Jilly Cooper Books
Posted By admin On 18.10.19
Jilly Cooper is an English author of romance novels and non-fiction books. Many of her novels are part of the Rutshire Chronicles series.
Jilly began working as a journalist in 1957, which she largely based on her own personal experiences – about marriage, sex and housework. She would later start writing fiction based on the same experiences, also drawing upon her love of animals such as dogs and horses. Jilly Cooper became a published author in 1969 with the non-fiction book How to Stay Married: User’s Guide to Wedlock. She began her career in fiction in 1975 with the novel Emily.
Below is a list of Jilly Cooper’s books in order of when they were first released: Publication Order of Rutshire Chronicles Books. Notes: Rivals was also published under the title of Players. On Rugby and On Cricket were co-authored by Leo Cooper. If You Like Jilly Cooper Books, You’ll Love.
© Transworld Publishers Curtis Brown Terms of Use Privacy Policy Jilly Cooper photograph © Andrew Hayes-Watkins. Jilly Cooper, CBE (born 21 February 1937) is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several.
Jilly Cooper Synopsis: In Harriet by Jilly Cooper, Harriet Poole is shy, dreamy and hopelessly romantic. But she is destroyed when her brief affair with Oxford playboy Simon Villiers comes to a halt.
She is now destitute, alone and pregnant. Harriet then becomes a nanny to an eccentric scriptwriter’s children and a whole host of visitors begin to arrive to interrupt her routine – including of all people, Simon. » » Order of Jilly Cooper Books.
Set against the glorious Cotswold countryside and the playgrounds of the world, Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles, Riders, Rivals, Polo, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Appassionata and Score!, offer an intoxicating blend of skulduggery, swooning romance, sexual adventure and hilarious high jinks. Riders, the first and steamiest in the series, takes the lid off internat Set against the glorious Cotswold countryside and the playgrounds of the world, Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles, Riders, Rivals, Polo, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Appassionata and Score!, offer an intoxicating blend of skulduggery, swooning romance, sexual adventure and hilarious high jinks. Riders, the first and steamiest in the series, takes the lid off international showjumping, a sport where the brave horses are almost human, but the humans behave like animals. The brooding hero, gypsy Jake Lovell, under whose magic hands the most difficult horse or woman becomes biddable, is driven to the top by his loathing of the beautiful bounder and darling of the show ring, Rupert Campbell-Black. Having filched each other's horses, and fought and fornicated their way around the capitals of Europe, the feud between the two men finally erupts with devastating consequences during the Los Angeles Olympics. Well, well, well, what a lovely surprise. I picked up this book on the recommendation of last month's Goodreads newsletter, which said Riders was a solid summer read.
Lots of cavorting around the English countryside. What's not to like? Then I went to my local Barnes & Noble, found the only copy in stock and was instantly dismayed by the book's heft (more than 900 pages!) and its ridiculous cover art depicting a huge close up of tight, white riding pants stretched taut over a Well, well, well, what a lovely surprise.
I picked up this book on the recommendation of last month's Goodreads newsletter, which said Riders was a solid summer read. Lots of cavorting around the English countryside. What's not to like? Then I went to my local Barnes & Noble, found the only copy in stock and was instantly dismayed by the book's heft (more than 900 pages!) and its ridiculous cover art depicting a huge close up of tight, white riding pants stretched taut over a voluptuous woman's ass, cupped by a man's hand. I purchased the book, bravely but in shame, unable to meet the eyes of the sales clerk behind the register. My Anglophelia's been starving, however, and I had to feed it: Goodreads was right - this is the perfect summer read.
This is a fun book. Fun and dirty and silly and full of memorable characters. I thought the beginning was a bit slow going - it took me about 75 pages to really get into it.
Just wait until you meet Rupert Campbell-Black - one of the biggest assholes to ever grace a page, but still a funny and sexy as hell motherfucker. The cast of characters rivals War and Peace in number. You want to get lost in something? You want a long, happy distraction? It's so much fun.
I'll miss it. Original thoughts: I read this in my teens in the 80s and loved it.
