Customer Reviews

Kentucky Rich

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

As a professional in the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry, I was horrified at the inaccuracies and absurdities portrayed in this book. Ms. Michaels has the ability to tell a tale, but displays a serious lack of knowledge about racing and breeding. The story line is totally implausible from a racing perspective, and in fact violates the rules of racing in more than one aspect. True, this is a work of fiction, but more sophisticated readers expect real research on the part of the author, not Disneyesque fairy tales. More than once, scenes describing interactions between horses and humans were absurd and dangerous, particularly one where the heroine mounts a loose filly (a horse unknown to the rider) that is not wearing tack, and then proceeds to place a 2 year old child on the horse in front of her. Anyone in the horse business, racing or not, would have to cringe while reading this scene. There are numerous other scenes that display the author's lack of knowledge about the business. I have never read this author's work before,and was drawn to it because of its connections to the racing industry. I won't read any more of her work, because she obviously doesn't research her subjects.

I got this book, Kentucky Rich, along with its sequel, Kentucky Heat, a few days ago and just finished the first book. It took awhile to get through and I ended up skimming a lot of it.

The book starts off interesting, with a prologue about Nealy Coleman coming back to the home she was driven off of 30 years earlier to "dance" on her dying father's grave and to make him pay for mistreating her.

The novel then goes to "part 1," which goes back 30 years to talk about how 17 year old Nealy and her 2 year old daughter ran away from home (at the urgings of her two brothers, Pyne and Rhy) and ended up at Blue Diamond Farms, where the owners, Maud and Jess, take them in. It follows Nealy's growing up and eventually taking over the farm.

Part 2 is 30 years later, and starts with the prologue and Nealy's reunion with her brothers and dying father. This is where the book really starts to fall on its face. The plot here gets mind numbingly boring, even confusing at times when the author brings back dozens of characters from two of her other trilogies (which I have not read, so I am not familiar with them).

Nealy as a herione is rather unlikeable. She's immature, even at the end as a 50-something year old woman. She's often cold and heartless. I couldn't garner any sympathy for her and her actions often made me say "What the heck??"

The romance in this book is practically unmentioned. Nealy meets the hero in the first part of the book, barely interacts with him during the entire "part 1" and the two are married at the end. Part 2 opens with basically "Oh yeah, Hunt died and actually his and Nealy's relationship wasn't really love, he was having affairs and didn't deserve her." Uhh... what??!

It's also obvious that Fern Michaels knows practically nothing about horses. Being a horsewoman myself, I laughed out loud at some of the ridiculous scenes in this book. Some other reviewers have mentioned them as well - one of my favorite idiotic scenes is when Nealy wants the stallion to witness the birth of his colt and have the three of them (stallion, mare and colt) become a "family." Sorry, but horses are not people. While I believe they feel affection, they don't form "families" in the way that people do.

Also, the author seemed to have a lot of trouble putting the plot together. It jumped around so much it was jarring to read. One example is when Nealy meets a guy that some of her friends are trying to set her up with. He starts off by telling her that a woman's place is in the kitchen and not on a horse (which of course makes her mad). Eventually he apologizes and they make up. Cut, next chapter begins. It's several months later and Nealy hates his guts because they were supposed to have a date and he stood her up. What the heck??

She also makes a big deal out of certain events.. like a hundred pages leading up to a big race - a race so important because it was her promise to the dying Maud that the horse win - then spends one short paragraph on the race itself.

Overall, I wasn't very impressed with this book. The main character is unsympathetic, poorly written and unlikeable. There is practically no romance in the book - and what romance IS there is completely unrealistic. Research is important, and its obvious the author either didn't do her research on horses and racing, or just decided to disregard the facts. So I give it 2 stars.

This was my first Fern Michaels book.
I have already bought a few others of hers on friend's recommendations. Having read Kentucky Rich, I am not
exactly raring to go to read the others.
The story itself is written in a very disjointed fashion.
The time periods are skipped over in big chunks, from one chapter to the next 2 or 20 years are passed over.
Relationships between the lead Nealy and others just happen like THAT<snap>. She meets someone and ten minutes later they are best friends forever. <snap> She is
helped by some people and they are family forever.
I liked the horsey aspect, though I know zip about horses.
The book seemed to lack descriptives about people and the way they look.
The finish was really sluggish and the plot murky.
Seems a lot of things had been going on in the background and you don't learn of them till the end.
I read it all but was nodding my head by the end wondering how this was published without more stringent editing.
It wasn't a total waste of time, but it wasn't particularly
satisfying.
Buy it used if you want to try a Fern Michaels.

