Ms. Longshot
Sylvie Kurtz
Silhouette Bombshell, Dec 2005, $4.99
ISBN: 0373513844

Gotham Rose Club member Alexa Cheltingham anxiously has waited for her first field assignment when she learns that several suspicious accidents had happened on the Palm Beach jumping circuit with one horse who died while competing having traces of cocaine in his blood. She is to go undercover as a horse groom at the stable where the daughter of the Mayor of New York Leah Siegel trains. She is to protect Leah, but also try to uncover the identity of an assailant killing steeds. The wealthy heiress is excited, but has some concerns when she runs into Ross Herdel, someone she knew as a teen and might expose her as a sham though she knows her way around a stable.

Alexa, knowing there is no place or show in her assignment, keeps her eyes and ears open hoping to catch someone in the act as the culprit leaves no clues behind when that dastardly punk murders a horse. She also finds herself falling in love with Ross, but fears his reaction once he learns the truth about why she is here; he on the other hand ponders whether she might be involved in the horse killings as he cannot fathom why the rich heiress suddenly became a groom.

Dick Francis fans will enjoy this deep look at horse racing that serves as the anchor to the investigative romantic suspense thriller. Alexa is a terrific protagonist as she struggles with growing feelings for Ross, but also increasing fears of what he might be doing. Readers will want to take this fine tale to the pari-mutuel window, which for this reviewer means leaving Georgia.

Harriet Klausner