Where the Horses Run

by Kaki Warner

July 1, 2014 · Berkley

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This RITA® Reader Challenge 2015 review was written by LauraL. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Long Historical category.

Here is LauraL's review:

When the list of RITA-nominated books came out, I signed up to review Where the Horses Run, well, because “horses.” I am a horsewoman and have sought out horse stories since I started reading. When I first looked the book up, I thought it was a contemporary Western from its cover. I could handle that. I’ve read and enjoyed a number of cowboy contemporaries lately since finding the genre. I don’t remember many millionaires or former Navy SEALs among the cowboys I met when I worked in the horse industry some 20 years ago, but I digress.

A little more reading and I realized Kaki Warner writes historical Westerns, which has not been one of my favorite genres. As luck would have it, Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath was the June pick for the Old School Romance Book Club on Facebook. So I have read two Western historical novels in as many months. I lived through the rodeo and enjoyed both of them. Both were similar in the hero stood by his woman through thick and thin, as cowboys and beta heroes do, and there was a lot of drama and action. Where the Horses Run had a more contemporary voice but I don’t think to the point of being a “wallpaper” historical. It was a satisfying story with doses of humor, so it earned a B rating from me. I am planning to read the next book in the series, which is focused on Thomas, one of the secondary characters.

In Where the Horses Run, we travel from Heartbreak Creek in the Wild West of Colorado to Manhattan to a cross-Atlantic voyage to a fancy estate in the Lake District of England with a side trip to the Scottish highlands and then back. (Whew) Along the way, Rayford Jessup, an American horse wrangler, meets Josephine Cathcart, the daughter of a British industrialist. The story takes place in Victorian times, so we are talking times of great prosperity and the rise of the middle class. A cast of secondary characters supports the story along the way, including Rafe’s employer, an earl and his countess who are just “Ash and Maddie” when at home in Heartbreak Creek and titled when in the Highlands or England. A Cheyenne Dog Soldier by the name of Thomas Redstone is the source of much of the humor of the book and he is Rafe’s closest friend. Being a warrior, Thomas moves silently and is always showing up unexpectedly to the point where Rafe threatens to bell him like a cat.

The Cheyenne materialized at Ash’s shoulder. “I do not sneak.”

Ash startled. “Bollocks.”

“Bells,” Rafe advised.

Naïve little rich girl Josephine had fallen in love with the son of a Baron some eight years ago. Of course, he promised to marry her, left her pregnant, and married the girl with “impeccable bloodlines” his parents selected for him. Josephine now lives with her son, Jamie, and her bitter father at a large property in Britain’s Lake Country. Father’s fortunes have recently fallen due to some bad wagers after he has spent his life working his way out of the coal mines and into a palatial estate. Desperate, he tries to use Josephine to reverse those fortunes and to climb socially. At one point, he offers her as a mistress to a rich man and at another he uses her as bait for investors. Some of Josephine’s thoughts:

It was not to be borne. Being put on display once again. The impoverished Englishwoman, only slightly used but attractive enough to preside over any wealthy man’s table, and available to the highest bidder.

Cool as a cuke Rafe (one of my favorite cowboy names) comes to the Cathcart stables with his employer, Ash, the regular guy Earl of Kirkwell, who is looking for well-bred horses to take home to Colorado to start a horse-breeding business. Rafe brings along his horse whispering skills and his own baggage, having nearly died a year earlier in a shoot-out while protecting a saloon girl he believed he loved. Rafe is happy with the bloodstock and enchanted by the daughter of the house. Josephine has a horse, Pembroke’s Pride, who is also damaged. Pems was injured in a big race and is now afraid of water. Rafe takes on the training of Pems to get him ready for another big race. He also uses his beta hero/horse whisperer skills on Josephine. There are a number of tender scenes where Rafe and Josephine just talk. Because of Josephine’s upbringing, Rafe struggles to get his Josie to understand his feelings for her.

He turned to face her. “You’re not listening.” Emotion was so thick in his throat his voice shook with it. “I care about you. As more than a friend. More than I should.”

When it comes down to it, Rayford Jessup and Josephine Cathcart are two lonely people who find each other and eventually find a way to stay together, despite many obstacles. Their romance blossoms around a shared love of horses and a growing affection by Rafe for Josephine and the ever so cute Jamie who says “ever so” ever so much. Along the way, Rafe and his Josie have to deal with constables, a baron who wants his son back, and a parent who drinks and yells a lot. All culminates in a big horse race, and yes, the good guys, win.