Friday, July 1, 2016

Saddled With Trouble (Michaela Bancroft #1), by A.K. Alexander (author), Michelle Scott (author), Suehyla El Attar (narrator)

Audible Studios, July 2016

Michaela Bancroft is having a rough time. She's in the process of divorcing her husband, Brad Warren, after ten years of marriage. Brad's new fiancee, Kirsten, is actively harassing her to get her to sign the divorce papers instantly--without holding out for the thousands of dollars Brad owes for the medical bills insurance wouldn't cover in pursuit of a pregnancy they never achieved. Her wild friend Camden has moved in with her while waiting for the settlement on her divorce, too. And with all the bills, Michaela is running her horse ranch on minimal help.

And then her beloved Uncle Lou misses a breakfast with her that he had suggested. She goes to his ranch--and finds him in his prize stallion's stall, with a pitchfork through his back.

Soon Michaela is getting confusing signals from handsome police detective Jude Davis, as he seems sympathetic yet asks hard and upsetting questions, and learning unsettling things about everyone she cares about. Her father is gambling (and losing) again, Camden's new boyfriend has been pressuring Lou to sell his ranch, Lou's much-loved second wife, Cynthia, is pregnant despite the vasectomy Lou had several years ago. An especially upsetting and awkward discovery is that Lou was being sued by people who claimed they paid thousands for semen from his prize champion stallion, but received semen from some other, unknown stallion. What's especially disturbing is that they appear to have proof.

It's all complicated, alarming, and confusing for Michaela, and it gets even scarier when strange things start happening around her own ranch, and she gets run off the road by a big Ford truck.

I liked Michaela and her friends, and as complicated as the underlying plot behind her uncle's death gets, in the end it all hangs together and makes sense. A fun read, or listen.

Recommended for a good beach read.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Audible in exchange for an honest review.

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