Rampant Rupert stole my innocence, but it was beautiful Billy who stole my heart! Today's thoughts: 25+ years later, I couldn't wait to meet Billy again as I buddy-read this book with my good friend Jemidar, but discovered that what the teenage heart and the 40-something heart want are two different things. Billy just didn't do it for me this time round, and even worse, he actually began to annoy me.
Gutted that a teenage crush ca Original thoughts: I read this in my teens in the 80s and loved it. Rampant Rupert stole my innocence, but it was beautiful Billy who stole my heart! Today's thoughts: 25+ years later, I couldn't wait to meet Billy again as I buddy-read this book with my good friend Jemidar, but discovered that what the teenage heart and the 40-something heart want are two different things.
Billy just didn't do it for me this time round, and even worse, he actually began to annoy me. Gutted that a teenage crush came to such a sudden end:-( On the plus side, this 40-something heart was very happy to get reacquainted with Dino.
I liked him as a teen, but now, mmm mmmm. The heart doesn't break, it just moves on;-p But the real star of the whole show for me this time was feisty adorable Fen, who took on the boys and won. Go 'Fiona';-) The book itself was just as much fun as I remembered it to be, with sex, scandal and skulduggery all served up with large dollops of wit, one-liners and downright silliness. 4 stars then, 4 stars now. I'm pretty sure the blurb on the cover of my copy read 'Sex and horses-it just doesn't get any better' or something like that, and I suppose that's really the best review.
But the progress of the book into and out of my life is also a testament to its effects on readers: A paperback copy of Riders was loaned to me by the director of a school where I worked. She'd bought it while traveling in England and made me swear I would give it back, as she wasn't sure she could easily get another copy stat I'm pretty sure the blurb on the cover of my copy read 'Sex and horses-it just doesn't get any better' or something like that, and I suppose that's really the best review.
But the progress of the book into and out of my life is also a testament to its effects on readers: A paperback copy of Riders was loaned to me by the director of a school where I worked. She'd bought it while traveling in England and made me swear I would give it back, as she wasn't sure she could easily get another copy stateside (this was the 80's, before eBay, etc. Made it easy to get British books). I am an ethical person who lives in fear of negative book karma and would never steal a book, much less steal from the person who signed my paychecks.
In fact, I moved away with her copy of Riders to another state, a state with more horses, no less. My punishment was swift; my dog Toby spent a pleasant afternoon chewing the spines off of two very pricey library books, incurring me a $200 fine. Well worth it, I thought as I wrote out a check to the library; I'd surely had my $200 of enjoyment out of Riders, and while the Layman's Parallel Bible and Barbara Tuchman's Through a Distant Mirror were goners, I still had the book that really mattered. Seven years later, I hesitantly loaned Riders to my riding instructor. She loved horses and jumping, but her true love was a former nun-I wasn't sure the antics of Rupert Campbell-Black et al wouldn't either offend her or leave her yawning and thinking of me as either overly puerile or conflicted in a Freudian way.
My fears were unfounded-I never saw the book again because she loved it, and just kept 'accidentally' not returning it to me. Until someone finally stole it from her.
So, yes, five stars for Riders. This must be the tenth time at least that I've read this novel since my teens and it never disappoints or get's old - I'd hit a bit of a reading slump so picked this up as a tonic and it worked an absolute treat. I'm now going to move on to the rest of the saga- next up Rivals.
Riders is just simply a glorious romp set around show jumping, with some perfect characters (Rupert Campbell-Black, now a fictional icon, is still JUST as brilliant no matter how many times you 'meet' him), this book is fu This must be the tenth time at least that I've read this novel since my teens and it never disappoints or get's old - I'd hit a bit of a reading slump so picked this up as a tonic and it worked an absolute treat. I'm now going to move on to the rest of the saga- next up Rivals. Riders is just simply a glorious romp set around show jumping, with some perfect characters (Rupert Campbell-Black, now a fictional icon, is still JUST as brilliant no matter how many times you 'meet' him), this book is funny, sexy, exciting and SUCH a marvellous reading experience that I'm sure that before I'm done with life I shall have read it a few more times. Following our cast through the ups and downs of local shows, national shows, international shows and culminating in a spot on perfect finale at the Olympics, it is entirely compelling, the intricacies of the love lives and riding lives of everyone you meet being so beautifully done. I adore this series and always will. Happy Reading Folks!
