Jump!: Another joyful and dramatic romp from Jilly Cooper, the Sunday Times bestseller

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That said, the real love story, between Etta and the unvarnishable Valent, falters tentatively along in a deeply endearing way and is all the more appealing set against the frantic jodhpur-ripping that's taking place elsewhere. One night Etta finds a horribly mutilated filly in the snow in Valent's woods and persuades the outraged Valent to take her in. I know the stories are great and romantic and rolicking and sexy, but honestly Jilly, I want more of the good stuff and less of the dross. It seems, unfortunately, that a lot of her attitudes towards sex have not moved with the times and remain very old-fashioned.

But I really enjoyed the book felt it was more modern than her previous books and I even shed a tear at the end. Rafiq was a great character, and it is clear that Jilly is not racist in any way - and in fact was trying to present Muslims in a good light - but it felt so tacked on to the rest of the story. As I always said about Jilly Cooper, "if you are going to read trash, at least read well-written trash. Jilly shows rare skill in presenting relationships from all walks of life - from bullying, to infidelity, from temporary passion, to love.For example, in The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, we have the launch party, a kitchen visit, a school function, and a dinner party to impart information. Can she be the first mare in thirty years, and Amber the first woman ever, to conquer this mighty race? I've given this review a bit of a harsh rating, but I just cannot get over how very disappointed I was from this latest offering to come out of the Cooper stable. The filly charms everyone in the village, and whentests reveal her to be a spectacularly well-bred racehorse a village syndicate is formed to put the filly into training.

Jump is totally outrageous with over the top storylines and characters and should be read with tongue firmly placed in cheek. Probably by this point in the book I'm already on to the characters being sexual behavior deviants in these particular characters and I'm turned off by rape in any form. Etta Bancroft is an under-confident granny, dreamy, sweet-faced and wildly fond of animals (it's impossible to describe a Cooper character without employing a gush of adjectives).

Ridden by Rupert's delectable god-daughter, Amber, Mrs Wilkinson captivates vast crowds as she progresses from point-to-point to major races and brings fame and fortune to the syndicate, until, at last, she is entered in the Grand National. Despite the ballooning cast lists and increasingly febrile plots, she remains adept at bringing these people to such glittering, thrusting life that they feel almost real. As usual though, the story romps along through highs and lows, with lots of relevant detail about the horse-racing world, plus some bonkers goings-on that only Jilly Cooper can pull off. But one of those adults is a drop-dead gorgeous well-known actor and she quickly forgives him, and submits willingly to him, when he later turns on his famous charm.