Heroes and Hounds by Bill Miller Tour with #Giveaway

Heroes and Hounds
Author: Bill Miller
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781456310363
Genre: Young Adult, Adventure

About the Book:

Heroes and Hounds is a wonderfully charming story about a young girl’s adventures with her pony and her friend as she seeks to fulfill her dream of riding “to the hounds” with the hunt. Although the story is written for young audiences, it has multi-generational appeal as it touches on such issues as the plight of families with parents in military service and the welfare of veterans. Anyone who loves horses, dogs and other animals will enjoy this book. The illustrations are beautiful and create a nostalgia of their own in their old-style look reminiscent of children’s books decades ago.

Carly is 11 years old and lives with her grandfather on a 200-acre Virginia farm while both parents serve in the military overseas. She loves the farm, and befriends all of the animals including a sneaky red fox that stalks her grandfather’s prize chickens. Her best friend is her pony, Monroe, who shares her enthusiasm for adventure. Carly’s constant dream is to ride with the Riverdale Hunt Club that passes through her grandfather’s property.

On one particularly rainy Saturday, Carly watches from her front porch as the finely dressed ladies and gentlemen ride to the hounds. Later in the day, Carly finds out that a young hound named Hampton has become lost and Carly is determined to find him and by so doing endear herself to the hunt’s Master; perhaps to be asked to ride Monroe in an upcoming meet. Carly enlists the help of her friend, Freddie, but the adventure is just beginning. Carly, Monroe, Hampton and the red fox have no idea what’s dangers await them.

My Thoughts:

Carly is an eleven year old girl who loves horses and dreams of one day riding with the local hunt club. When one of the hounds wanders from the pack, Carly sets out on an adventure to look for him. This adventure goes well above and beyond what she bargained for.

Mr. Miller pens a delightful tale that can only come from one who loves and understands horses. He utilizes that understanding throughout his whole book, creating a character that loves her horse, Monroe, like a best friend. This creates a realistic character and one that anyone who loves horses (or animals) can identify with.

This heartwarming and beautifully illustrated story is not only entertaining, but contains some very good lessons about obedience, truthfulness, friendship, and misconceptions. Although it is marketed to the young adult audience, this is one book that can span many age groups.

This is a captivating read that is perfect for any family library. I look forward to seeing more books from Mr. Miller!

About the Author:

Bill Miller has been riding to the hounds for the over 40 years. For nearly 20 years he has been an honorary whipper-in for the Norfolk Hunt Club. Bill is also actively involved in Team Penning during the summer months. He lives on a small farm in Sherborn, Massachusetts with his wife, three horses and dog. When not working with horses, Bill is an independent film director and cinematogrpaher. His TV shows and commercials have been viewed by millions worldwide and he has won three Emmys and numerous other industry awards. He has also been widely published in trade magazines. Bill is also creative director for Spirit of the American Cowboy Foundation, a non-profit organization which raises money for pediatric cancer research.

If you would like to learn more about Mr. Miller or his work, you can visit him at:
Book website
Personal website
Facebook
Twitter
GoodReads

To see what others have to say about Mr. Miller's book, a video trailer or read an excerpt from the book, please visit the tour page.

Giveaway

Mr. Miller is offering one e-copy of his book to one lucky reader of this blog. Just fill out the form below and come back to tweet daily for more chances to win this delightful book! This contest is global.

Horses Never Lie About Love by Jana Harris

Horses Never Lie About Love
Author: Jana Harris
Publisher: Free Press
Hardbound: 279 pgs
ISBN: 9781451605846
Genre: Non-fiction, nature, horses

Description

When Jana Harris moved with her husband to Washington State for a teaching job, she realized that she could also fulfill her lifelong dream of having a horse farm. And Harris knew the horse on whom she could build her dreams the minute she saw her on a ranch in the Eastern Mountains where a herd had been corralled to be sold: a beautiful, deep dark red–colored mare known as a blood bay, standing about sixteen hands, with a pretty head with a white star and a narrow stripe that slid down her face to two black nostrils. Something about the way the mare guarded her handsome foal, a black two-month-old 200-pound colt, spoke to Harris. The mare was named True Colors.

But when True Colors was delivered to Harris's ranch three months later, she was unrecognizable. She had gone feral, run away, and been recaptured. Terrified of people, she was head-shy from the infected sores on her face and her lungs were damaged by smoke-induced pneumonia. She sensed demons hiding in everything from the scent of fabric softener on clothes to a gate in a fence. Her will to escape was enormous. This injured, traumatized horse existed between two worlds—wild and domesticated—and belonged to neither. But there were glimmers of hope: The other horses fell in love with her on sight, just as Harris had. And true to her name and herself, True Colors would never pretend to be something she was not; with her wise, intuitive nature, she would end up changing the lives of everyone she encountered, animal and human.

Horses Never Lie About Love is the story of this remarkable horse and the revelations about life and love that she gave Harris over the course of their decades together. Now thirty-three years old, this complex, magnetic animal retains the outsize personality that transforms everyone around her, both human and equine. True Colors has grown to become the heart of the range and the farm, her quiet wisdom transmitting a strength of character that transcends the thin line between animals and the humans they love. There is a famous horseman's saying: A horse never lies about its pain. But maybe we should also consider: A horse never lies about love. 

My Thoughts:

A true heart-warming and heart-tugging story of a woman's life changing journey with her horse, True Colors. What should have been a simple purchase of a pregnant mare and colt ended up being something that the author, Jana Harris, would never have imagined. The deceit of the sellers and the rescue of a mare ends up teaching what real love is.

This book is so beautifully written and will have the reader (horse lover or not) totally in love with True Colors by then end of the book. I cannot sing the praises of how amazing this book is. Animals aren't supposed to have human qualities or souls, but after reading this book the reader will convinced otherwise.

Highly recommended!!

About the Author:

Jana Harris—poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist—teaches creative writing at the University of Washington and is a Washington State Governor's Writers Award and Andres Berger Award winner as well as a PEN West Center Award finalist. She won a Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2001 and is editor and founder of Switched-on Gutenberg, one of the first—and longest-lived--electronic global poetry journals. She lives in the Cascade Mountains with her husband, where they raise horses.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher to read and honestly review.