Lily's Leap by Téa Cooper

Born into privileged society, Lilibeth Dungarven finds herself married, widowed, and much to her distress, back under her father’s rule, all before her twenty-first birthday. But this feisty and independent young woman has a dream: she is determined to breed the perfect racehorse and restore the family’s flagging fortunes. An accomplished rider, she takes matters into her own hands and sets out to restore the Dungarven horse stud to its former glory.

When the devastatingly attractive Captain Tom and his mismatched band of bushrangers stumble across a mob of the best horses they’ve ever seen, and the daughter of the famed Dungarven horse stud, they know their fortunes have changed. Their catch is worth a king’s ransom. Surely it can’t be too difficult to contain this beautiful young woman with violet eyes and skin-tight riding breeches for seven days?

What I loved:

-The horses, the riding, the descriptions. Great balance of story vs descriptive details. It doesn't bore me to death by giving me too much at once or nattering on and on. It gives me the perfect amount.
-Lily's leap. Now that's a scene. I'm not saying any more than that.
-Lily's occasional spunk. When asked where she learned to ride like a boy, she retorts, "I didn't learn to ride like a boy. I learned to ride a horse." She later makes a very similar and just as witty comment during a game of chess. LOL
-The seamless narrative. It switches back and forth with ease. It flows.
-The horse race!!!!! Whoo hoo!!!!!!!!!!

What I did not like:

-How easy it was for Lily to be captured. Except for one escape attempt, Lily just kinda saunters right into her kidnapper's arms. This really didn't suit her otherwise headstrong character.
-How quickly the hero and heroine ended up draped over each other. They didn't even have two serious conversations before they were lip-locked.
-The fact the hero kidnapped the heroine for ransom never seems to be an issue...even with the heroine. Though I appreciated the perp/victim thing became a partnership, he never apologized for his actions and nobody said a word about his crime. It was just instantly water under the bus as they fell in love. Personally, if you kidnap me for ransom, I'm not going to offer you money, or fret over you doing prison time, or anything else. I'm gonna kick you in the nuts, hard. Again, this didn't work with what I felt otherwise was a very strong woman.