Compton Magna

Few women in Compton Magna could fail to notice the arrival of Luca O'Brien. The village stud's new manager, known internationally as the Horse Maker, brims softly spoken sex appeal from his wild blonde curls to his leather boot soles. Gossipy riding quartet The Saddle Bags are all smitten. Only his old friend Ronnie Percy sees how much Luca's changed from the rising star she met a decade ago, the golden armour masking deep secrets. But as Ronnie soon discovers, Luca's slow smile and sympathetic hands belie a volcanic core.

When Ronnie Percy's gorgeous on-off lover Blair is forced to deep-freeze their affair for the sake of his sick wife, she's delighted to be distracted by charismatic neighbour, Kit Donne, and – more surprisingly – finds herself drawn into a fight for the future of the village. Meanwhile daughter Pax – already besieged by her estranged husband wanting reconciliation – is rattled when new love 'the horsemaker' Luca is visited by his own ex from Canada. The last shoulder on earth she should cry on is Bay Austen's, but his marriage is crumbling and he's lost none of his dangerous charm.

When her surly Shetland Pony is fired as the nativity procession’s donkey, Petra Gunn agrees to find a last-minute replacement to lead out the village carol singers. It’s that or bending over and walking two steps behind her husband in a pantomime costume. Local equine vet Gill Walcote knows of a small herd owned by rare breeds farmer, Robbie Marlborough. There’s just one catch. Gill and Robbie were once briefly engaged. It didn’t end well; they haven’t spoken in over thirty years.