Customer Reviews

Leaping Hearts

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Sabbath was the name of the magnificent stallion that no one could seem to tame. A.J. Sutherland decided she would be the one to do it! She spent a small fortune to purchase him only to find out her family's stables refused to back her up! A.J. was forced to choose between her family and the horse she knew could be a champion. For various reasons, A.J. chose Sabbath. Since the horse was not welcome at the Sutherland Stables, A.J. and Sabbath left.

Devlin McCloud was a former champion equestrian. Due to a horrible accident a year ago, he was unable to compete. A.J. managed to convince Devlin to help train Sabbath fro the Qualifier, only two months away. It was to be business only; however, A.J. and Sabbath began knocking down the wall Devlin had built around his heart.

***** This is one truly awesome story! The author has a few sub-plots to keep the readers on the edge of their seats, while managing to give each of the two main characters their own set of problems AND a shaky romance! Well done, Jessica Bird! Highly recommended reading here! *****

At a Virginia horse auction, A.J. Sutherland buys four-year-old thoroughbred Sabbath for thirty thousand dollars though the steed has a nasty reputation and her stepbrother, the family finance expert Peter Conrad, objected. Following her instincts, A.J. pays with her own personal money. When she returns to Sutherland Stables, Peter informs her that he sold the horse. An upset A.J. blithely says he cannot sell what the stable does not own and leaves with her horse though she has no place for Sabbath to stay.

A desperate A.J. travels to the nearby home of Devlin McCloud to beg the once golden boy of horse jumping to allow her steed to stay in his stable. Devlin still uses a cane from the injury he suffered last year that led to the euthanasia killing of his beloved horse Mercy. He wants nothing to do with A.J. or Sabbath, but would never allow an animal to suffer because of human stupidity. Soon he finds himself training horse and woman. As A.J. and Devlin fall in love, both fear commitment with a human.

Though readers will wonder how the father of A.J. could allow the cruelty of not stabling Sabbath for at least a night, fans will appreciate this warm contemporary romance. The story line is exciting as Devlin and A.J. leap from love even though the dangerous matchmaking skills of the key third character Sabbath pushes them together. LEAPING HEARTS combines a good horse jumping competition with a strong romance into a fine debut by newcomer Jessica Bird.

Harriet Klausner

When I was in the book store picking up a few books for some summer reads, I noticed Leaping Heart sitting on a book stand as I was passing by to go up to the checkout. Being an avid horse person and horse owner, I backtracked back to the book when I saw the running horse on the cover. I picked up the book, read the back breifly and tossed in with my buys. It turned out to be a good buy. It was about A.J. Sutherland, a young women who buys a black stallion named Sabbath, for a small fortune, intending to train him for the Qualifier, which is a big show jumping event.

Her stepbrother, Peter Conrad, who runs the financial records for Sutherland Stables argues with her that it was a bad buy. Everything is ok until she gets back to the stables. AJ learns that Peter is now the owner of the farm and he tells her that he as sold the stallion, and it was a good move for Aj to pay for the stallion with her own money and not out of the stables account. She tells him that he could not sell something the farm doesn't own and leaves her home and stable with Sabbath.

Desperate to find a place to live, AJ comes to Devlin McCloud's doorstep. Devlin was a former showjumper who fell victim to a terrible accident which led to the end of his showjumping carrer, and the death of his horse, Mercy. He agree to let AJ and Sabbath stay for one night, but after some thought begins to train them for the Qualifier, and that leads to AJ and Devlin falling in love with each other.

I loved the passion that devolped between them. I thought it would be more of a romance story than a horse story. But it had an even amount of horses and romance. It is an awesome romance novel to read. You could almost feel the characters emotions. I enjoyed it alot.

If you liked this story, I also recommend Legends Lake by Joann Ross.

Let me give you the story, beautiful rich brate disowned by family, buys a BLACK stallion, runs to handsome cripple exchampion, they fall instantly in "love" and the horse loves the girl. Please this has been done a thousand times. Give it a rest. I wasted my time with this book.

I loved this book - couldn't put it down and have read it 3 times over the last few years. Highly recommended!

