It look me a bit to get engaged in this book because I didn’t particularly like either of the main characters. Marsh Langston is a former equestrian jumping circuit champion who now teaches riding classes. She is also a champion of controlling things and people. Lauren Everhart is a mystery writer who meets Marsh when Lauren’s niece takes a summer riding course at Langston Farms.

Although I really didn’t grow to love either of the main characters as the story progressed, the writing was good and the mystery kept the story interesting.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blades of Bluegrass was one of my favorite books of 2020, so I've been anxiously awaiting this book.

Unbridled is really unlike any other book I've ever read. It's a romance, sure, but because of the main characters it feels like more. Lauren is a mainstream mystery author, so a bit of a celebrity, and Marsh is a former Olympic-caliber equestrian, so there's also a sports theme. While watching her niece take lessons from Marsh, Lauren becomes smitten and decides to take lessons herself in order to get closer. She learns about an incident that happened years ago which caused Marsh to stop riding and also called her integrity into question. Unraveling that mystery is the heart of the story, and it is indeed a page turner.

The cover art is gorgeous, the characters are fascinating, the story is engaging, and the sex is hot. Highly recommend.

Unbridled - D. Jackson Leigh

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books and I am leaving this review voluntarily

After a hard-fought battle to take control of her personal and professional life, mystery writer Lauren Everhart’s star is finally rising. She vows never to give up control of anything in her life until she meets her niece’s sexy horseback-riding instructor and signs up for her own private lessons, and more.
Riding top horses on the show jumping circuit and igniting a woman’s desire are simply games of power, and Marsh Langston is a master player. Only this time, the flame she fans with Lauren Everhart burns too hot and so quickly it threatens to sear through Marsh's impenetrable control.

This book was categorised as a romance on NetGalley, personally I would classify this as more of an erotica as there are many very explicit descriptions. Lauren and Marsh have great chemistry and there is a wonderfully written dynamic between the pair.

There is a mystery running throughout this book in addition to the erotic scenes which breaks up the story nicely. Overall I thought this was a throughly enjoyable read and I loved the attention to detail, especially during Lauren’s lessons.

Rating 4/5

Lauren Everhart, mystery writer, finds herself lusting after her niece's riding instructor so strategically signs up for riding lessons for herself.  Marsh Langston, was a show jumping champion but now only teaches students to ride. Mystery surrounds Marsh's past and Lauren finds herself determined to find out.
This book waxed and waned between interesting and just ok for me. I did struggle with the character of Lauren and found her somewhat arrogant and immature at times but Marsh was solid as the aloof dominant character.  There was a lot of power play and a bit of BDSM that readers should be aware of although it's not hard core. This was an ok read.

Mostly pretty good. The horses, stables etc are the author’s forte and were as great as ever. You can picture the scenes - the yard full of kids learning to ride, the butch riding instructor striding about. All good romance stuff, but I found myself more interested in the mystery than the erotica. Mainly because the consent between the two characters, whilst obviously both necessary and important in real life, in a fiction book, felt a bit laboured and repetitive at times. The detective work was more gripping.

This was a bit more “open door” then I was used to but appreciated an LGBT equestrian romance. Thank you

How to rate this book? The truth is that when I began to read it, it gave me a feeling of something that finally was not. Because one of its protagonists Lauren, is a mystery novel writer who at first gives an image of a woman eater a bit strong, in one of the first scenes she hooks up with a reader who attends the signing of her latest book. And the sex scene is a bit strong, erotic style, not porn. So I thought, well this will be like this.

But then the other protagonist appears, Marsh, a former Olympic competitor in equestrian sports, is haughty and unapproachable and Lauren asks for private riding lessons with her. From that moment Lauren goes from women eater to submissive, with some sexual scene around them, but still in no case is sex the common thread.

Then the mystery plot comes up again, because Lauren is a writer who can't help but be interested in why Marsh gave up her equestrian career. That doesn't make the story a mystery per se, either. But what has caught my attention the most is, how can these women ride horses, with all those side activities in the bedroom? Highly inconceivable really. Just thinking about it hurts.

Regardless, the story is good enough to overlook some of its flaws and I liked it overall.

I'm a bit conflicted about this book. It didn't suck me in and keep me enthralled...I didn't much care for the characters attitudes - they were all a bit off-putting. The writing is good, the story line is good.

