I have since re-read The Curse of the Golden Touch by Genevieve McKay, to make sure I can give a fresh review.

This book is a very different read to Defining Gravity, that is also written by Genevieve. Although very different to Defining Gravity, this book too, was a delight to read.

The Curse of the Golden Touch is an interesting horse mystery with a supernatural theme to it. The book follows the life of 20 year old Jillian Harrington. She is keen to live a normal, predictable life but finds her circumstances are far from it. Jillian spends as much time as she can with her beautiful grey horse Bally, but finds she can’t avoid the demands of her mother.

When an unusual opportunity comes to accompany her cousin Xan to an estranged aunt’s property, Jillian is talked into going. With her best friend Gilbert at her side, and her beautiful grey horse, they embark on an adventure she would never have anticipated.

Jillian uncovers some of her past memories that appeared to have been blocked and learns that some troubling events that occurred in her childhood, were not a figment of her imagination. The dynamic of her close friendship with Gilbert is explored and Jillian finds she has to make a choice. Can she bare to lose her best friend?

The Curse of the Golden Touch explores interesting family history and skills whilst throwing in a delightful mystery. The story features horses heavily. It is a delight to read about Jillian’s relationship with her beautiful dressage horse, Bally, and the riding skills of her best friend Gilbert and her cousin Xan. Recommended.

Author – Genevieve Mckay
Fiction – young adult
In my library – as an eBook it is!

Wednesday Riders is a continuation of the story of Meg Traherne and Jared Strickland. Meg is excited to be back on the island. She is looking forward to having her new mare at Jared’s. And she’s especially excited to be able to be just down the road from her boyfriend.

It’s wonderful to know that she’s working nearby and able to visit both her boyfriend and her horse. Meg settles into a routine on the island and finds that things couldn’t be going any better.

But it seems they could be going worse. In time, Jared drops a bombshell that Meg hadn’t expected at all. And yet, for her very attractive, wonderful boyfriend, Meg realises that she should have expected it, even though it dismisses his good character.

Meg finds her life in turmoil as she suddenly questions what to do with herself. All of a sudden she is single, working on an island near to where her boyfriend is, but not able to spend every waking moment with him. And she’s got a horse at his place. What is a girl to do?

Throw in alongside this, the fact that she gets along really well with Jared’s cousin, Lacey, and Meg finds that she struggles. She is very respectful of their past relationship, even though it hasn’t ended on good terms.

She does her best to not say anything negative about Jared or the situation that arose. In time Meg agrees to take on a riding group. This is to help Lacey with a project that the young teen is keen to carry out on horseback. Meg invests her time in these Wednesday riders, focusing on helping the four girls to work together to create a dressage routine.

This takes up a lot of time alongside the job that she has. In between this, Meg’s dealing with a broken heart and a broken relationship. She is surprised to find her mother a support – not the kind that she would expect at all – and she’s thankful for this motherly assistance, especially when she’s on the island far away from home and where her mother normally works.

As Meg continues life in an unexpected way, she eventually discovers that what she and Jared had wasn’t a fluke, and she should work hard to get it back. Wednesday Riders was a really enjoyable read, with the usual horse focus I have come to expect from Tudor Robins. Recommended.

Author: Tudor Robins
Fiction – young adult
In My Library? It is as an ebook.