This book was a fantastic escape! Not customarily a romance reader, I dipped my toe in with curiosity -- and then read it all the way through immediately. It grabs you from the beginning and keeps you enchanted. Jessica Bird is a fantastic new author! The writing in this book is of high caliber, and the characters are people you relate to and are rooting for as you whiz through the book. I can't wait for her next one to hit the stands!

Courtney Dickinson

My Take
The primary theme is having faith in yourself but acknowledging your shortcomings. In other words, never lie to yourself.
This is a sweet romance that revolves around show jumping, an unthinking beauty, and a man who has retreated from life. It flows well and has some nice insight on A.J.'s part as she realizes just how good she had it and what her family has had to put up with as opposed to what she thought.

I thought the arrangement her dad had with Peter was very unfair and chauvinistic but with the reveal about Regina...damn, Peter did not have it easy.

The Story
There's something about that thoroughbred and A.J. must have win him. She knows Sabbath's reputation but she knows there is heart within this horse. Unfortunately, her stepbrother is fed up with A.J.'s thoughtless purchases and he refuses to honor her decision. His disapproval is so deep that when A.J. arrives back at the stables with Sabbath in tow, she is met by her father and Peter with the news that Peter is now in charge and he has already sold Sabbath to another owner.

A.J. is so grateful for her decision on how to finance his purchase now and she immediately removes herself and Sabbath from the yard. Only, this was not what she had ever expected and she has no idea where to go. Sabbath needs to be out of this trailer and she needs a bed. At least, not until she remembers the incredibly gorgeous Devlin McCloud.

She herself threw down the gauntlet. She and Sabbath would enter the Qualifier in two months' time. Now if she can just persuade Devlin to re-enter the land of the living.

The Characters
A. J. Sutherland is one of the two bosses at Sutherland Stables; she deals with the actual training and riding of the horses while her stepbrother Peter Conrad handles its finances and god forbid he actually have to get near a horse or barn. Ick. He is constantly fighting with A.J. Garret Sutherland is her father and has always financed everything about A.J.'s lifestyle including building up the stables but he's too easily swayed by his wife, Regina, A.J.'s wicked stepmother, and Peter.

Devlin McCloud was internationally famous in the equestrian world. "A maverick, a national sports presence, the former captain of the Olympic Equestrian Team, a multiple gold medal winner and one of the best show jumpers the country had ever produced." Until the accident that killed his partner and crippled him. Chester is the only father Devlin ever knew and taught him all he knew and knows about horses and riding. Now he's playing matchmaker while he works as groom as Devlin works to train A.J. and Sabbath.

Margaret Mead is the auction house secretary and very much on A.J.'s side.

The Cover
The cover is a bit dull with A.J.'s profile blended in with the purple of the sunrise with the silhouette of Sabbath running across the horizon.

My guess on the title is that its A.J.'s, Sabbath's, and Devlin's Leaping Hearts that are of concern in this tale of jumping.

The moment A.J. Sutherland saw the sleek black stallion named Sabbath, she knew. She just KNEW he would be a champion jumper. The stallion's hellish reputation notwithstanding, she saw him as pure gold and bought him at auction over the strenuous objections of her stepbrother, the contentious pain in the hindquarters who runs the business side of her wealthy father's stables. A.J. was resolute, however, and with one signed check she committed herself to a whole new life. Her decision gets her new horse banned from her family's stable and herself steamrollered by her stepbrother's quick snatch of the power to control her.

With her options limited to fleeing or submitting to him, she makes a mad dash towards freedom, but the reality of the situation hits her hard. She's now more or less homeless, with nothing of her own but some well-worn tack, a horse no one but she believes in, and a burning desire to prove them all wrong. Committed to entering and making a good showing at a prestigious jumping competition in a mere two months, A.J. throws herself on the mercy of the one man who she believes can help her. The one man she desires most...in all ways.

Devlin McCloud had been a superstar in the sport of showjumping, having won just about every major competition he'd entered in the past decade, before a brutal and career-ending fall almost a year ago crushed his leg and forced him to put down the horse he loved. Since then he's been wallowing in self pity, cut off from the life and sport that meant everything to him.

Until the day he went to auction and saw a fiery woman stare down an intractable horse.