Is that not the raunchiest cover art you've ever seen? I had to do an inter-library request to get this book (for some reason, my well-stocked urban library system doesn't have a copy of Cooper's classic literary masterpiece), and when I asked the peppy blonde girl behind the counter to retrieve it for me, she came back waving it proudly, asking, “Is this it?!” How I responded: “Uh, yep. That's the one. Suuuuuuper scandalous.” How I wanted to respond: “DUDE! Could you maybe NOT call the entire li Is that not the raunchiest cover art you've ever seen? I had to do an inter-library request to get this book (for some reason, my well-stocked urban library system doesn't have a copy of Cooper's classic literary masterpiece), and when I asked the peppy blonde girl behind the counter to retrieve it for me, she came back waving it proudly, asking, “Is this it?!” How I responded: “Uh, yep.
That's the one. Suuuuuuper scandalous.” How I wanted to respond: “DUDE! Could you maybe NOT call the entire library's attention to the fact that not only am I checking out a book with a hand cupping an ass on it, but I went out of my way to order said ass-cupping book from another state?!” Now, I'm no prude.
I volunteer at the library every week, processing hold requests and shelving, so I know for a fact other people have checked out far more appalling books than Riders. And that's one of the many things I love about libraries—it's all there, freely available, without judgment or eyebrow-raising. Are you a thirteen-year-old girl curious about your changing body? Are you a frat guy in your early twenties looking for instructions for brewing your own beer? Are you a middle-aged professional woman who can't wait to read the Fifty Shades trilogy? Are you pregnant with your first child and wondering what natural childbirth is like? (Pro tip from someone who knows: don't ever open a book written by a midwife.
There will be pictures. Actual photographs, from which you will never recover.) Come one, come all, because the library's got all the answers and it's totally free. I still can't quite get over that. So no, I'm not ashamed to request a romance novel set in the world of competitive show jumping from the library. I just don't really need Barbie's little sister Skipper parading it around like she's on QVC.
Despite the potential embarrassment you may suffer in acquiring this book, it's worth the risk. I know very little about horses and was actually unaware that such a sport as show jumping existed, but Cooper's book focuses equally on a second topic that is, shall we say, familiar to us all. Published in 1985 and set firmly in the '70s, Cooper's characters flounce their way from the stables to the ring to the bedroom and back again. Cooper follows the interconnected lives of several competitive show jumpers.
First is Rupert Campbell-Black, the dark and swarthy hunk who rides both his horses and his women hard. Billy Lloyd-Foxe is Rupert's best friend and partner in crime, a simple man of simple pleasures. Then there's Jake Lovell, the boy who comes from nothing but has such a gift for horse handling that he may be able to make a name for himself. Of course, Rupert and Jake have a fierce rivalry that stretches beyond the bounds of their sport and into their personal lives. If you thought only girls could be catty and jealous, these men will surprise you when their claws come out. At just over 900 pages, the book may strain your attention span. Around page 300 I felt the plot (yes, there kind of is one) lagging and didn't know if I would make it, but it picked back up and the last half was way more interesting.
Just when you think someone can't possibly make one more terrible, self-destructive choice, they do. And it's awesome. If you enjoy the occasional soap opera, if you love sexual drama and catfights, if your summer just isn't complete without a big, sprawling, trashy novel, put in your library request for Riders now. Hopefully your library clerk will be more discreet than mine was.
More book recommendations by me. Well, this is certainly no Pride and Prejudice! This is Cooper's debut book; a naughty romp through the elite world of show-jumping from local shows to the very top of the sport - the World Championships and the Olympics. Our main characters are Jake Lovell, a Gypsy underdog, and the first showing of Rupert Campbell-Black (who will appear in future books by Jilly Cooper), the good-looking rogue of the horsy set who jumps in and out of beds with no thought to the consequences. There are masses of Well, this is certainly no Pride and Prejudice! This is Cooper's debut book; a naughty romp through the elite world of show-jumping from local shows to the very top of the sport - the World Championships and the Olympics. Our main characters are Jake Lovell, a Gypsy underdog, and the first showing of Rupert Campbell-Black (who will appear in future books by Jilly Cooper), the good-looking rogue of the horsy set who jumps in and out of beds with no thought to the consequences.
