From the author of the Canterwood Crest series comes the first book in a middle grade series about an equestrian boarding school following a girl who struggles to keep her eyes on the prize while receiving anonymous threats. Abby St. Clair can’t wait to start another season with her elite riding team at her boarding school. She has something to prove after literally falling on her face during the biggest competition of the year the previous season. And she could really use a win after her mom left her family, her dad remarried, and Abby’s new stepsister, Emery, proved to be a strong rider and stiff competition. Abby wants to return to some semblance of normal but is hiding a secret: she accidentally cost her biggest rival, Selly, a chance at team captain. Then Abby begins to receive anonymous messages, threatening to expose her unwitting sabotage and a video that makes it look like she’s trash-talking Emery. With an important competition on the horizon and the knowledge that someone in her circle knows way too much about her, the pressure is on. Abby tries to put on blinders and have the perfect meet with her horse, Beau, but she’s about to find out the hard way that secrets don’t make friends at Saddlehill Academy. "Effortless and effervescent; ideal for horse-crazy girls ready to move beyond The Saddle Club." ― -- Kirkus Reviews Jessica Burkhart (a.k.a. Jessica Ashley) is the author of the Unicorn Magic, Saddlehill Academy, and Canterwood Crest series, which you can learn more about at CanterwoodCrest.com. She is a former equestrian who writes from her apartment in Tennessee. (It’s not the size of Crystal Castle, but Jess tries to decorate like a princess!) Jess’s aura would be hot pink and she loves glittery things. If she had a unicorn, it would be named Sparkle. Visit Jess at JessicaBurkhart.com. Chapter 1: Welcome Back! Welcome Back! MY FINGERS SHOOK AS I clutched the planter balanced in my lap. It was shaped like a hardback book and held a flourishing African violet in a tiny pot in the center. Not just any African violet, of course, but one I’d been raising all summer. They could be very temperamental, and I’d managed to keep her alive, so yay! Honestly, the violet was one thing I could count on to provide silent but steady comfort after a summer of turmoil. Dad eased the car up to the tall iron gates of Saddlehill Academy, and my breath caught for a second as I tried to take in the majestic campus, from the stone fences to the Gothic architecture to the cobblestoned driveway. “Look,” I said in a whisper to Violet because, of course, that was her name. “Welcome home!” “What, Abby?” Dad asked from the driver’s seat. My cheeks heated up. “Sorry, Dad. I was talking to Violet.” Dad laughed, but not unkindly. “Don’t let me interrupt. I’m glad you’re showing your plant-child her new home.” “Well, it would be so rude not to,” I said. I touched one of her leaves with my pointer finger. “It’s her first day here!” Yes, I had a plant obsession. Yes, I talked to them. Sometimes! Okay, a lot of the time. And yes, I’d managed to convince my dad to let me bring seven plants with me to my dorm room at Saddlehill Academy. Seven plants for seventh grade had sounded fair to me! Saddlehill Academy was a preparatory boarding school nestled just north of Boston. I’d been attending since last year. It had become my home away from home, and I’d spent all of sixth grade learning how to live my best boarding-school-student life. It had been a bit of a battle to convince my dad to let me go, but he knew it was my dream to go to boarding school and compete on an equestrian team just like my idol, Sasha Silver. Once I’d pointed out how he wasn’t home a lot anyway because of work, he’d finally relented. Plus, it was only about an hour away from my home in Fieldcrest, Massachusetts. My phone vibrated in the cupholder. I swiped it and saw two new texts from Vivi. Where are you?? Are you here yet??? Laughing, I typed a quick text back. Pulling in now! “Let me guess,” Dad said, looking at me in the rearview mirror. “Vivi?” “The one and only,” I said, smiling. Vivi had been one of my closest friends at Saddlehill from the moment we’d met last year. We had talked every single day over summer break. She lived in upstate New York, and despite her not living too far away from me, we hadn’t been able to make hanging out in person over the summer work. There had been too much going on at home with my dad’s wedding to his shiny new wife, Natalie. Sigh. But this year would make up for it, because Vivi and I had managed to snag a double room in Amherst House—one of the most coveted coed dormitories on campus. “I’d forgotten how beautiful this place is,” Dad said as he eased the car down the long, winding driveway. “Even though I’ve been here quite a few times.” I nodded. “It feels like forever since I’ve been here. But also like it was yesterday. So weird.” As excited as I was to see the