Cricket's Choice

Cricket O'Conner may have outrun the wildfire that swept through her family's ranch a year ago, but she can't outrun the psychological aftermath of her narrow escape. Everyone considers her a hero for saving two horses from the fire, but Cricket doesn't feel like a hero. She feels as if her life has been upended. Her grades are slipping, she's not getting along with her parents or her best friend, and she's plagued by nightmares and flashbacks. Trying to be helpful, her grandmother's given her a huge gift - but one Cricket doesn't want. Worst of all, Gonna Be, the problematic horse she rode through the fire and then sold, has shown up unexpectedly in an auction ring. Is Cricket still responsible for a deeply troubled horse she no longer owns? It will take every penny Cricket has earned to buy back the half-starved and abused gelding. She'll forfeit her hopes of buying a well-trained horse to show this summer. She'll be stuck with a horse she never really liked, who now has at least as many problems as Cricket. But, can she live with herself if she abandons him now? The choice Cricket makes will change her life forever. Cricket's Choice is the long-awaited sequel to Fire Pony, a Women Writing the West 2020 Willa Literary Award finalist.