Hello, my friends! I’ve had so much fun lately finding new books, and meeting new authors! I’ve also enjoyed starting to publish book highlights for authors who request a book review from me, but I don’t have time to read immediately.
Jump released earlier this week, and it honestly sounds adorable. It’s a clean, new adult romance, based in the world of competitive horse jumping. I love horses, and I can understand how nerve wracking horse jumping can be. I’ve never read a book based in that world, so it’ll definitely be a new experience for me.
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Synopsis – Borrowed from Amazon
It’s been a year since college senior Mila Kozak watched her sister Anya’s tragic accident on course at WEF. Since then, nothing has been the same. Her relationship with her sister is as shattered as Anya’s paralyzed body. Her boyfriend of two years dumped her out of the blue and, even though she’s doing everything she can to win him back, he won’t give her the time of day. And her favorite thing in the world – show jumping – is tainted by the crippling fear she’ll end up like Anya.
Mila wants nothing more than to be her old life-of-the-party, live-in-the-moment self. But no matter what she does, she’s not that Mila anymore.
When Mila rescues her friend and barnmate, Alex, from Immigration police, it sets them on a trajectory that’s as surprising as it is electrifying.
But when everything Mila holds dear is threatened yet again, will she make the jump and land where she’s meant to be?
Set in the world of competitive show jumping, JUMP is a new adult romance about falling in love, facing your fears and building your own happily-ever-after.
About the Author
Tiffany Chacon is an author of clean, new-adult romance, who has also competed in horse jumping from a young age. She’s a five-time IAHA national champion, and has competed regularly at the Winter Equestrian Festival. Her horse, Obi-Wan, sounds amazing, and if I lived closer to her, I’d totally go say hi.
Tiffany received her Master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Tampa, and Jump is her debut novel. She currently lives in Tampa.
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Excerpt
Finally, it’s our turn. We stand at the in-gate, and I can’t help the flashback clawing through my mind of Anya on the ground. I’m picturing her helmeted head crunching into the sand. The image comes and then it goes as I force myself to watch the rider on course. He’s going over the triple combination and then making the rollback to the liverpool. The liverpool is a type of water jump that isn’t the sprawling kind—it’s more of a regular vertical with a blue tarp-like piece underneath. Anything to get the horses weirded out. Not this horse, I think as I pat Cyrus’s neck. I’m steadier than I’ve ever felt with Cyrus as we trot into the ring, past the vertical water jump, and wait for the buzzer.
I feel zen, like I could teach a yoga class right about now. And then the buzzer chimes, and every ounce of calm is flung from my mind as Cyrus rockets onto the course. I barely get him under control to point him at the first jump, a black and gold CDD Wealth oxer. Before I can blink, we’ve flown over it and it’s four hurried strides to the green Rolex vertical.
It’s as if Cyrus got the memo that this was a speed class—I’m pulling at his mouth, but he is not slowing down. As we’re going over the Rolex jump, he seems to sense that we need to turn, so he’s turning mid-air, but in the wrong direction. When we land, he’s going right, but we need to go left. I’m tugging on the left rein, and we end up making a very wide rollback to the liverpool. The back-and-forth slows Cyrus down, but only for a little bit. After we fly over the water jump, it’s another quick rollback to the triple combination. Our rollback is so tight, he’s almost laying down.
We charge into the first jump of the triple, put in one stride instead of two, and I’m left behind as we go over the second jump. He clears it, despite me flapping around like a sack of potatoes on his back, and then it’s another stride as we jump the last vertical in the combination. It’s not very rhythmic, but we get through clear.
It’s a long gallop to the next line—and Cyrus is booking it, even though I’m standing on my toes, pulling back on the reins. I’m so frantic I can barely catch my breath. As we approach the first jump in the line, I’m overwhelmed by how impenetrable it is—it’s a bright white wall, solid from the ground to the top, and it seems to be emanating difficulty. And, of course, Cyrus is blitzing toward it like it’s the enemy.
It seems as though he’s going to leave long, but at the last second he adds in a quick stride. He has to make a humongous effort to get over it from that angle, and I’m tossed up with him, only hanging on by my stirrups. I feel his front legs graze the top of the jump, and the topmost bricks fall to the ground as we land.
We were planning to go on the outside path for this broken line, but Cyrus has a different idea. He’s going inside, and he’s going in six strides instead of seven. Again, we land and I’m practically falling on his neck. Cyrus is anticipating the turn, and this time he guesses right. We go inside the butterfly jump to a skinny plank and finally we have a jump where I’m acting like a decent rider. I’m actually in the saddle, giving him a good release, and landing without scrambling myself back together.
I try to catch my breath—and fail—as we ride toward the in-and-out. “Whoa,” I call to Cyrus. His ears twitch back at the sound of my voice, and he actually listens this time. He slows his pace just a hair, and we find a perfect distance to the two-jump combo. In, then, out.
One final gallop to the last jump—the spectacularly gaudy WEF jump, with horses jumping from the side of the standards and every flag of every country competing at WEF represented on the poles. We’re thundering toward it, Cyrus’s hooves hitting the arena floor, the sound jolting through my chest into my heart. Right before we get to the jump, I sit back, adjust Cyrus, and we soar over it. Then, we’re racing through the timers, and I hear Trina and Alex cheering at the in-gate.
It wasn’t pretty, but we did it.
Note from The Author
“I grew up competing on horses, and this book is very much a love letter to the world of show jumping. It’s about facing your fears – something you have to do a lot of when you’re competing in such a crazy sport – and making the jump to pursue your dreams even when you’re scared. And, of course, it’s also about falling in love and finding someone who supports you through the hard times and believes in you, even when you don’t believe in yourself.”
Interested? Purchase Jump on Amazon!
Conclusion
I hope you get a chance to check out Jump by Tiffany Chacon! Grab it on Amazon or Kindle Unlimited. Don’t have Kindle Unlimited? Grab your free trial here.
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Until Next Time, Friends!