For the first time in a very long time, desire heated his blood and tightened his veins, but when he first hears A.J.'s ridiculous proposition that he train her, he shuts her down fast. That part of his life is over. Looking into her eyes and telling her no when she shows up at his house in the middle of the night, desperate after her family ditches on her, however, proves to be the truly impossible task. She's obviously in need of help and has nowhere to go with the bad-tempered but promising horse she'd purchased.

Whether she had the mettle to stick it out and go the distance isn't the question, though. It's whether he can keep his hands off her and his desire in check while he helps her do just that.

Before she stormed onto the paranormal romance scene and became beloved as the Warden, J.R. Ward started her illustrious career writing contemporary romance as Jessica Bird. Within Leaping Hearts there are few glimpses of the romance- and urban fantasy-writing powerhouse she's become, but those glimpses will satisfy die-hard fans and/or hard core romance lovers, especially horse fans. And I did love the scenes that featured Sabbath and the world of horse jumping. It was just the rest of it that gave me problems.

The main characters A.J., pampered princess striving for independence and respectability away from the shadow of a wealthy father and cold stepmother, and Devlin, wounded antisocial hero still troubled by his past but captivated by the effervescent A.J., were likable, if pedestrian main characters. I didn't have a problem with either of them, really. They had some depth to their personalities, and the intensity of their mutual attraction, their chemistry, and their shared love of horses and jumping were very appealing.

Most of my issues with the book revolve around the plot. That it was formulaic wasn't a surprise, nor is it a particular gripe of mine. It's rare when a contemporary romance isn't formulaic in one way or another. The problem here is that within the formula, plot points didn't work, didn't get satisfactorily resolved, weren't given enough development, or got dropped completely.

I prefer relationships that build more slowly than they did between A.J. and Devlin, but that's a personal preference and very subjective. Still, in this case I felt doubly disappointed because the horse training threads were so successful and Sabbath such a good focal point for the story that the romance didn't need to be rushed like it was. I would have been more interested if the two had built up the tension as they were settling Sabbath down and bringing him along.

A.J.'s issues with her family were handled half-heartedly and haphazardly at best, and a conflict resolution with her stepbrother was completely anticlimactic. I found her father's actions, especially after she buys Sabbath, fairly reprehensible and her stepmother was a bitch, so it was disappointing that those issues weren't really addressed or resolved to my satisfaction. I like it when people get what they so richly deserve, and it didn't happen here.

I think the inevitable relationship conflict between A.J. and Devlin was weak and felt contrived, Devlin's behavior surrounding it rather inexplicable, and the final resolution abrupt and forced. Several scenes concerning that plot thread didn't track for me, and I was again left unsatisfied when ancillary issues about his fall and the death of his horse got brushed aside in lieu of his focus on A.J..

And there was a huge plot hole concerning his cane and the severity of his injury. The book starts nearly a year after his accident and Devlin's mobility and flexibility are still limited enough to warrant a cane, his stiffness and pain still significant enough to be a huge issue to him, yet just six weeks later in the timeline of the book he's running around sans cane, no mention of his injury beyond a passing reference to his scars and no regard for or attention to the physical limitations from the damage done. Not very believable.

There were just too many things that seemed a bit off for me to really like the book, but there were also enough things that I enjoyed to keep me from disliking it. As a debut book from a new author, it didn't really do justice to the incredible popularity Ward eventually achieved with her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, nor was it as appealing as some of her more recent contemporary romances. It lacked a lot in the way of complexity, depth, and originality...though it did have a real cool horse that should have been given more page time.

It was just okay for me. Fortunately for a lot of happy readers, Bird aka Ward got a lot better.

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Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

This a story of a girl named A.J. Sutherland who has a love for horses and puts her life into the stables her family owns. She spends money on a horse with a wild reputation cause she sees what the stallion could be. She plans to train and ride Sabbath in the Qualifier(the biggest event of show-jumping), only to find she does not have the support of her family or backing of Sutherland Stables. With no where to go she turns to Devlin McCloud, a multiple gold medal winner whose career was cut short by a tragic accident, unable to say no he agrees to be her trainer. They fall in love from the beginning and there are twist and turns to keep you glued.

A great love story! This was the first book I read by Jessica Bird and I look forward to reading more of them. I really enjoyed it and could not put it down. I came away from the book wanting to go horseback riding. :) There are a few love scenes and GDs, but I would recommend this book!