There are masses of other characters that people the pages of this huge tome. Despite this, they are characterised simply and well, with distinctive traits and values. Unfortunately, it is hard to be sure who to root for! In the beginning we are firmly behind Jake - his tough start in the sport, his sympathetic treatment of horses, and his courageous win of the World Championship in the face of almost-impossible odds ensure that we feel certain he is the hero of the piece.
We cheer when he finds Macauley, a horse that Rupert mistreats, and then uses this horse to beat Rupert in the Championship. We adore his family of Tory and Fen and his two adorable children. However, key events in the book lead us to firmly throw our weight behind Rupert - despite all his many, many faults. We find the behaviour of Jake and Helen - Rupert's wife - abominable. My least favourite character is definitely Helen. I dislike her mismanagement of Rupert, her neurosis, her brittle perfection, her inability to stand up for herself.
I think she is weak and end up believing she deserves everything she gets! I love Billy - he is one of the few characters who, despite flaws, is consistently a person to have sympathy for. The book is long and rambling and could do with a little more structure, although Cooper's research is excellently done. It follows a now tried and tested formula of taking a gossipy approach to relationships and sex, but we should remember that Jilly was one of the first to tread this path. Riders was a genuinely naughty book when it was first released, with swear words and steamy sex scenes that are now included in books as a matter of course.
Certainly Jilly Cooper's writing is not to all tastes - her books are often considered lowbrow trash, only suitable for holiday reading. I, however, adore her books. I love the doorstop bulk of them, where you can really become invested in the characters and the story. I especially enjoy the fact that the horses and dogs are as big characters as the people themselves - in this book Sailor, Macauley, Revenge, Desdemona, Badger include some of those animals who simply leap from the page. Altogether I would recommend this book to horse lovers who have no issues with a naughty slant; readers of 'chick lit' and people who want a slyly funny and very good-natured read.
Extremely enjoyable. So much to enjoy about Jilly Cooper's Riders - the definitive bonkbuster from the 1980s. I read Riders for the first time in the summer of 1995 because I wanted to be a writer, and I wanted to read as many different types of blockbuster novels as possible. I felt embarrassed to read it, to be honest. I had assumed that Jilly Cooper books were written mainly for girls, rather than boys. Maybe they are. Another reason why I didn't expect to like the book is that it's about showjumping, which Ho ho.
So much to enjoy about Jilly Cooper's Riders - the definitive bonkbuster from the 1980s. I read Riders for the first time in the summer of 1995 because I wanted to be a writer, and I wanted to read as many different types of blockbuster novels as possible. I felt embarrassed to read it, to be honest. I had assumed that Jilly Cooper books were written mainly for girls, rather than boys. Maybe they are. Another reason why I didn't expect to like the book is that it's about showjumping, which has never really got me going.
But I just loved this book. I've re-read it numerous times, always in the summer, and it still feels exciting, fresh, funny and pacey. Some books really draw you into their world. They make you want to be part of it. And they make you want to be able to write something that is as entertaining and engaging.
For me, this book is one of them. Always makes me want to have a drink, too. The characters are very memorable. They may be larger than life, but they do feel real, presumably drawn from Jilly Cooper's social circle. They all have aspirations, wit, motivations, fears, ambitions, victories and setbacks.
Even if you don't like showjumping, the setting is exciting. Like any sport, in order to succeed, the sportsmen and women have to make many sacrifices and dedicate their lives to a pursuit of excellence.
Rider's captures all the exciting ingredients of that world, showing people living their lives to the full, in order to reap big rewards. And that sums up the essence of the book. It's a distillation of people living life full throttle.
I might have to go off and read it now. Probably with bottles of wine, or an enormous whisky.
