Official Review: Holder of the Horses by Lisa Slater

[Paige Alvarado]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Holder of the Horses" by Lisa Slater.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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At twenty years old, Jonny Sandgren has begun to consider his plans for the future. His mother expects him to go to college and experience life outside of the family's ranch, but Jonny enjoys the hard work and love that he puts into raising livestock and maintaining the land that has been in his family for generations. One night during their secret before-bed cookie meeting, Jonny's grandmother hands him a blue book filled with precious hand-written stories.

Suddenly, Jonny is immersed in the story of how Amara (Grams) went from a college student with a plan for the future to the owner of the Morris Ranch. Will Jonny take the reins and become the "holder of the horses" or obey his mother's wishes and go to college? After reading the story of his family, it appears to be a no-brainer.

Holder of the Horses is a beautifully written fictional piece centered around love and family. The characters are exceptionally well-developed. My favorite character in the book was Charleston. He was Amara's husband's grandfather. He took her in when she was a girl and taught her the meaning of hard work. He also stood up to her disapproving parents when they attempted to remove her from the ranch. He was so funny and lovable. I felt like I was reading about my own grandfather.

Lisa Slater did a great job with writing Holder of the Horses. I found 4 typographical errors in total, two of which were as simple as a missing hyphen. None of the typos were at all serious enough to distract from the story. I believe that Slater wrote this story with love and took the time to carefully proofread and perfect the book. There is no doubt in my mind that she had it professionally edited as well.

Holder of the Horses has 35 chapters spanning across 314 pages. The chapters are delightfully brief, each averaging about 8 pages in length. The text was lightly salted with non-graphic intimate scenes and peppered with profanity. I don't think the profanity is serious enough to influence the reader negatively, but if you are sensitive to expletives, I would steer clear of this book. I would recommend this book mostly to my girlfriends and anyone else looking for an uplifting and romantic story. I absolutely loved this book and am pleased to award it with 4 out of 4 stars.

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Holder of the Horses
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Nzube Chizoba Okeke]

I'd like to find out which path Jonny takes. This is seemingly, an uplifting, romantic story and genres of this sort are the kind of books I love to read. Nice review!

[Ediomis_Enwongo01]

I would really love to read this book to find out how it spans out with Jonny in taking to his life ambition and taking to the mother's advice. Great review.

[Ediomis_Enwongo01]

I would really love to read this book to find out how it spans out with Jonny in taking to his life ambition and taking to the mother's advice. Great review.

[Ssanni20]

I will definately want to read is decision,in all i enjoyed the fact that the writer started from his youthful age.

[Harty]

I like the heart felt story built around a country side ranch. I hope Jonny makes the correct decision on his future. thanks for the wonderful review.

[Wy_Bertram]

After going through a series of dark science fiction books, I enjoyed reading about such a human story. Choosing a path is a path we can all relate to, and I'm curious to see the one the main character ultimately chooses.

[Deborah kalu]

This book sound interesting.hope Jonny is not going to regret the decision he is about to make?because, his mother will never forgive him. Thanks for the wonderful review

[booksandmagicshop]

Uplifting and romantic are definitely my cue to check this book out! Thank you for the great review!

[Samwisekoop]

Awesome review! This looks like a good book! Thank you!

[Lady-of-Literature]

So its a story with in a story, hmm. Its been some time since I read anything with that set up, but i the plot seems a little bare. Simple. I'm glad you enjoyed, but I'll pass for now.

[Sheila_Jay]

This sounds like a great book. I really enjoy love stories and I look forward to reading this one too. Thanks for the well-written review.