2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Fool's Gold by Sarah Madison (238-07-31-2016)

This was a really lovely story about second chances. Our two protagonists, who meet after eight years following the accident that fundamentally disrupted their lives and caused their breakup, have both achieved success in their own ways and have not allowed the accident to limit their drive or ambition to succeed. They have clearly matured over the years - and they have just as clearly never forgotten the other. I found these characters to be sensitively drawn and believable. Their wary interactions at the outset, when they are thrown together again, create a wonderful tension in the story. Although the reader may be fairly certain from the outset that they will have their happy ending, reaching it is a measured process - the pacing of the story is excellent. Also, I don't personally know much about equestrianism outside of popular stories ("International Velvet" comes to mind), but I found it a fascinating setting. Jake's father came across as overly Byzantine at the outset, but he is depicted more three dimensionally as the story progresses - I found I liked where his relationship with his son ends up.