...not for those who have not read the previous series -- the Texas and Vegas series. I haven't read those books, and I suddenly felt that there were all these unknown characters thrown in the mix more than half-way through. It was very confusing!

The other problem I had with this book was the multiple plots and climaxes. Nealy's young, the Kentucky Derby is a big deal, that whole story line climaxes and is resolved in a few pages. On to the next, and the next, and the next. All the characters end up being underdeveloped and shallow, sometimes doing things you wouldn't expect (would her daughter REALLY have hidden out for a week after the problem on the cruise? It just doesn't fit the character!).

The story was interesting, but there were just too many flaws. I won't be returning for the rest of this trilogy.

I'm a native Kentuckian and have been around horse farms and horses all my life. This book was so right on it made me homesick for Kentucky. I read the other reviews and they made me laugh. It is THEM or know nothing of horse breeding. I related to everything. I laughed, cried and rejoiced with Nealy as she traveled through the pages of this book. I was on the seat of the chair reading this during the horse races. My heart pounded almost out of my chest. This book was exceptional, every bit as good if not better than the other two series with the same family. Well done, Ms Michaels

In another great narrative chronology, Fern Michaels weaves the saga of the Coleman-Thornton families into Kentucky and the arena of thoroughbred horseracing. If you've read the Texas and Vegas series, you'll love becoming acquainted with - Nealy Coleman Diamond, a woman who, with incredible luck and lots of hard work, has succeeded in the man's world of thoroughbred racing.

With her usual superb storytelling style, Fern Michaels's plot is believably straightforward in its portrayal of women and men in the thoroughbred-racing world. She weaves passion, power, greed, ruthless games, dysfunctional families, and cruelty of the human spirit into a compelling tale with a cliffhanger ending that will have you eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Criticism about the setting's factual details of the horseracing world may or may not be well founded, but you have to remember -- it is a fictional story.

Kentucky Heat lacks in-depth character development and skims over long passages of time, but the plot twists will keep you turning the pages. The introduction of multiple characters from the Texas and Las Vegas tales may be problematic for those readers unfamiliar with the previous series, but enough backstory places the characters for the reader. All in all, it's classic Fern Michaels and an entertaining read.

This is my first Fern Michaels book and it won't be my last. Hailing originally from Baltimore, the home of the Preakness, I grew up loving the sport but from afar. I know nothing about the intracacies of training or racing a horse. What I do know is that Ms. Michaels captured the love an owner, trainer and jockey has for his horses and how that love is returned by the animal. Nealy Coleman Diamond and her daughter Emmie leave a disastrous home situation and are lovingly embraced and adopted by Maud and Jess Diamond. These 4 main characters share so much love, wealth and fame. The book evolves over a 30 year span and the later chapters reunite Nealy with her estranged family who once again triumph over much adversity and manipulation. The story is wholesome without much profanity, violence and sex, which is refreshing to say the least in this day and age. Pure race enthusiasts rate this low, but if the reader can forget the facts of racing and concentrate on the love emanating from the story, I think it will be a rewarding read. Kentucky Heat is on my book shelf beckoning.

If you have even the most basic knowledge of racing, you would know that many events that take place are highly implausible. First, Nealy allows only three mares a year to be bred to a prize thoroughbred; with stallions being booked to over 40 mares per year in the thoroughbred world (some are even sent overseas and double their book of mares) and the vast competition to become leading sire, Nealy's farm would go quickly out of business and her stallion on the road to obscurity fast. She allows the sire of her prize colt to accompany his son to the post of the Derby--pandemonium would break loose if anyone tried this. Also Nealy triples her role as owner, trainer, and jockey which is not allowed in any rule book I've seen.(she even comes back after a 20 year retirement at age 48 to ride in the Belmont (without batting an eyelash!!). She instills that "family feeling" by allowing her stallion to watch his colt being foaled!!-really bizarre. The character of Nealy is clearly delineated but the men in her life seem more like cutouts. If you are a fan or know something of the sport, you will be astonished at this book. If you know nothing, you are getting all the wrong information. If the author had researched her topic more carefully, Kentucky Rich would be a better book.

i really enjoyed this book. i have been around a farm and horses all my life and this book is fact. while reading you begin to pull for her(nealy) more and more. i cried, laughed out loud, and got mad! with all that emotion how could you not like it.

Not one of my favorites. The first half was OK but the second half was disappointing. Disconjointed. Abrupt ending with no feeling.