Michele Scott (1) (1969–)

Really, it's a 3.5ish.

I did enjoy this book. The tag line reads "Mystery, Mean Girls, Romance, Competition,-It's all inside the ring!" And that certainly is what you get! The bitchy girls and "will they? won't they?" romance is all there, and it's done pretty decently. The mystery part is a little weaker. It sort of just randomly throws clues at you at various points before having the culprit jump out at the very end. The horse stuff is brief, but accurate, which is always a bonus, because having terribly written horse scenes in equestrian novels is the worst.

My main quibble with this book is the fact that it jumps around all over the place. Sometimes chapters flow into each other, sometimes there's a week leap ahead. As said above, the clues in the mystery are just sort of thrown randomly in. There were some great plot twists though, and I did not guess the culprit in the slightest.

As I said, I did enjoy this book. A fun, quick YA read with horses, and I will definitely look into getting the next book.… (more)

The women of Happy Hour are an eclectic group. Their lives intersect in numerous ways and their friendships survive many trials of adversity. Through it all, they share their stories, their joys and pains, their disappointments and loves.

I loved the relationships these women shared. I wanted to join their little group, and by the end of the book, I felt that I had. I consider a book a good read when I don’t want to leave the characters behind after turning the last page. That was certainly the case with Happy Hour.

Each of the women’s stories is unique, yet each carries a similar theme of what constitutes a family and makes a home. Each woman searched and discovered her own answer to that question.

I received this book in a giveaway from the Goodread’s First Reads program.
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Joey Pelligrino a school friend of Michala's has encouraged her to open a riding center for teaching riding to autistic children. In order to raise money for the new riding center Michaela agrees to participate in a "polo match".

A “nasty” polo player is killed after this charity tournament in Indio. And, Michaela is the suspect. If she wants to clear herself, she will have to do her own investigation. Joey is there to get her info from his many, many cousins. And, Marianne, Joey’s wife takes on a more active role.

Like the characters, like the plot,… (more)