How disconcerting it is to find how much one's literary tastes change over the years! The term 'Bonkbuster' didn't exist when this book first came out, but it is SO appropriate! I was a twenty-something then, expecting my first child, in between jobs and keeping my brain alive by studying for a late university degree. Then I thought this book was splendid, one enormous, terrific laugh: the horse competition episodes, encapsulating the excitement of equestrian championships, vaguely reminded me of How disconcerting it is to find how much one's literary tastes change over the years! The term 'Bonkbuster' didn't exist when this book first came out, but it is SO appropriate! I was a twenty-something then, expecting my first child, in between jobs and keeping my brain alive by studying for a late university degree. Then I thought this book was splendid, one enormous, terrific laugh: the horse competition episodes, encapsulating the excitement of equestrian championships, vaguely reminded me of my own middle class, grammar school, pony club and horse-mad youth (Oh, do let's go to Olympia this Christmas!).
Maybe even an enlightenment on what might actually have been going on behind the bedroom doors (or stable doors!) of the terribly rich and famous. And amazingly, some of the characters are unforgettable, even after all these years. Now I'm fifty-something, and I happened to come across the audiobook version of 'Riders', extremely well performed by Belinda Lang. I was looking for a change from my usual thrillers and historical fiction, so I was delighted.
Now, I don't consider myself to be a prude by any means (although I blush when I remember lending this book to my mother!), but all those bawdy sex scenes just bored me this time around, and the way some lascivious characters drooled over teenage girls still wet behind the ears, or jumped into bed with just about anyone without scruple tended to irritate me more than anything else My goodness, how I must be getting old! But, of course, it is all just for fun, and it is, actually, immensely funny in parts.
Jilly Cooper Books In Order
The handsome, classy, lewd and oh-so-cruel Rupert Campbell-Black is one of the funniest characters in the whole book, despite the fact that you hate him to bits: a perfect caricature. I was going to reduce my original 4 star rating to 3 stars, but I so enjoyed the chapters on the equestrian competitions (various show jumping events, world championships, Olympia international horse shows, and right through the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) that I haven't the heart to do that. Even though some of it is positively outrageous and now a bit dated. Oh well, thirty years on, I suppose I'll just have to admit that at my age I appreciate very different things! Sadly, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the book. The biggest problem I had with it was that there was very little build-up to any of the relationships. Characters jump into bed with little pretense and marry after just a few dates.
There was very little of the agonizing 'Will they end up together?' Suspense, and while some readers may find that refreshing, it's what I most relish in a romance read. Overall I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. I was 2/3 of the way through the book before it sta Sadly, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the book. The biggest problem I had with it was that there was very little build-up to any of the relationships.
Characters jump into bed with little pretense and marry after just a few dates. There was very little of the agonizing 'Will they end up together?' Suspense, and while some readers may find that refreshing, it's what I most relish in a romance read.
Overall I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. I was 2/3 of the way through the book before it started to draw me in, and I had trouble identifying with or rooting for any of the major characters.
In fact, throughout the book I found myself continuously annoyed with them. Also, many of the characters sway back and forth between very different personalities, one of which tends to be redeeming while the other one struck me as simply vile. I LOVED this book! 919 pages and I would have kept reading. It was the perfect hilarious romp through the show jumping world that I adore with great scandal, amazing characters and such a great plot culminating at the Los Angeles Olympics. The ending had me on the seat of my chair Cooper built this book so brilliantly. Rupert - what can you say - Cooper makes him so complex you hate him one minute and adore him the next.
Billy - sigh and well Dino - he was it for me. I fell madly in love with hi I LOVED this book! 919 pages and I would have kept reading. It was the perfect hilarious romp through the show jumping world that I adore with great scandal, amazing characters and such a great plot culminating at the Los Angeles Olympics.
The ending had me on the seat of my chair Cooper built this book so brilliantly. Rupert - what can you say - Cooper makes him so complex you hate him one minute and adore him the next.
Billy - sigh and well Dino - he was it for me. I fell madly in love with him. The only thing I would have wished for was more fully fleshed out love scenes.
Jilly Cooper Book Mount
But who cares when you loved this book as much as I did? On to Rivals.:). What a bastard of a big book this was!!! It reminded me of a Jackie Collins. I'd have trouble locking down my favorite character but I'd say Rupert and not because he was attractive but he said the most exordinary things that cracked me up and he was a rascal. There were times I loathed him, plenty.
