Missing By a Heartbeat: (A Chandler County Novel)

Dr. Victoria “Tori” Sterling might be one of Kentucky’s youngest equine veterinarians, but she already knows her way around race horse injuries better than vets with twice her experience. Innovative and scrupulously honest in a world where tradition and rule-bending are standard practice, Tori has fought to earn her good reputation. She’s also learned the hard way that an eccentric, animal-focused lifestyle is too much for any man to understand much less share. Since every spare minute is spent on her career and her farm filled with rescue animals—she has no time for love relationships.

Thoroughbred trainer Winton Crosby has finally made it to his dream destination: the venerable Churchill Downs. With a dozen horses and a gift for getting the best from them, his ultimate goal is to train a big stakes horse. It’s no easy task when every member of his young staff has a record. But Winn was once a troubled teen, and along with his love of horses, he loves “his kids” and will do anything to help them succeed as he has.

Winn knows almost as soon as he meets her that he wants Tori Sterling on his side. In addition to being straight-talking and honest, she’s funny, smart, and passionate, and she makes him feel the same way. But when a Derby-bound colt is targeted by a saboteur, Winn and his stable of misfits are prime suspects, and he has to convince Tori he’s not behind the deed. As illegal acts start to mount up on Churchill Downs’ backside, Winn and Tori are dragged into a partnership that’s part detective team and all crazy attraction. Because even though Tori stopped looking for love long ago, Winn gets through her defenses like nobody ever has. And her giving spirit is a haven for Winn, who never fully left his harsh childhood behind.

They struggle to find out who is doping horses with something that seems to magically make winners out of losers, but they’re racing against time. Someone seems desperate to eliminate Tori and Winn from the horseracing business any way possible, and the two must find out who it is before both of them lose their careers, their lives, or, worse, their chance at love.