Product Description

With Nealy, horses come first. So when her two grown children's irresponsible acts nearly cost her Shufly, the foal that carries her hopes for the Triple Crown, she throws them both off Blue Diamond Farms. To the world Nearly looks unbreakable. Inside, her heart has shattered, as she struggles alone to build her racing stables into the best in Kentucky - and Shufly into the horse of the century. When Hatch Littletree, her ex-husband's law partner, pays an unexpected visit, he brings Nealy both much-needed comfort and turmoil, as he urges her to heal the painful rift with her children. Raw with emotion and yet filled with unstoppable determination, Nealy will stand strong...and ultimately, triumph

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57437 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 383 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780821773680
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Building on the success of her Vegas and Texas series, Michaels (Kentucky Rich) enlarges the Coleman and Thornton family legacies in her second novel set in bluegrass country. The indomitable Nealy Coleman Diamond Clay has her hands full: the foal that carries her hopes for the Triple Crown is born early while her grown children and helpmeets are away. When they return with news (her son has eloped with the family's cook and her daughter's husband abandoned her on a cruise) Nealy is furious as far as she's concerned, they were due home a week ago. "The horses always [come] first," sighs daughter Emmie. The multiple catastrophes strain plausibility, but the stalwart Michaels, whose plots are chock-full of dramatic tension, knows how to pull off the impossible. Nealy meets her match in her late husband's former law partner, Hatch Littletree, a larger-than-life Native American whose physical magnitude and considerable wealth is matched by his big heart and largess. The internecine family feuds, present and past not to mention the author's compulsion to fill in the blanks about the Thorntons and Colemans and their stormy histories takes away from the larger story about the developing relationship between Nealy and Hatch, and her endeavors toward a second Triple Crown sweep. In addition, a subplot involving a potential movie about Nealy's life (introduced in a rambling prologue and inexplicably ignored for over 200 pages) fails miserably. The brisk narrative also goes awry when a sudden cataclysm following a thrilling race victory robs the climax of its punch, dragging out the final section of the book to its inevitable happy conclusion. National advertising.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Continuing the saga begun in Kentucky Rich, Michaels rejoins Nealy Coleman Diamond Clay several years after her Triple Crown win. Though she is comfortable with her horses, Nealy struggles with personal relationships at all levels. At first, she appears so rigid and harsh that it is difficult to sympathize with her. Even a later explanation that she drove her adult children away out of love fails to counteract this first impression. For most of the book, Nealy works her way to self-understanding and real happiness, but just as it seems she has succeeded, Michaels inserts an almost unbelievable event to rip her life apart again. Nealy's sudden reversion to self-isolation and a subsequent return to happiness seem rushed, with little plot or character development. Stilted dialog, frequent encounters with the spirit of Nealy's dead husband, and the appearance of characters from the "Texas" and "Vegas" trilogies serve only to muddy the plot. These flaws do not seem to bother her fans, however. Public libraries where Kentucky Rich was popular will want to purchase. Barbara E. Kemp, Univ. of Houston Libs.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Michaels continues the family saga she began in Kentucky Rich [BKL Ag 01], which stars Nealy Coleman Diamond Clay, a teenage mother who ran away from home and ended up at Blue Diamond Farms in the heart of Kentucky raising and racing thoroughbreds. Now in her late forties and a widow, Nealy's life has always been a struggle, and she'll need all her strength for what lies ahead. She throws her daughter, Emmie, and her son, Nick, off the farm, then immerses herself in the training of one last contender for the coveted Triple Crown. Nealy realizes that this will be her last Derby horse and is ready to move on, which she does with the help of her husband's old college friend, Hatch Littletree. He's been acting as a mentor to her children, and, unbeknownst to them, becomes an important part of Nealy's life as their early antagonism changes to attraction. Her children start to develop their own lives, while Nealy searches out information about the mother she never knew. It turns out that learning about the past is the catharsis that helps put Nealy's demons to rest, allowing her to look toward the future. Michael's plot-driven story moves at a fast pace and will please her many fans, especially those who want to revisit the many characters from her previous novels. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

You have to read the other series to follow this one
Ok I loved this series and in between books, I read the others to catch up on characters and it made everyone of them fall into place. Texas & Vegas series help you with the characters in the Kentucky series and I thought all of it was good I couldn't put the books done.

Kentucky Great!
This book was my first Fern Michaels book, and it will definately not be the last one i read!
Nealy Diamond Clay is a famous jockey that owns and runs Blue Diamond Farms, a top horse racing farm in Kentucky.
Nealy's children, Nick and Emmie, had finaly convinced their mother to let them have a week off for vacation, which Nealy never had allowed. So when they both took an extra week off (without telling Nealy!) and one of the farm's mares had complications foaling, Nealy was angry. To her the horses came first, so she kicked them off the farm. Later in the book you find out that Nealy really kicked them out because deep down she knew knew that they would never create a life of their own if she didnt push them away from the comforts of Blue Diamond Farms.
Through this rough time, Nealy also meets up with her dead husband's best friend, Hatch, Nealy tries to fight it, but through it all she knows she has romantic feelings for Hatch.
Also, Nealy is entered to ride Shufly, her champion horse Flyby's son, in the Kentucky Derby. But Nealy is woman in her early fifties, and many people doubt her. Can she and Shufly win the triple crown races against all odds?
For awhile everything is great for Nealy. She is in love with Hatch, has reunited with her children, has had a good horse racing season, and has traveled the world with her new fiance. But can one dreadful night destroy everything for Nealy, and maybe even cost her life?

Racing Without Running
Trying to race through each new and incredibly exciting chapter of Fern Michaels' Kentucky Heat, the 2nd book in her 3-book series, while experiencing the emotional ups and downs of the Coleman family, et al., was the most fun I've ever had. Reaching the last chapter, knowing I was nearing the end, and would have to wait until October for the 3rd and final "Kentucky" series book, was the least fun I've ever had.
Nealy Coleman Diamond, Kentucky Heat's main character, and one of the many strong women Fern writes about, knocks your socks off every time she turns a corner. Her family and friends become your "best buds" as you read about them and grow to know and love them. Woven within the story of the Colemans are several smaller threads of stories that nab your attention as you turn each page. The smaller threads are no less exciting than the main story. Don't second guess Fern's endings -- she is the inveterate surprise ending queen. Read the book. Love her characters. Cheer them on. Then impatiently wait for her next Kentucky novel.