Mount!: The fast-paced, riotous new adventure from the Sunday Times bestselling author Jilly Cooper

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As suggested above, major female characters are well-developed and more interesting than the 100 or so pages of Anastasia Steele that I troubled to read. And even the ones who are main characters and who are somewhat developed—aren't really very likeable. And are we now meant to assume that Gala and Gav stay living 100 m away from Taggie and Rupert and it is all fine.

In this book his main aim is to have his stallion Love Rat become leading sire, but the competition is stiff and his enemies are out to thwart him. Health issues and the strain of a demanding blended family deplete Taggie, Rupert is obsessed with achievement and travelling the world to increase stud values and villainous forces intercept to cause trouble in all areas of their lives.The storyline is primarily about this ambition, the horse racing world, and the sexual adventures of everyone in the book. I did suspect that there had been so gentle age massaging with regards to Rupert approaching sixty and his grandson, Young Eddie, aged twenty-three, but who cares if a few years have been lost along the way?

Rupert is now breeding Thoroughbred race horses and it gives you a good picture of racing behind the scenes. I can't help thinking that this would have been better as two books rather than this mad, too-busy rush of a story. And the implications that she was shit in bed compare to Gala - well that just doesn't tally with what Jilly wrote in previous books. Perhaps she should have walked out, which would have devastated Rupert and he would have dropped everything to get her back. The white Zimbabweans suffering as an ethnic minority subplot is a worthy topic, which is presented unfortunately sans any racial or cultural history, and with a heavy focus on the cruelty of "the blacks".

He loses his temper at his grandson when the latter wins on a rival's horse, having earlier fired his grandson for having sex on the job. There is a name that Rupert uses to describe a woman's private parts which I would like to never see again in my life because. That sounds like actual rape to me - do you think because Tabitha escapes before ejaculation occurs (because Gertrude bites Rannaldini), Jilly has decided it was only attempted rape? The blurb describes Mount as Cooper’s “raciest novel” but, drawing on my imaginary romantic writing expertise, I would suggest not opening with a prolonged horse mating scene, even if you think it would be enlivened by the presence of a former porn star. That's the second biggest thing I've had in my hand today" he told her as he washed down Love Rat's cock.

Overall: this was more of a nostalgia read for me, taking me back to a series I enjoyed when I was younger - while it was similar to the previous novels it's not really to my tastes now but there's plenty of readers rating it highly. It's still a good book and nice to revisit old friends even if it's briefly but hope they don't deteriorate further. It wasn't as bad as expected and is still an enjoyable read but I can agree with other comments about cast of thousands and not as much depth as usual. Lots and lots of horses and racing and intrigue and adrenalin, and even though I'm not a horsey person, I really became fond of some of the equine characters like Master Quickly.I probably would read another Rutshire Chronicles book because of my dedication to the series but this one gave me nothing of my old love for the series and I’ve come away more than a little disappointed. It was only by chance watching the hotel programme of the launch of Mount that I knew about this one but I'm so glad I saw it! Our lead character Rupert is coming up to the age of 60, but every woman with a heartbeat still wants to have sex with him as per the earlier books when he was younger. Giving her cancer meant she didn't have to actually do anything - she never did learn to assert herself. Gala adores horses, and when she switches to working in the yard, her carer’s job is taken by a devastatingly handsome South African man who claims to be gay but seems far keener on caring for the angelic Taggie.