Reviewed by Paul F. Murray for Readers' Favorite, 2/7/2021

Katherine (“Kat”) Normith is a 14-year-old girl who sees a beautiful horse, Stormwind, being abused by its owner, a vicious woman named Lorraine Stillwater. This lady is not only brutally neglectful of Stormwind and the other horses at her riding stables, but she is downright criminally dangerous with her uncontrollable temper and her conviction that her grandson needs to be constantly beaten within an inch of his life in order to, in her way of thinking, make a man out of him. Meanwhile, Kat’s dad, a middle-aged rock band leader, falls for Lavina, a beautiful but scheming young woman who sees Luke Normith as the means to her own nefarious business ends. Kat sees right through Lavina, but Kat’s dad is blinded by his infatuation with Lavina and will not listen to Kat’s entreaties. To get away from all this, Kat runs away from home during the summer, riding Stormwind, who is pregnant with foal. As might be expected for a young girl alone in the deep forest, Kat soon runs into trouble, as she and Stormwind barely survive a deep-river crossing. Kat soon meets Randy, however, who adopts a protective love for Kat, and she, for him. Together, they must defend themselves against unredeemed ex-con Vito, who is determined to steal Stormwind and her foal for himself and sell them.

Stormwind of the North Country by Jodi L. Auborn richly deserves its 5-star rating, as this novel sets a new standard for girl-and-her-horse stories. It will be hard for other novelists to come close to matching this tale for pure adventure, overwhelming suspense, and sheer page-turning ability. I thoroughly enjoyed Stormwind of the North Country by Jodi Auborn for a variety of reasons. It was well-written from a grammatical standpoint, thus making for a smooth and easy read. The straightforward plotlines are absolutely gripping from the first page onward and right up to the very end. The reader is going to be hard-pressed to put this book down! A legitimate 5-star read here and a great story for teens and adults alike. I have read a thousand or more novels over the course of a half-century, and I would rank this story as being among the top ten novels that I have ever read.