Love Horsing Around by Sonja Gunter is a Stress Busting Book Festival pick #westernromance #romance #mustread #giveaway
- N. N. Light
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Title:
LOVE HORSING AROUND
Author:
SONJA GUNTER
Genre:
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Book Blurb:
Horses. Rodeos. Barrel racing. Money. Marriage.
Rosalind Dunne, a twenty-five year old barrel racer, is in need of a husband, to gain her inheritance in full, to open a horse sanctuary. While in Las Vegas at a competition, she plots a way to outsmart the old fashion marriage stipulation put on her trust by her grandfather.
In Vegas to attend a friend’s wedding, confirmed bachelor, Allan Smith, owner of a New York brokerage firm, wakes up in the morning to find a wedding band on his finger. The problem is he can’t remember the ceremony or the bride.
Rosalind and Allan don’t want to be married or fall in love. But does a City Boy become a cowboy and find true love with a Rodeo
Queen?
Excerpt:
Through the falling snow the Countryside Veterinary
Hospital building appeared. Alisa hauled ass into the parking
lot. Jamming the shifter into park, she hurried to the trailer.
The horrid stench gagged her. With shaking hands, she
unlocked the side door.
“May I help you?”
Did Dr. Rangle have a cold? His voice was deeper than
normal.
“Can’t you smell it? I don’t know what’s wrong. I stopped
—I checked on him—and found him—he seems to be in
pain. He’s been whinnying and shit all over.”
Freeing the lead rope, the shadows hid Dr. Rangle and
then she saw he was positioned at the opened rear gate.
“Ready here,” he shouted.
His voice barely audible, but yet she heard the anxiety in
the two words.
“Back, Xavier, back.”
Her commands didn’t work. Xavier resisted and reared up.
She clicked her tongue again and again until he stepped
backward out of the trailer.
“I’ll take it from here.”
Again, despite the situation she thought Dr. Rangle
sounded different. She extended her hand and the rope to
him once he’d moved out of the shadows.
Alisa’s eyes widened. Her heart thumped in her chest.
The man next to her wasn’t old Dr. Rangle, but his son Lance.
The one and only man who she’d loved and now hated for all
time.
When had he returned?
This was really bad juju so close to Christmas.
“You didn’t have to be so rude to Patty, my receptionist.”
“I know who Patty is. What are you—never mind. Where
is your dad?”
“He’s in South Dakota. I’m the veterinarian on call.”
Lance put a gloved hand on Xavier’s nose. “What did you feed
this horse?”
“His name is Xavier. I gave him regular feed and some I
purchased at the competition in Oklahoma. I didn’t have—I
used more than I brought, but I got the same brand I feed at
home.”
“Did you check to make sure it was fresh? If you happen
to have any left, I’d like to run some tests on it. I will take him
inside. Use the hose on your boots before you come in.”
“Yeah, right.”
Lance led Xavier around the building to a side entrance.
Alisa followed hastily. Just inside of the door to the left, a sink
had a hose attached to the faucet. She rinsed off her boots
then went into the hospital. The tile floor emphasized each of
her strides. She pushed open a pair of blue doors.
Squinting from the flood of bright lights, she found Lance
sitting at a workstation with small machines. Gone was his
shoulder length brown hair, it was now short, and he was
sporting a close-cut short beard and mustache. He didn’t look
up when she entered, which was okay. She didn’t want to look
into his brown eyes. His rigid pose along with his foot tapping
on the chair showed he was angry.
Couldn’t he let the past go? She had, or so she told herself
she had.
Her stress level elevated a notch, and she held in the urge
to run. The last time she had been in this area of the clinic
was etched into her memory forever.
Lance’s dad, Dr. Rangle’s angry words, reverberated in her
mind. Buster’s whinnies, his blood everywhere, and her lie to
protect her mother flooded before her. She’d loved her
mother, despite every cruel word and all her actions.
It had been the night from hell, and here she was again
the same, but different.
Old Dr. Rangle wasn’t in front of her, but Lance was. Off
to the right, Xavier stood in a stall, not Buster.
Gaining back clarity on the real situation, she cleared her
throat. Lance didn’t acknowledge her. Their quarrel about
her being unfaithful ten years ago still stirred the pot.
Alisa moved closer to him. “Do you know what’s wrong
with him, yet?”
“As you know, diarrhea is very bad for a horse. What
exactly did you give him to eat?”
She stood with her mouth open for the second time. It
had always been this way between the two of them since he
had gone off to college. Ready to defend herself, instead, she
shut her mouth and counted to three.
Time disappeared.
In her mind, she held the note Lance had left her, telling
her he didn’t want anything to do with her. Their relationship
was over, and he could never be with someone who hurt
animals and couldn’t be faithful to the person she was
supposed to love.
Inhaling deeply, Alisa focused on the present.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
What’s your favorite way to combat stress?
Closing my eyes and thinking about good times with family and friends.
Why is your featured book a stress busting read?
Love Horsing Around will take you on a journey of believing in love and friendship.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs May 1 – 31, 2025
Drawing will be held on June 1, 2025.
Author Biography:
Sonja Gunter
I was born and raised in the cold and beautiful Minnesota, but I escaped to Illinois for seventeen years to raise my two boys, and now I call Florida home. My husband Andy, who’s always been my hero, has put up with my late night computer typing and endless stacks of papers with my stories on them. We have one furry friend as family: Chip, a sixteen year old ragdoll cat.
Life has been full of ups and downs, but I’ve made it through the hard times. I love to travel and go to Disney World to trade pins. I’ve been a bowler for many years, and you can catch me writing my next novel at the lanes.
I encourage you to check out my web site, www.sonjagunter.com for more info and don’t be surprised if I let my Norwegian heritage come through in my stories.
Go Vikings! You betcha!
