Kentucky Heat

April 8, 2002
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 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.

April 15, 2002
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 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2002
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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)