Kentucky Rich

August 27, 2001
Continuing the saga of the Colemans and the Thorntons as recounted in Texas
and Vegas, this latest novel puts the next generation center stage and is the first in a projected new trilogy. Thirty years after escaping her father's repressive Virginia home with her illegitimate daughter, Nealy Coleman Diamond returns to his deathbed, scrabbling to find answers to why Josh Coleman was so hateful and abusive. In the intervening period, she's become a woman of means, succeeding in the man's world of thoroughbred racing in Kentucky. Once all the secrets have been revealed and she's taken revenge on the scoundrel who impregnated her, will Nealy be free to find true love at last? As usual with Michaels's sagas, the characters range from the kindhearted to the blackhearted, with scarcely any halftones between. The plot verges on the melodramatic, but it moves too quickly to pall. It helps for readers to be interested in racing, since Michaels knows her Secretariat from her Man O'War. The audience for her previous works is probably waiting at the starting gate for this one. Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Clubs featured alternate; Literary Guild alternate; author tour; Brilliance Audio.

September 15, 2001
Following her popular "Texas" and "Vegas" trilogies (e.g., Vegas Heat), Michaels draws the same families into a new series, bringing readers another family saga. Moving from oil and casinos to the world of thoroughbred racing, she introduces Nealy Coleman Diamond, daughter of another branch of the Colemans. Once again, a downtrodden but feisty young woman finds her way to riches through a combination of incredibly lucky circumstances and hard work. Nealy's life improves, but her troubles are set up to continue into the next volume. The plot is straightforward until the end, when the rapid introduction of multiple characters from Texas and Las Vegas creates confusion, especially for readers unfamiliar with the previous novels. Michaels tends to skimp on character development and skim over long passages of time, but her plucky heroines in the world of the rich and famous obviously entertain many. Public libraries will need to buy where there is demand. [Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Rhapsody Book Club alternate selection.] Barbara E. Kemp, Univ. of Houston Libs.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2001
Michaels adds to her popular Texas and Vegas series with a new branch of the Coleman family. Nealy Coleman is forced to leave her home in Virginia by her cruel father. Sick with fever, she and her daughter, Emmie, travel until she collapses at the Diamond horse farm in Kentucky. The owner, Maud, recognizes Nealy's rare gift with horses, ends up adopting her, and believes that Nealy can pick another Kentucky Derby winner for the prestigious farm. For Nealy, working on the Diamond farm is a dream come true, and when Maud dies, she leaves Nealy the farm and all her wealth. But Nealy is still haunted by her past. When Nealy hears that her father is dying thirty years after he drove her away, she goes back to confront him but finds that even more secrets and battles lay ahead. Michaels' Danielle Steel-like fun read has more plot twists than a soap opera, and will keep readers on tenterhooks for the next in the series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)