Jilly Cooper Books
I did not like his wife Helen much, especially towards the end. Rupert was much the reason Helen was whack but still.I think Fen was young and did stupid young people things but I liked her at the What a bastard of a big book this was!!! It reminded me of a Jackie Collins. I'd have trouble locking down my favorite character but I'd say Rupert and not because he was attractive but he said the most exordinary things that cracked me up and he was a rascal. There were times I loathed him, plenty. I did not like his wife Helen much, especially towards the end. Rupert was much the reason Helen was whack but still.I think Fen was young and did stupid young people things but I liked her at the Olympics.
She grew as a character. Good read.took up most of 12 hours to read. When I younger, I spied this book on one of the shelves at my grandmother's house. I must have been in 7th or 8th grade and this book basically had everything a girl at that age could want- horses and sex! Riders focuses on the sexy world of international show jumping, specifically the British national team and their trials and tribulations.
I never got around to reading it when I was younger, so this year for vacation I decided to buy it for my Kindle (since an actual physical copy of the book When I younger, I spied this book on one of the shelves at my grandmother's house. I must have been in 7th or 8th grade and this book basically had everything a girl at that age could want- horses and sex! Riders focuses on the sexy world of international show jumping, specifically the British national team and their trials and tribulations.
I never got around to reading it when I was younger, so this year for vacation I decided to buy it for my Kindle (since an actual physical copy of the book is practically impossible to find). I wish I could say I loved this book, and my 7th grade self probably would have because she wouldn't have known any better, but as an adult this book literally had me tearing my hair out. Cooper has a knack for making even the most sympathetic characters irritating. The male characters are all heavy-handed lugs who spend all their time boozing and skirt chasing (even the 'nice' ones!) and the women are all high-strung fillies who don't have an ounce of self-confidence between them and go to pieces every time some says a cross word to them. I wanted to throttle them all.
The novel gets weighed down in various places- mainly when the focus shifts to the riders' private lives away from the arena. The novel builds up to the 1984 LA Olympics, and then everything sorta-kinda works out for the best for everyone. It was actually kind of annoying that Cooper felt the need to just wrap everything up in about 20 pages and gave everyone mostly happy endings.
I still love horses and so am partially tempted to maybe read her other books, but the characters were so annoying that I don't know if I can handle it. For being a 900-page book, I did quite well for finishing this in only eight days! I lost a lot of sleep over it, but it was worth the read.
The scandal, the horses, the girls, the fame, the show jumping. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and having chapters switch to different perspectives. It really flowed well.
You'll get into Jake's story for a couple of chapters, and then you get to see what Rupert and Billy are up to, or Helen and Fenn. I enjoyed getting to know these charact For being a 900-page book, I did quite well for finishing this in only eight days! I lost a lot of sleep over it, but it was worth the read.
The scandal, the horses, the girls, the fame, the show jumping. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and having chapters switch to different perspectives.
It really flowed well. You'll get into Jake's story for a couple of chapters, and then you get to see what Rupert and Billy are up to, or Helen and Fenn. I enjoyed getting to know these characters, but getting to know the horses was probably the most fun. For anyone that has read it or will decide to read it, Macaulay is wonderful. Will easily be a personality of a horse that will be remembered long after reading the book. So while I absolutely devoured the book, when thinking about it, it was pretty superficial. You never really get to know the characters, only that they're dealing with financial issues, heartbreak, and horses.
That really sums it up. I know that this is the first book in the series, but due to this book's heft and superficiality, I don't think I'll be running to pick up the other books when they bring in so many new characters. It can be hard to get into a series when there's always new characters. Especially when so much time is devoted to several characters, it can be tiresome to have to learn about all new people. On top of that, I truly read this for the horses, which made me incredibly happy, and I don't believe all the books in the series actually revolve around horses, just a couple. But for anyone who does enjoy a good read that has a lot to do with horses in just about every chapter, I definitely would recommend it.
Puh, if this hadn't been an university read, I certainly wouldn't even had picked it up - just look at the cover and it will tell you what the book is about. First the story is at the beginning absolutely confusing. Cooper jumps from one scene to another without even having a paragraph between them. First it's this person, next sentence it's the other one. Then it's incredibly sexist. The women are only admirable if they are thin, have a decent sexual desire and are willing to go to bed with the Puh, if this hadn't been an university read, I certainly wouldn't even had picked it up - just look at the cover and it will tell you what the book is about. First the story is at the beginning absolutely confusing.
