Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

HaBO: The Librarians are Stumped by the Horse Show Romance

Librarian Linda is looking for help with a book that a patron is seeking:

[O]ur library’s Book Hunters service had a recent “help me find a specific book” question that we are having trouble resolving.  You know how that drives librarians crazy!  We thought your readers might remember the scene our customer is referring to, because we’re stumped.

She read a book about 4 years ago that she thinks is a regency romance, although it could be historical.  It is set in England.  We have tried every source we can think of (Novelist, Google Books, Amazon, Stump the Bookseller, Google Search, etc.).  Her description:

"The male main character is a lord but was (i believe) a soldier because he was a second son. He worked with horses and can perform tricks on  horseback such as riding backwards, standing while riding. The female main character is a companion or related to the lady he is supposed to be courting.

A  part of the book I remember is the male character is riding in a show doing  horse tricks. He has the female character help by acting the "angry wife" in  the show. He is supposed to slice an apple from her mouth or hand, instead he grabs her and kisses her. This part is towards the middle/end of book."

Anyone remember a kissing instead of slicing the apple scene? And is "slicing the apple" a splendid euphemism, or is that just me?