Dead Zone Dressage

At Étoile Équestre, perfection is mandatory.
The horses are priceless.
The colors are curated.
And anything that doesn’t fit the brand is quietly pushed aside.
Paloma Reyes knows the rules. She’s the best rider in the barn—but her horse is the wrong shape, the wrong pedigree, the wrong image. When a celebrated European trainer benches her in favor of “better specimens,” Paloma does what no one expects.
She leaves.
A weekend escape to the Texas Hill Country is supposed to be a reset—dust, trail rides, and horses allowed to be horses again. But when Paloma and her best friend accidentally witness a secret exchange deep in a dead-zone canyon, their quiet rebellion turns into a fight for survival.
Now hunted by men who launder money as cleanly as they wear their smiles, cut off from cell service, and trapped inside rugged backcountry no truck can reach, Paloma must rely on the very things the elite dressage world dismissed: instinct, grit, and a so-called “tractor” of a horse who knows how to keep his feet when the ground turns dangerous.
Smart, sharp, and darkly funny, this is a thriller about power, image, and what happens when polished systems crack—revealing who’s truly built to endure.
Because elegance is easy.
Survival is earned.

If you love sharp wit, strong women, horses with opinions, and thrillers that tear down elite façades—saddle up and start reading now.