False Gods: The Show Jumper's Challenge

Teens

synopsis

Synopsis

Cory Iverson's junior year is off to a lousy start. Publicly humiliated by the school's hottest guy and terrorized by a bullying band director, Cory flees sports try-outs and just about everything else she begins, earning a reputation as a loser as well as a quitter. But when her wandering dog leads her to the barn of a former Grand Prix rider, she finds a welcome refuge in the familiar world of horses. It's not too long before she starts dreaming of showing in one of the country's most prestigious shows--a totally unrealistic hope--until she rescues a mysterious horse with some unusual talents. But her road to success is littered with roadblocks as events spin out of control: prescription painkillers appear in her mother's purse; her ballerina sister wastes away before her eyes; her boyfriend is keeping secrets; and her normally opinionated trainer becomes strangely evasive. Worst of all, the horse show world is not what she imagined. It isn't long before Cory's winning spree attracts the attention of a brutal trainer with a string of unexplained horse deaths in her wake. When Cory lands in the crosshairs, she has to decide if she'll once again back down and flee or stand up for herself, her horse, and her dreams.

bio

Author Biography

Inspired by everyday miracles, L.R. Trovillion weaves magical stories of hurting people who find hope through horses in her Maryland Equestrian Novel series. Although she earned a degree in Russian and spent a career in government service, her real love has been caring for and working with horses. That love shines through in her series, focusing on the healing power of horses in the lives of teens facing complex and sometimes dangerous family situations. Believing there is more to this world than meets the eye, she adds a dash of the supernatural to each story. L. R. Trovillion lives on a small horse farm in Maryland with her husband, daughter, and several animals that really run the place. Her other works have appeared in Baltimore magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and various poetry anthologies.

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Author Insight

Pace and Rhythm Are Everything

Today I went horse shopping with a friend. It's a lot more fun when you're not the one looking to buy. Anyway, the candidate horse was a youngster. Although he was easy-going and forgiving, he still required a certain amount of direction from his rider to set his pace. To keep him from running off his feet, losing balance, or flat out galloping. The rider sets the pace. Well, it is very similar for an author creating a scene or writing a book. The pace has to be right for the job at hand...too slow and readers close the cover but too fast and they become exhausted from over-the-top action. Some books, especially at the end, race to an unsatisfying finish. Pace in writing like in riding is everything.

Book Excerpt

False Gods: The Show Jumper's Challenge

CORY TUCKED THE journal between the mattress and box spring, too tired to get up and put it away, snapped off the light and wriggled farther under the covers. She pulled them over her bare arms against the chill in the room and rolled on her side to face the wall. She had no idea whether she had fallen asleep or not, or whether it had been hours or minutes, when a wide shaft of light from the hall played across her face, then narrowed. She flipped onto her back, propping up on her elbows as her eyes adjusted to the dimness. A figure stood inside the doorway. Jess? Not Jess, too big. Her mind struggled to make sense of it. The figure moved toward her bed, knocked against the far edge of it, and grunted. A man’s voice. Bucky!

“Hey, this is my room!” Cory pulled the blankets up to her chin, suddenly aware of her bare breasts under the light t-shirt.

He rounded the corner of the bed and leaned toward her, falling on one hand.

“I found you,” he said playfully and groped in the dark, swinging one arm out like a blind man trying to find her. She scooted toward the wall, but his arm brushed against her. It wrapped around her shoulder and down her arm.

“Get out of my room!” Cory shouted.

He pressed against her, crushing her against the pillow.