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A review by angieinbooks
Prize Money by Celeste Castro
4.0
I’ve mentioned I have a thing for Western-themed stories, right? Well, Prize Money, set around the Idaho rodeo circuit, was well within that Western wheelhouse and I really liked it. Prize Money also has the advantage of featuring a main character who is indigenous and another who is Mexican-American.
Toma is a successful stunt woman in some of Hollywood’s biggest projects, but when her dad has a serious injury, she returns home to help her brothers run the family business—they’re bullfighters.
Eva is the reigning two-time barrel riding champion and she’s poised to take her third title, which she desperately wants so that she can take the prize money and finally open the wild horse sanctuary she’s been dreaming about.
Toma and Eva meet when Toma comes to Eva’s rescue after a rogue bull threatens to injure Eva and her horse, but it turns out it wasn’t their first meeting, which was a moment that bonded them together in inexplicable ways, even though no names were exchanged. It’s that bond that continues to draw them together. But Toma’s time in Idaho is temporary and Eva has to stay focused on winning another championship.
I loved so much about this. I loved the rodeo setting. I loved that this centered around working class women. I loved the diversity of the characters. I loved the way Toma and Eva’s families were portrayed. I loved how their romance developed.
The only thing that felt a little weird was it seemed the author was going to turn this into a mystery—a string of bulls escaping and wreaking havoc on the rodeo, Toma, or Eva, but then that whole storyline just disappears. I didn’t need it to be there but I thought it odd that it was set up and then just dropped. But this is a fairly minor complaint.
I highly recommend this book.
Toma is a successful stunt woman in some of Hollywood’s biggest projects, but when her dad has a serious injury, she returns home to help her brothers run the family business—they’re bullfighters.
Eva is the reigning two-time barrel riding champion and she’s poised to take her third title, which she desperately wants so that she can take the prize money and finally open the wild horse sanctuary she’s been dreaming about.
Toma and Eva meet when Toma comes to Eva’s rescue after a rogue bull threatens to injure Eva and her horse, but it turns out it wasn’t their first meeting, which was a moment that bonded them together in inexplicable ways, even though no names were exchanged. It’s that bond that continues to draw them together. But Toma’s time in Idaho is temporary and Eva has to stay focused on winning another championship.
I loved so much about this. I loved the rodeo setting. I loved that this centered around working class women. I loved the diversity of the characters. I loved the way Toma and Eva’s families were portrayed. I loved how their romance developed.
The only thing that felt a little weird was it seemed the author was going to turn this into a mystery—a string of bulls escaping and wreaking havoc on the rodeo, Toma, or Eva, but then that whole storyline just disappears. I didn’t need it to be there but I thought it odd that it was set up and then just dropped. But this is a fairly minor complaint.
I highly recommend this book.