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Book Review By Toni Leland
Winning Ways by Toni leland

Still mourning the death of her father, veterinarian Liz Barnett moves from Kentucky to a new vet practice opportunity in the foothills of northern California. Stunning horses, great credentials, and tons of self-confidence convince her that a new and exciting life awaits her, but she's met with resistance and hard scrutiny. Tough old cattle ranchers in the area want nothing to do with a young, pretty female vet.

Her salvation is her beautiful horses, and she throws herself into showing them, with dreams of having a national champion. Right off the bat, she tangles with intriguing Kurt DeVallio, a well-known, but mysterious horse trainer who is both intimidating and attractive, the latter fact bothering Liz a great deal. She has no time for romance. In her quest to gain clients, she visits a huge horse farm in the next town and signs up the owner, a middle-aged widow with tons of money, but not much integrity. To Liz's dismay, Kurt arrives on the scene and she learns that he is the resident trainer. Kurt's not too happy about it either--the last thing he needs is a luscious woman distracting him from winning big and getting back his sullied reputation, the result of a frame-up years before.

Liz and Kurt bang heads more than once, and when Liz's prize stud colt is disqualified from a class, she immediately suspects the arrogant trainer. As the mystery unfolds and Kurt and Liz become more deeply involved, their personal and professional ideals are challenged, and they learn that winning has many meanings.


Plot & Themes
Time/era of story
Action/suspense subplot? Yes
Action:
If one lover chases another... - they alternate
competing in - sports
Sports training/competing story Yes
Sport: - Horsie sports

Main Male Character
Age/status: - 20's-30's
Sex makes him
If he's not white he must be... - indian

Main Female Character
Age/status: - 20's-30's
Profession/status:
Effect of sexing

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - California

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
What % of story is romance related? - 70%
Focus of story - equally on him and her
How much dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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