june booksRiding Through Thick & Thin
Make Peace with Your Body and Banish Self Doubt – In and Out of the Saddle
By Melinda Folse (Trafalgar Square)

Any equestrian will tell you that riding is a full body workout that engages muscles you didn’t know existed.  Author Melinda Folse’s book Riding Through Thick and Thin: Make Peace with Your Body and Banish Self Doubt – In and Out of the Saddle explores ways to be mentally and physically healthy on horseback.  Using her own expertise as a rider, as well as that of well-known nutritionists, counselors, and equestrian sports psychologists, Folse highlights a variety of techniques that cannot only be used to reach fitness goals but help to embrace unique body types.  The author and her panel of skilled professionals cover a range of healthful topics including what adjustments to make to feel comfortable in the saddle, visualization, affirmation, realistic goal setting, and changing the way one thinks about food.  Readers will also find sections that dispel popular myths about such issues as the ideal riding weight and the notion that overweight riders don’t have a chance in the show ring.  Horseback riding enthusiasts and health conscious women of every size will find something to appreciate in this how-to, informative, and humorous book. 

Reviewed by Chris Enss, COWGIRL Book Editor, and a New York Times Bestselling author who writes about women of the Old West. 

june booksBreaking Wild
A Novel By Diane Les Besquets (Berkley)

Breaking Wild by Diane Les Besquets is an extraordinary adventure story.  Pru Hathaway is a ranger who works primarily at archeological sites and also employs her talents in the area of search and rescue.  Amy Raye Latour is a wilderness expert who acts as a guide for bow and arrow elk hunters in Northwestern Colorado.  During one particular expedition Amy is lost in a violent snow storm.  Pru is called to the scene to try and locate the outdoors woman.  Through alternating chapters focusing on each woman, Les Bequets spins a thrilling tales of two strong and mysterious female characters whose resourcefulness and determination help them to tackle incredible adversity.  Breaking Wild’s only flaw is that it has to end.  Les Besquets is an exceptional author who is no stranger to the craft.  Her previous books Season of Ice and The Stones of Morning Creek have been honored with numerous awards. 

june booksHearth Song
Love can lead you home…
By Lois Greiman (Kensington Books)

Imagine being dragged toward love against all logic and reason.  The practical minded, heroine in Lois Greiman’s book Hearth Song (Home in the Hills) finds herself in just such a predicament.  Set in North Dakota, Hearth Song is a beautifully written western romance about a hard-working mother of an autistic child.  Her marriage is struggling when she finds herself attracted to a Sioux Indian who is teaching her daughter about their Native heritage.  Greiman’s protagonist is torn between keeping her family intact and giving into her feelings for a man who embodies all she’s ever dream.  Believing her husband is committed to change she decides to give their relationship another chance.  Lies and intrigue follow the renewed trust and futures hang in the balance.  When the truth about the choices made are finally examined, lives will be altered forever and maybe so will hearts.  Hearth Song is Greiman’s second book in her Home in the Hill series.  The author’s extensive knowledge of horses adds a great deal to the charming and moving title.

june books

Outlaw Cowboy
By Nicole Helm (Sourcebooks Casablanca)

Caleb Shaw vowed he’d mend his wild ways, and he means to keep his word.  He knows he should want absolutely nothing to do with his crazy old life… or the maddening temptation that is Delia Rogers.  Because Delia?  Is nothing but trouble.


june books

One Night Charmer
By Maisey Yates (Harlequin)

Ever since discovering that her “perfect” family is built on a lie, Sierra has been determined to make it on her own. Resisting her new boss should be easy when they’re always bickering. Until one night, the squabbling stops…and something far more dangerous takes over.


ranch reads

The Marshal’s Justice (Appaloosa Pass Ranch)
By Delores Fossen (Harlequin)

A shoot-out on the banks of Appaloosa Creek is the last place marshal Chase Crockett expects to find his ex-lover.  This Texas lawman will move heaven and earth to keep his former lover, April Landis,  and their infant daughter safe.  Until desire ambushes them again, leaving April and Chase at the mercy of a past with no promise of a future.