Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Seven and a Half Minutes by Roxana Valea. It's the third part in The Polo Diaries series.
Roxana Valea was born in Romania and lived in Italy, Switzerland, England and Argentina before settling in Spain. She has a BA in journalism and an MBA degree. She spent more than twenty years in the business world as an entrepreneur, manager and management consultant working for top companies like Apple, eBay, and Sony. She is also a Reiki Master and shamanic energy medicine practitioner.
As an author, Roxana writes books inspired by real events. Her memoir Through Dust and Dreams is a faithful account of a trip she took at the age of twenty-eight across Africa by car in the company of two strangers she met over the internet. Her following book, Personal Power: Mindfulness Techniques for the Corporate Word is a nonfiction book filled with personal anecdotes from her consulting years. The Polo Diaries series is inspired by her experiences as a female polo player--traveling to Argentina, falling in love, and surviving the highs and lows of this dangerous sport.
Roxana lives with her husband between England and Spain, and splits her time between writing, coaching and therapy work, but her first passion remains writing.
Follow @roxana_valea on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, on Facebook, on Instagram, Visit roxanavaleaauthor.com, Buy Seven and a Half Minutes
About the book
Before Roxy found herself “Single in Buenos Aires,” she was a single girl in London in search of true love. The third installment of The Polo Diaries series takes us back to that time, and we follow Roxy as she hires a love coach to help her navigate the dating scene. But the love coach comes up with an unexpected assignment: reconnect to a long-forgotten passion. For Roxy this means horses. Within weeks, she finds herself playing polo, thanks to a series of unforeseen events.
Torn between her desire to become the best polo player she can be and the dream of falling in love, Roxy steps fully into the exciting and demanding world of polo, where injury and recovery mix with hard training, and where celebrating the victory of a tournament comes at a high price. Will Roxy eventually become the polo player she dreams to be? And with polo being such a demanding sport, can there be any space left for love?
This is the third book in The Polo Diaries series. All of the books can be read as standalone novels. This third one takes us back a little and focuses on the passion for the game and the horses.
One thing I always notice with this series is how the thrill determines the course of life. It's more important than anything or anyone else when it comes down to it. A choice Roxy only thinks about when it's quiet or is unable to partake in what makes her heart beat with such an intensity. There is loneliness when the saddle is empty, but she is very much aware of the emptiness. Is it possible to find a way to have both? When her body crumbles and is unable to live her passion will the recovery teach her something she wasn't expecting to learn?
I have to give Valea her dues when it comes to describing polo and her love for the game, especially when it comes to describing the different types of polo players. You can clearly feel the passion, the emotional attachment, the thrill of the adrenaline rush, the love of the physical exhaustion and the skill of the game. The way she pays homage to the people who taught her, each giving her a small gift, which combined creates the entirety of her talent and skills.
Valea describes it in a way that makes me want to join in, and it fires up my competitive spirit, which is of course a sign the author has done their job. Her own experiences are absolutely what make this read compelling because it has an authentic and realistic feel you don't often get when the account is purely fictional.
Buy Seven and a Half Minutes (The Polo Diaries #3) at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: RV Publications; pub date 2 Jun. 2020. Buy at Amazon com.
Buy Single in Buenos Aires, Buy A Horse Called Bicycle Books 1 and 2 in The Polo Diaries by Roxana Valea. Read my reviews of the first two books in the series.
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