JUMP: A New Adult Equestrian Clean Romance, College Sports Fiction – Set in the World of Competitive Show Jumping (JUMP #1) <— SHE’S A SHOW JUMPER WITH A CRIPPLING FEAR SHE’LL END UP LIKE HER SISTER... and the author is celebrating her latest release by sponsoring today’s newsletter! 😊
P.S. Make sure to check out the prequel. It’s free right now. 🙂 —> Off Course: A New Adult Equestrian Clean Romance, College Sports Fiction – Set in the World of Competitive Show Jumping
About the book:
It’s been a year since college senior Mila Kozak watched her sister Anya’s tragic accident at a horse show in Wellington, Florida. Since then, nothing has been the same. Her relationship with her sister is as shattered as Anya’s paralyzed body. Her boyfriend of two years dumped her out of the blue and, even though she’s doing everything she can to win him back, he won’t give her the time of day. And her favorite thing in the world—show jumping—is tainted by the crippling fear she’ll end up like Anya.
Mila wants nothing more than to be her old life-of-the-party, live-in-the-moment self. But no matter what she does, she’s not that Mila anymore.
When Mila rescues her friend and barnmate, Alex, with a kiss, it sets them on a trajectory that’s as surprising as it is electrifying.
But when everything Mila holds dear is threatened yet again, will she make the jump and land where she’s meant to be?
Set in the world of competitive show jumping, JUMP is a New Adult romance about falling in love, facing your fears and building your own happily-ever-after.
JUMP is the first in a series and the prequel novella, Off Course, is out now. (Link: https://amzn.to/42Scoqk)
Five facts about Tiffany (Side note from Maryse: I love these!! They say “write what you know” and boy does this author know from first hand experience):
1.) I grew up riding horses competitively and competed in a variety of disciplines from barrel racing to showing Arabian to dressage to show jumping. I was even homeschooled for a time while competing and traveling frequently for competitions around the nation. I’m a five-time International Arabian Horse Association national champion with my two Arabian horses, JK Chancellor and Kahla Kai.
2.) I fell in love with my husband when we were thirteen years old at church camp. He lived in California and I lived in Florida and we dated long-distance until we went to college at the University of Florida (Go Gators!). Because of this, I’ve always adored writing “young love” stories.
3.) In my mid-twenties I experienced a debilitating illness that for years forced me to walk with a cane. This was when I started writing—when I was mostly bed-bound and couldn’t work. I’ve always been inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s quote: “Write hard and clear about what hurts.” My chronic pain and illness inspires a lot of my writing.
4.) I’ve taken some bad falls on horseback and that’s part of what inspired JUMP. I’ve had horses run me into tree branches that knocked me unconscious. I’ve had horses flip over jumps. I’ve had the wind knocked out of me, bones broken, and my fair share of blood and bruises. Once I had a horse trip, fall on his face, and I was thrown over his head! It’s just a reality when you’re a horseback rider that you’ll fall. And it takes a great deal of mental strength to get back on after you fall and not let that fear grip you. The story of JUMP is overcoming your fears, facing tragedy, and becoming the person you were always meant to be.
5.) I have two little boys we homeschool who are budding readers and it makes my mama heart so happy. We recently purchased book lights for them to read at night in their beds and it’s the cutest thing in the world.
Playlist:
I have a “JUMP the novel playlist” on Spotify with all the songs from the book.
PLUS!!! More fun details and “Jump” experiences:
- You can listen to the first chapter of jump here.
- Beautiful book trailer here.
- A fun podcast with the author!
- An interview with the author here.
- A newspaper article about the author and her latest release “Jump”.
- Visit the author’s Facebook page.
- Here’s the author’s official webpage.
Excerpt:
Finally, it’s our turn. We stand at the in-gate, and I can’t help the flashback clawing through my mind of Anya on the ground. I’m picturing her helmeted head crunching into the sand. The image comes and then it goes as I force myself to watch the rider on course. He’s going over the triple combination and then making the rollback to the liverpool. The liverpool is a type of water jump that isn’t the sprawling kind—it’s more of a regular vertical with a blue tarp-like piece underneath. Anything to get the horses weirded out. Not this horse, I think as I pat Cyrus’s neck. I’m steadier than I’ve ever felt with Cyrus as we trot into the ring, past the vertical water jump, and wait for the buzzer.
I feel zen, like I could teach a yoga class right about now. And then the buzzer chimes, and every ounce of calm is flung from my mind as Cyrus rockets onto the course. I barely get him under control to point him at the first jump, a black and gold CDD Wealth oxer. Before I can blink, we’ve flown over it and it’s four hurried strides to the green Rolex vertical.
It’s as if Cyrus got the memo that this was a speed class—I’m pulling at his mouth, but he is not slowing down. As we’re going over the Rolex jump, he seems to sense that we need to turn, so he’s turning mid-air, but in the wrong direction. When we land, he’s going right, but we need to go left. I’m tugging on the left rein, and we end up making a very wide rollback to the liverpool. The back-and-forth slows Cyrus down, but only for a little bit. After we fly over the water jump, it’s another quick rollback to the triple combination. Our rollback is so tight, he’s almost laying down.
We charge into the first jump of the triple, put in one stride instead of two, and I’m left behind as we go over the second jump. He clears it, despite me flapping around like a sack of potatoes on his back, and then it’s another stride as we jump the last vertical in the combination. It’s not very rhythmic, but we get through clear.
It’s a long gallop to the next line—and Cyrus is booking it, even though I’m standing on my toes, pulling back on the reins. I’m so frantic I can barely catch my breath. As we approach the first jump in the line, I’m overwhelmed by how impenetrable it is—it’s a bright white wall, solid from the ground to the top, and it seems to be emanating difficulty. And, of course, Cyrus is blitzing toward it like it’s the enemy.
It seems as though he’s going to leave long, but at the last second he adds in a quick stride. He has to make a humongous effort to get over it from that angle, and I’m tossed up with him, only hanging on by my stirrups. I feel his front legs graze the top of the jump, and the topmost bricks fall to the ground as we land.
We were planning to go on the outside path for this broken line, but Cyrus has a different idea. He’s going inside, and he’s going in six strides instead of seven. Again, we land and I’m practically falling on his neck. Cyrus is anticipating the turn, and this time he guesses right. We go inside the butterfly jump to a skinny plank and finally we have a jump where I’m acting like a decent rider. I’m actually in the saddle, giving him a good release, and landing without scrambling myself back together.
I try to catch my breath—and fail—as we ride toward the in-and-out. “Whoa,” I call to Cyrus. His ears twitch back at the sound of my voice, and he actually listens this time. He slows his pace just a hair, and we find a perfect distance to the two-jump combo. In, then, out.
One final gallop to the last jump—the spectacularly gaudy WEF jump, with horses jumping from the side of the standards and every flag of every country competing at WEF represented on the poles. We’re thundering toward it, Cyrus’s hooves hitting the arena floor, the sound jolting through my chest into my heart. Right before we get to the jump, I sit back, adjust Cyrus, and we soar over it. Then, we’re racing through the timers, and I hear Trina and Alex cheering at the in-gate.
It wasn’t pretty, but we did it.
Quotes:
“Sometimes you just have to borrow people’s faith in you.”
“Every time he spins me, I feel a temporary shock at being separated from him, and when he pulls me back, it’s like coming home.”
“We are flying. We are winged. We may never touch the ground.”
“I write my hopes, my dreams, my ideas—despite all that’s been taken away from me, or perhaps because of everything that’s been taken from me. I write.”