Cooper jumps from one scene to another without even having a paragraph between them. First it's this person, next sentence it's the other one. Then it's incredibly sexist. The women are only admirable if they are thin, have a decent sexual desire and are willing to go to bed with the star Rupert. Also telling to a woman she is fridig, just because she don't want to participate in a foursome and when forced not enjoying it and not coming after three minutes makes me just angry. The soon as Rupert realizes his wife has run off, he gets mad. But forgetting obviously that he raped her and cheated on her countless times.
I was so dissapointed in Billy, after he run back to Jennay(?) and the episode in Kenya. He knew it was wrong, but did it anyway I think the only characters I liked were Dino and Fen. Yes, Fen made her mistakes, but she was only 17 or 18. This one follows a group of show-jumping stars for around a decade.
Like all of her non-'girl name' (her early books with heroine names as titles, and not very thick) books, this one has a cast of thousands, but the story revolves around the rivalry between two very different show-jumpers: (1) Jake Lovell, a poor gypsy who has almost uncanny rapport with animals, a deprived background, a marriage to a wonderful if plain woman for money and a burning desire to best Rupert Campbell-Black who made This one follows a group of show-jumping stars for around a decade. Reading this book had been one immensely long, albeit rewarding journey. Yes, it's a naughty, naughty book. Nevertheless, a substantial amount of research to provide good, accurate background of equine sport competition and British (and to some extent, French, German, Spanish, and American ) upper classes had been done. Who knows that it takes huge commitment and energy to be an excellent rider?
And even good riders cannot always perform flawlessly. A lot of double barreled name strew Reading this book had been one immensely long, albeit rewarding journey. Yes, it's a naughty, naughty book. Nevertheless, a substantial amount of research to provide good, accurate background of equine sport competition and British (and to some extent, French, German, Spanish, and American ) upper classes had been done.
Who knows that it takes huge commitment and energy to be an excellent rider? And even good riders cannot always perform flawlessly. A lot of double barreled name strewn about this book.
End verdict:would love to have Malise Gordon as my godfather, Jack Lovell as my husband, Billy Lloyd-Foxe as my big brother, and Rupert Campbell - Black as my side. A bit disappointed that the family Lovell is not granted repeat appearances. I bought this book because my friend, Brenda, always passes on her romance novels to me. I'm not much of a romance reader, but this was in the $4 bin at Borders and I thought it would be nice to give her a book for a change. It's a fast, easy read and I found it very compelling. All of the sex is implied, which is unusual in a book of this type. I would have liked to read this on a beach or by a pool somewhere.
Or possibly when I was sick. It doesn't require much concentration, but I liked it st I bought this book because my friend, Brenda, always passes on her romance novels to me. I'm not much of a romance reader, but this was in the $4 bin at Borders and I thought it would be nice to give her a book for a change. It's a fast, easy read and I found it very compelling. All of the sex is implied, which is unusual in a book of this type.
I would have liked to read this on a beach or by a pool somewhere. Or possibly when I was sick. It doesn't require much concentration, but I liked it still.
The main character is so unlike me that I found her to be very unpredictable and refreshing (in a bad way). I think it was worth at least $9. If you enjoy broad satire, have a bit of a clue about the British class system and are open to novels that lead you on goose trails with hijinks and shenanigans all the way to a neatly and delightful ending, you can't do better than Jilly Cooper. Her books are, to use the English expression, 'a lark ', filled with high comedy, pretentious snobs, salt of the earth types, love stories, romps, successes and rightful devastation of the villains in the plot.
The plot, however, is always so serpentine If you enjoy broad satire, have a bit of a clue about the British class system and are open to novels that lead you on goose trails with hijinks and shenanigans all the way to a neatly and delightful ending, you can't do better than Jilly Cooper. Her books are, to use the English expression, 'a lark ', filled with high comedy, pretentious snobs, salt of the earth types, love stories, romps, successes and rightful devastation of the villains in the plot.
The plot, however, is always so serpentine that the reader is usually kept guessing until the end. Farcical fun!