Kentucky heat / Fern Michaels. Michaels, Fern.

New York : Kensington Books, c2002.

330 p. ; 24 cm.

Michaels continues the family saga she began in Kentucky Rich, which stars Nealy Coleman Diamond Clay, a teenage mother who ran away from home and ended up at Blue Diamond Farms in the heart of Kentucky raising and racing thoroughbreds. Now in her late forties and a widow, Nealy's life has always been a struggle, and she'll need all her strength for what lies ahead. She throws her daughter, Emmie, and her son, Nick, off the farm, then immerses herself in the training of one last contender for the coveted Triple Crown. Nealy realizes that this will be her last Derby horse and is ready to move on, which she does with the help of her husband's old college friend, Hatch Littletree. He's been acting as a mentor to her children, and, unbeknownst to them, becomes an important part of Nealy's life as their early antagonism changes to attraction. Her children start to develop their own lives, while Nealy searches out information about the mother she never knew. It turns out that learning about the past is the catharsis that helps put Nealy's demons to rest, allowing her to look toward the future.