It seems plenty of us will never outgrow the horse obsession. Not only is all my spare time spent at the barn and all my spare (and not so spare) money spent on horses, but when it comes to summer reading there’s only one theme I really want: horses.

Now, I won’t complain if there’s some romance thrown in. Romance AND horses? Even better!

I’ve compiled a summer reading list for adults who haven’t quit their horse obsession (or those who picked it up somewhere along the way. I hear it’s contagious), and who LOVE a good romance.

Here we go…

1. Horses Adored and Men Endured: A Memoir of Falling and Getting Back Up

by Susan Friedland

I read a peak inside on Amazon and it was enough to have me laughing, cringing, and clicking the buy button. This is at the top of the pile on my bedside table, and I can’t wait to read more hilarious and heartwarming stories!

Synopsis:

When a single woman searches for her knight in shining armor, sometimes the horse is the better option. When Susan was a girl of 10, she thought it would be perfect if only she could marry a horse. Two decades later, she sometimes feared she might have to marry a horse as there seemed to be no suitable human alternative. Trot through Horses Adored and Men Endured, and you’ll sneak a neighbor’s Palomino to a horse show, buy a green gelding as a first horse against all conventional advice, and trek across the Irish countryside on a sassy chestnut. Tag along on several cringe-worthy dates starting with food poisoning at prom to the surprise pie fight. Be there when Susan finally falls head over heels with someone tall, dark and handsome—a bay Thoroughbred gelding. If you love heartwarming animal stories and laugh-out-loud tales of bad dates, pick up the memoir Horses Adored and Men Endured right now and gallop away on a horse-loving, awkward dating adventure!

2. The Project Horse: A Rom-Com About Going Home and Second Chances

by Natalie K Reinert

Reinert writes a lot of horse books, and so far I’ve loved every single one. The horses are on point, the characters feel like someone you’d actually meet at the barn (except for the hot guys – thankfully for my marriage they are not at my barn), and the slow-burn clean romance makes me squeal. Just go ahead and buy them all. Take our money Natalie!

Synopsis:

Posey Malone is heading home. With her horse trainer father gone to the great bookmaker in the sky, her love life in shambles, and her career as a copywriter low-income at best, she figures it’s best for everyone if she just shacks up with her mother for a while. Abandoning New York City for the wilds of north Florida won’t be easy, but Posey figures she can use some quiet time back in her old bedroom to save money, help her mom adjust to life without her dad, and get her head on straight again.

So when she pulls up in front of the family house and sees a big “For Sale” sign in the front yard, please forgive Posey if she says a few swear words…

“A story about growing up, coming home, and finding love: The Project Horse will take you on a gallop through Florida’s horse country with plenty of friendship, laughter, and redemption along the way.”

3. Finding Gideon: A Broken Dream, a Missing Horse, and the Faith of a Mustard Seed

by Sarah Hickner

This is a memoir that reads like a novel. And a HUGE bonus that isn’t mentioned in the synopsis – part of the storyline is a sweet romance that makes readers giggle and swoon. 

Synopsis:

Since the day I read my first Thoroughbred series book in fifth grade, I imagined crouching over the withers of a racehorse, feeling its muscles bunch together and release with each stride. But I wanted more than an image in my mind—I wanted it in real life.

It was my junior year of college when I left home to chase that dream, and for a minute I had it between my fingers. Gideon rode in the horse trailer and my dog Sandi was curled into a ball in the backseat when I moved to Louisville. Within two weeks I was pounding down the track on young Thoroughbreds, impressing trainers with my bravery and skill. But soon, piece by piece, it began to crumble. Holding onto the dream, and my faith, was like grabbing water by the fistful and watching it slip between my fingers.

How could I keep going in this land of strangers and broken dreams? How could I trust the God who gives when He’s also the God who takes away? But how could I quit when the dream still stirred in my bones and Gideon was out there somewhere?

4. Impelled: An Equestrian Romantic Suspense Series

by Sarah Welk Baynum

This is the definition of a bingey series. Between the horses, the mystery, and the slow burn romance, I couldn’t put this series down!

Synopsis:

Will Emma have a chance at love and the new future she has worked so hard to build, or will an unknown stranger bent on destroying her life do so first?

For twenty-two year old Emma Walker, there is one thing that has been at the center of her world since the age of twelve: Horses.

As Emma tries to balance a job, her last year of college, and the fallout of a bad breakup, she is thankful for the escape being at the barn around horses still brings her in adulthood.

Despite torn feelings of guilt for being drawn to a new horse after the death of her first horse, Emma finds she has an undeniable connection to a chestnut mare named Valentine and begins training the mare to compete in the sport of show-jumping.

Then, one seemingly ordinary day, Emma receives news that impels her to make a life altering decision, turning her entire world upside-down and taking her on a journey to a new life in a place far from everything she’s ever known.

This one is for the fantasy and shifter romance lovers out there (proudly raises hand until my husband sees me and then hides). I’ll be honest. The *idea* of shifters weirds me out. But then I read shifter books, and I’m like hot dang give me another! This author is a force in the sweet romance scene and according to her Instagram has wanted to write this book for a long time. She finally did, and people are obsessed. I can’t wait to read it!

Synopsis:

Kristiana Liepa was supposed to use the money to save her family farm. She was NOT supposed to spend it all to save a massive, black stallion.

But when she saw how he was being treated, what’s a vet to do?

She had no idea that gorgeous beast was really a powerful (and morally gray) magician who had been cursed by a witch, or that she was the only one who could reverse the curse.

And she couldn’t possibly have known how that one rash decision would irrevocably change her life. . . and his.

6. Good Things Come: A Slow-Burn Horse Racing Drama

by Linda Shantz

I’m pretty picky about authentic horse books, so when a book that takes place at the track is written by someone who worked on the backside, I’m all in! Plus the author is an artist and created her own covers! They’re beautiful enough to display around your home.

Synopsis:

If Liv wasn’t such a control freak, it wouldn’t have rubbed her the wrong way when the farm’s new exercise rider stepped in to resuscitate newborn Chique, the first foal out of her father’s favourite mare. Nate’s equal parts good-looking and good with horses, and the kind of distraction she can’t afford as a woman trying to make it in a man’s world.

When she drops out of vet school to get her jockey’s license in New York, intent on coming back to Ontario to ride Chique in the Queen’s Plate–Canada’s most prestigious race–Nate’s skill and dedication make him the obvious choice to keep an eye on the filly.

He’s not supposed to become key to her plan.

Tragedy brings her home prematurely, disrupting her career, and her life. Now if Chique’s going to become the racehorse she’s meant to be – and Liv’s going to find significance again – she’ll have to let go of her stubborn ideals and let Nate in, to her dream…and her heart.

That’s it for now! If you want to check these books out on Amazon, just click the book cover or the book title and it should take you there. Be sure to follow this page for more horse book reading lists.

Do you have a horse romance book that you love? Please share about it in the comments!