My Favorite Mistake (The A Circuit) by Georgina Bloomberg and Catherine Hapka

Title: My Favorite Mistake (The A Circuit #2)

Author: Georgina Bloomberg and Catherine Hapka

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
My Copy: finished copy from publicist

Summary:

Tommi, Zara, and Kate are all elite riders on the A Circuit. Tommi, the billionaire heiress, is training a young horse to prove she can make horses a real career. But when her new beau, Alex, convinces her to skip a horse show to party in the Hamptons, the results could be disastrous. Zara, the celebutante wild child, is finally taking her riding seriously. Until the new "nanny" her dad hires threatens to upstage Zara's party girl status. Then there's Kate. She doesn't have money to burn like the others, but she does have Fitz, the barn's resident hot guy. But when the pressure of being a working student builds, Kate's perfectionist tendencies threaten to get in the way of her relationship and her riding.

Readers who are growing out of the Canterwood Crest series or searching for an A-list fix have found just what they're looking for in the A Circuit series.

My Thoughts: The A Circuit series is officially my guilty pleasure series. While I enjoyed the first novel in the series, I enjoyed My Favorite Mistake much more. The authors truly hit their groove with this one, creating a novel that is fun and enjoyable while also hitting upon some tougher subjects.

I love this series because it plays into all the dreams I had when I was 12 – to ride horses competitively and spend almost every minute living and breathing horses. What I love even more is that while I don't really have any experience riding horses at all, let alone in such a competitive circuit, I am still able to relate to the characters. So while this is aimed at horse-lovers, I think others will be able to enjoy it too.

The one thing that bothered me the most about the first book was the drinking and other things “just because”. And while those things still happen in My Favorite Mistake, I felt they were handled so much better. A few other topics, like eating disorders, are also touched upon and while this is far from an “issue” book, I was glad to see these things brought up. I am looking forward to Book 3 where we hopefully get to see the characters go a little more in-depth with some things.

Overall, I definitely recommend this to readers who have grown out of the Canterwood Crest/Thoroughbred/Saddle Club age range. While I don't think it's appropriate for younger teens, I think that anyone 15+ (or even 14+) will love this one. Can't wait for Book 3!

The A Circuit by Catherine Hapka and Georgina Bloomberg

Title: The A Circuit

Author: Catherine Hapka and Georgina Bloomberg

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary:
The A Circuit is the top of the top when it comes to horse shows. It's a world with its own rules and superprivileged lifestyles. Teens travel the circuit all year, showing horses that cost as much as some homes.

Tommi, Kate, and Zara are all elite competitors on the circuit, but they come from totally different backgrounds. Tommi is a billionaire heiress trying to prove she has real talent (not just deep bank accounts). Kate puts the working in working student-every win has been paid for with hours of cleaning stalls. She's used to the grueling schedule, but Fitz, the barn's resident hot guy, is about to become a major distraction. And then there's Zara. She's the wild child of a famous rockstar, but she's ready to take riding seriously. Can a party girl really change her ways?

Readers who enjoy peeking into the elite world of Gossip Girl or The A-List will feel right at home in this new series with its friendships, drama, and privilege set against the backdrop of competitive horseback riding.

My Thoughts: They were right in comparing The A Circuit to Gossip Girl and The A-List. The A Circuit is full of rich girl drama and not a whole lot of substance, while still pulling the reader in.

The A Circuit is the perfect book for a quick read, especially if you love horses. It's very easy to get sucked into the world of horses and between the three main characters, there is someone for everyone to relate to. Even though I prefer barrel-racing and pole-bending to jumping and hunters, I still loved reading about the competition and the shows. Since Georgina Bloomberg is (or was, maybe) a competitor herself, everything is well-described and accurate, which makes it easy for those who don't know much about horses to still follow the story.

However, while I did honestly enjoy the story, there were a few things I had issues with. First off all, I read somewhere that this was for readers "beginning to grow out of the Canterwood Crest series" and while I do think that this series will appear to Canterwood Crest fans, I also feel like that is not necessarily for the younger fans. There is some drug usage and drinking that don't really serve a purpose and while I do realize that those things happen, I felt like it was just there to make the story more hip. Aside from that, there was some dialogue that made me roll my eyes because no one talks like that, ever.

Overall, though, I definitely enjoyed the A Circuit. It's not meant to be some in-depth and lifechanging book and it's not. It is a quick read and perfect for reluctant readers (especially horse lovers) or just the reader looking for something that's not heavy and dark. I definitely recommend it to other horselovers and will be looking forward to the next book in