I think this book is better than Leigh´s last one. Usually, the use of a unique point of view is not my favorite kind of reading, but the author was able to make great characters and we can feel Marsh's depht even with only Lauren´s perspective, so the POV was not a problem for me.
Even if we have no doubt who the murder is going to be (I hopped for a twist at some point), the plot is consistent, with more than just things revolving around a slow burn romance and we do have some great sex scenes. Indirectly, the book also talks about friendship and self-growth and I liked that.

So far I've always enjoyed D Jackson Leigh's books. This one is no exception. Wee bit of mystery in it regarding a horse ridden by one of the MCs at an earlier time. This caused a bit of upset between the 2 MCs. I was waiting for this to happen (as I'm sure any other reader was too!) The MC writer (not DJL) was a wee bit full of herself at times. but redeemed herself in the end (of course).

Thank you NetGalley, the author and publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Lauren a well-known author, sets her sights on her niece’s riding instructor, Marsh. Lauren is used to getting what she wants but in this instance her efforts are rebuffed. Both women have control issues and after a long struggle Lauren’s persistence pays off, but not on her terms. Are these issues fully resolved? I felt there were some aspects which warranted further explanations. Forgiveness too became an issue on different levels for different people. I’m not convinced that everyone would be as forgiving as is suggested!

There are several threads to this novel. Some only pull through towards the end and would be spoiled by a review revealing them.

There are different characters with secrets, and Marsh’s fall from her riding career is bound up with different threads.

I enjoy reading this author’s novels, and although this was a bit more convoluted than previous novels, I felt the author did a good job of resolving the conflicts and issues. What I felt was less well done was the reader never fully gets to understand Marsh’s character, although certainly some of the reasons for her various defence mechanisms do come to light. Because of this I wasn’t fully convinced of the chemistry between the two or why it was appropriate for Lauren to become such a hands-on busy body despite her author credentials. There was a possible stalker element to Lauren’s pursuit of Marsh which I found unsettling.

Having said all of the above, I really enjoyed reading this novel and it was good to have a mystery interwoven with a romance.

Lauren, a famous writer who could have any woman she wanted set her sights on Marsh, her niece’s riding instructor. What followed was quite a steamy ride. There was a lot going on in this book but I found that big plot items weren’t fleshed out enough. First being Lauren’s control issues stemming from her past. These issues were brought up several times but the reader never really got to understand all of the ins and outs. Then there was Marsh’s past with Maggie, I found that to be quite glossed over at the end. There is a bit of a mystery thrown in for good measure. Overall this was a good read but I felt it needed a bit more.

Not sure how to rate this book but I guess I need to start saying that the book is told in first person and that we get Lauren’s point of view. I can honestly say that I have never read anyone like her and despite that she isn’t a likeable character I ended up loving her.

I don’t want to give anything away but I’m still gobsmacked at her first telephone conversation with Marsh, do people do that? Such a flawed character.

Loved the setting and learning about horse. The romance felt a bit awkward for me but I couldn’t put the book down and I really enjoyed it.

For some reason I thought this book would be more BDSM than it was. I'd rate this more on the light side of that world, so if you don't necessary enjoy it then you won't be turned off by this book.

This is another book by D.Jackson Leigh that is surrounded by the horsing community. It's clear she's very well versed in this environment, and so it's enjoyable to learn the little tidbits that she shares.

For the story of Marsh and Lauren, I found it a little lacking in depth. I could tell that they had chemistry, but there wasn't much of a relationship built. They barely spent time outside of Marsh's job to really get to know each other.

I was also a little off-put by Lauren. Honestly, I felt she was a little spoiled and selfish. And then March was so closed off, I barely got to see who the person was underneath the "control". I wish there were a bit more scenes of them just chatting about their lives. Lauren's upbringing was such a huge part of who she was as an adult, and yet together they barely touched on it.

As a bonus fo some - I never read Bareback, so I was unfamiliar with some of the characters that showed back up in this book, but if you're a reader that has, I'm sure you'll be pleased to see Jessica and Skyler again.

Overall, it wasn't a bad story but it left me feeling like I wanted more.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


Lauren is mystery writer who starting to get a break with her writing she didn’t have a easy life she had to fight to get where she at.

Marsh is a riding instructor who meets Lauren through Lauren niece when she takes her for her lessons. Lauren is immediately intrigue by the aloof instructor not only in a romantic way but also professionally when she realizes there more to Marsh then meets the eye.

Lauren and Marsh have great chemistry and the dynamic between was wonderful they both learn that sometimes it’s okay to give up control and sometimes to give it.

