Book Review: "Pony Confidential" by Christina Lynch

I was curious about this book but when a friend said it was her favorite book she read last month, I had to give it a try. Wow. Just wow.

Pony remembers the best part of his life, when he was owned by a girl named Penny, who vowed they’d always be together. But one day he was given away without a word from Penny and he never saw her again. He has thought about her every day since, his sadness turned to anger and acting out as he is passed from owner to owner. He vows revenge.

Penny is a teacher, raising a teenage daughter and experiencing marital problems. Her everyday life is shattered when she’s arrested for a murder that happened when she was 12. She is extradited across the country, back to upstate New York. As she waits for her trial and for someone to find out the truth of what happened all those years ago, she thinks about a time in her life when she was truly happy, her time with Pony.

When Pony, with the help of other animal friends he encounters, realizes that his anger toward Penny has been misplaced, he’s determined to find her. He begins a journey to where he last saw her, and in the process makes some interesting discoveries.

“Empathy is painful and inconvenient, but it also can bring us a much deeper joy than material things, even carrots.”

This book was incredible. There’s humor, sadness, love, mystery, and self-discovery. It’s part Toy Story, part The Incredible Journey, and yet immensely unique. I’ll be thinking about this for a long time.

Book Review: "Book of the Month" by Jennifer Probst

This was a fun summer read as the season ends, meteorologically, at least. My thanks to Jennifer Probst, Get Red PR Books, and Blue Box Press for the complimentary advance copy.

Aspen’s first novel was an overnight success. But after writing two more books, all readers can still talk about is her first. Is she washed up already? Destined to be a one-book wonder?

What made her first book so good and so meaningful was that it was based on her own heartbreak and anguish and rage. But since she has barely dated since the breakup that inspired her to write, her subsequent books haven’t connected emotionally with her readers. She needs to write another hit. Fast.

Hoping a change of scenery will help, she travels to the Outer Banks to stay with her sister for the summer. Aspen believes that if she can find a man to romance her and then break her heart, she’ll tap into her literary mojo once again. And she finds the perfect man: Brick Babel, a handsome local with a reputation for hot sex and then emotional destruction. (There’s even a support group for women dealing with the aftereffects of dating him.)

Despite the fact that everyone—including her sister—warns her about Brick, she’s determined. It doesn’t help that he rejects her every advance. But when she offers him money to save the tour business he inherited, in exchange for some love and heartbreak, he reluctantly agrees. Yet when the sparks start flying for real, it becomes more difficult to distinguish truth from fiction.

I love fake dating romances, so this hit the spot. I didn’t always love Aspen’s character, but Brick and the supporting characters were so good, even Dug the dog. Crazily enough, I’ve yet to read any other of Jennifer Probst’s books, so I’m ready for more.

The book publishes 10/22.

Book Review: "Kept Animals" by Kate Milliken

Kept Animals, Kate Milliken's debut novel, is a powerful, gorgeously told story of desire, loss, secrets, and the toll we take on nature.

In 1993, 15-year-old Rory Ramos is living in Topanga Canyon, California, and working as a ranch hand at a stable her stepfather runs. She’s talented with horses but mostly rides for rich people, including wealthy twin siblings June and Wade. June, who is openly gay, takes an interest in Rory, who is struggling with her own sexuality, but often Rory is caught in the manipulation between the siblings.

But Rory is more intrigued by Vivian, the beautiful daughter of an actor, whose house Rory can see from her bedroom window. At night she can catch glimpses of Vivian swimming.

After a tragic accident occurs which creates strange ties among Rory, Vivian, June, and Wade, Rory’s equestrian skills grow stronger and she discovers her talent for photography. And as the relationships among the four grow more complicated, one night everything comes to a head, and a dangerous forest fire occurs, threatening to destroy the canyon and beyond.

In 2015, Rory’s daughter, Charlie, is left with more secrets about her mother than memories, as her mother is on the road more than she is home. The more she starts to question and dig into things, the more she realizes that to understand her mother, and perhaps herself, she needs to understand what happened more than 20 years before.

This book was so beautifully written. Milliken’s imagery is so evocative you can taste the dust and feel the dryness in the air. There is a lot of tension among characters that you can feel as well—I had my suspicions about what might happen but couldn’t wait to see things unfold. Issues of race and class, inequity and prejudice are also touched on.

I really enjoyed Kept Animals and stayed up late to finish it. (Story of my life in 2020.) This was a book I wouldn’t have heard of were it not for Bookstagram, so I’m grateful.

Kate Milliken provided me with a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!