Dead Heat is the story about the horseracing world in Kentucky where Jenna Green is bound and determined to achieve her goal of horse trainer. Unfortunately, after her father's death, most of the owners took their horses to other stables, fearing, since Jenna was a woman, she wasn't up to par with the men in the field. Of all the nerve! Jenna has been around horses since could barely walk, and her father taught her well. She would show them all! And she would do it with her horse Rising Sun.

At twenty-nine, Jenna inherits her father's stable where the stables and trainers are a male dominated world. When Rye Cameron, a rich and successful stable owner, offers her the job as his trainer, she does not hesitate to accept.

Rye Cameron, a known love-them-and-leave-them figure in the horse racing world, is asked by his brother, FBI agent, Brett to hire Jenna so they can keep an eye on her. Brett thinks that Jenna has connections to the mob, who has been known to make demands that trainers are hard-pressed to refuse. If the mob is attempting to fix races in Kentucky then Jenna will be their next target.

Rye thinks watching Jenna will be a piece of cake-- until he looks into her gray eyes and is overcome by lust for her. Surely all he needs to get her out of his system is to make love to her a couple of times, as he knows Jenna is the home with a white picket fence and kids type of woman---- definitely not his kind of woman!

Dead Heat is full of twists and turns with murders and suspicions running galore and Ms. Champagne kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. I surely did not see the final twist!

Well done Pam!

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Very sensual

Reviewer: Linda Bass
January 30, 2006