I was very interested when I saw this book on Netgalley. I have previously read a book by D. Jackson Leigh and I remember really enjoying it. Since this book had an interesting premise, I decided to read another book by this author.

Disclaimer: I received this book through Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for a fair, honest review.

Lauren has had to fight to get control of her personal and professional life. She’s a mystery writer who recently had a bit of a break. She’s taking a break and bringing her niece to horseback-riding lessons when she meets Marsh. Marsh is the instructor and Lauren is very attracted to her. Marsh agrees to take Lauren on as a student, but first she has to prove that she’s good enough. When Lauren realizes that Marsh has a demon in her past, she decides to dig deeper into the situation in hopes of finding out more about Marsh and maybe finding a new inspiration for her book.

I absolutely loved this book. Lauren and Marsh were interesting characters who had a nice dynamic with each other. They fed off of each other to make situations, erotic and not, very interesting. Lauren has issues with control that stem from when she was younger (kind of) and Marsh has issues that stem from an incident that occurred a few years prior. Marsh is determined not to start anything resembling a relationship with Lauren and Lauren, despite her worries, is determined to have Marsh.

There is a mystery to this book that I didn’t expect. It’s not mentioned in the summary, so I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it. I took some time to think about it and I found that I actually really enjoyed it. I thought it added a nice depth and backstory to Marsh and allowed for Lauren to show her attachment and dedication to Marsh. Especially after going behind Marsh’s back to learn more about the situation and write a book around it. It worked really well in the story and, for the most part, never felt forced.

I will freely admit that one of my favorites things about this book is the sex scenes and erotic intimacy. At first, I didn’t expect to find this book as hot as I did, but the book kind of throws you straight into an 18+ rating. After a minute to adjust, I found that it was fun especially when Lauren and Marsh meet and grow closer. The intimacy between them felt honest so that the relationship that formed was hot and involved several nice sex scenes.

I thought this book was excellent. It had very nice characters, good sex scenes, and sweet and tender moments that allowed the two characters to form a connection. I plan on reading this book again and I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a good read with a happy ending.

Turn up the AC and grab a cold drink before you pick up the sizzler that is Unbridled.

Best selling author Lauren Everhart is used to being in control, but when she meets Marsh she discovers being submissive has its perks. What follows is a scintillating dom/sub romance, a foray into the mind of the writer, and a high stakes equestrian world whodunnit all wrapped up in one.

A couple of slip ups aside, the author paints a fairly accurate picture of the equestrian world. In many ways, the world of tight breeches and leather is the perfect setting for a power play novel. What did rub me the wrong way, was the perpetuation of the myth that horseback riding is sexually stimulating. Men always use that as an excuse to make lewd comments to female equestrians, so to find it here was disappointing.

Jackson D. Leigh is a master at building sexual suspense. The chemistry and power play between the two protagonists was absolutely smoking. I’m surprised my kindle didn’t actually catch on fire! Which begs the question; why is this marketed as romance? To me this is erotica and a not-so-vanilla one at that. If you’re looking for books to read at work, this might not be the one, but if you want something that leaves you a little breathless, look no further.

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley and Bold Strokes in exchange for an honest review.

Unbridled...Lauren is an accomplished writer and is now between books and has agreed to niece. Now she's running out of things to keep her busy when a friend recommends she try riding lessons.
Marsh Langston is a horse rider, trainer, former Olympic hopeful who owns the stables Lauren takes her niece to. Lauren is instantly smitten with Marsh and is trying her best to get Marshs attention. It's not going well for Lauren.

Lauren asks Marsh to give her private riding lessons in hopes of getting her attention and much more.

Marsh is a very private person and is not trusting of many people and she is slow to warm up to Lauren.

As the two finally get to a point where they are spending some time together Lauren learns that Marsh had previously been accused of animal cruelty. This doesn't seem possible and Lauren begins digging deeper. She should watch who she trusts because she soon sees the information she is gathering for her next book and the person she questions is about to ruin their relationship.

This is such a well written story. You don't want to miss it.

Yes this is not perfect it has some fault, but god it was super enjoyable. The book only make us see Lauren point of view and sometimes I wanted to know Marsh thoughts not to mention I found the way Lauren went after Marsh was super complicated but cute at the same time! . otherwise it was great. Moreover, the story has a simple mystery in which i enjoyed as well.

very recommended, thank you for the author and her team.

This is a steamy romance centered around the equestrian world. I liked the banter between the two main characters and the supporting ones were well developed. I think the main characters could have been better developed in terms of backstory and I thought that the climax and resolution came to a very quick end.