Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Highest of Stakes by Selene LeGrom Book Review: The Highest of Stakes by Selene LeGrom. Okay, let me preface this by saying I’ve never been to Vegas, I can’t play a game of poker to save my life, and my eyes tend to glaze over whenever someone starts talking about gambling. But I loved this story! Daniel Sinclair and Steve Langley have a history. They were both raised in families devoted to professional gambling, families who also hate each other. And now they’re both looking for a partner… Daniel and Steve’s story is moving, sweet, and authentic. (Also, hot. So, so hot…) And Selene does a great job making the gambling exciting and accessible so that even I – an avowed non-gambler – understood what was happening and cared about the outcome of the games. This story does exactly what a good piece of fiction should: It took me to another world, made me care about the people who live there, and left me feeling like I actually learned something. Novel Update: Off with the Betas! But I’m not going to let a few typos stand in the way of PROGRESS! So I’ve sent the novel off to some beta readers to get their feedback. I’ve actually already gotten feedback from two people. But those two people were my husband and my good friend Laura. And they said the book was great! But… of course my husband and my friend are going to say the book was great. (Actually, they both gave me super helpful feedback, which I really appreciated. Once I stopped crying.) So I made the changes they recommended, and then went on to the next step: Sending the book to people I don’t know. People who have no reason to be nice to me. How did I find these beta readers, you ask? Thanks to the magic of the internet! I joined some “Beta Reader” groups on Facebook and then posted my book blurb. And a few wonderful people expressed an interest. YAY. So now The Trickster’s Lover is off in their capable hands. And I’m trying not to freak out as I wait to hear back from them…. The Highest of Stakes. With the jackpot of a lifetime on the line, there's no one Daniel Sinclair would trust with it more than Steve, the one who got away. Steve Langley is a professional gambler from a long line of gamblers, a man only on the edge of the right side of the law. But while society's rules meant little to him, the Langley family's did: never fall in love with a Sinclair. But Steve's never been able to forget clever, beautiful Daniel Sinclair, and when he swaggers back into the game, Steve knows he's lost. Daniel considers himself a smart man, brilliant even, and he's made a discovery that will make the laws of probability sit up and beg. But Daniel's never been able to outsmart his heart, and when he needs a partner to make his dreams come true, he knows exactly who he needs. Writing: Rejection Art! So I’m going indy for my dark, erotic paranormal romance/urban fantasy about Loki ( Got your attention? Check out a preview here ). But I’m also writing sci-fi and speculative fiction under my boring, regular name (yes, this is a pen name). And I’m trying to publish those stories the old fashioned way. Which means banging my head against a brick wall of rejection. Actual footage of Samantha MacLeod. And yeah, I’ve got some coping mechanisms. I wrote a post about them here. And there’s wine. Still, as much as I know writers need to develop a thick skin, that brick wall of rejection hurts. And I’ve noticed I’m sending out fewer and fewer stories. Plus I’m trunking stories faster, sometimes after just four or five rejections. This is not good policy. But rejection sucks. It’s demoralizing. And it’s hard to motivate myself to face it again. And again. And again. Then I stumbled on Map Your Progress, and I ordered this awesome heart: The plan is to fill in one little swirl for every rejection letter. There are 100 swirls – by the time this little heart is a beautiful explosion of color, I’ll have submitted 100 times. And maybe even gotten a few publications. I got a rejection the very same day I got my heart in the mail. Whooo-hooo, I had a reason to color in one cute little swirl! The Highest of Stakes by Selene LeGrom. (USA) April 9, 1970 – April 3, 1993. Pretense (USA) x Sequoia (USA), by (IRE) Family 9-h. Although he won the (USA-G1) impressively, Sham gained most of his reputation as the foil for 's record runs in the 1973 (USA-G1) and (USA-G1). He came back lame from a workout a few weeks after running an exhausted fifth and last in the Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) and underwent surgery for a fractured cannon bone on July 6, 1973. It was initially hoped that he would be able to come back to racing, but he ended up being retired to stud, where he did well but was not exceptional. Race record. 13 starts, 5 wins, 5 seconds, 1 third, US$204,808. Won Santa Catalina Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Santa Anita) Won Santa Anita Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Santa Anita) 2nd (USA-G1, 9FD, Aqueduct) 2nd Kentucky Derby (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs) 2nd Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico) Assessments. Rated at 127 pounds on The Blood-Horse 's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1973, 9 pounds below champion Secretariat but joint runner-up with Forego. Rated at 129 lbs on the Daily Racing Form 's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1973, 7 pounds below champion Secretariat but joint runner-up with Forego. As an individual. A handsome, refined dark bay colt with plenty of size and power, Sham stood 16.2 hands. He had a kind and willing disposition and was extremely courageous. In the Kentucky Derby, he shaded 's track record as the runner-up in spite of having torn two teeth out when he slammed his head on the starting gate . Like Secretariat, he held his weight and condition extremely well between the Triple Crown races. An autopsy showed that his heart weighed 18 pounds compared to 8.5 pounds for the heart of a normal . As a stallion. According to Jockey Club records, Sham sired 347 winners (55.5%) and 44 stakes winners (7.0%) from 625 named foals. The Blood-Horse credits Sham with 47 stakes winners (7.5%). He was an influence for stamina. Notable progeny. Arewehavingfunyet (USA), (USA) Connections. Sham was bred and owned by Claib o rne Farm. Following the death of A. B. “Bull” Hancock in late 1972, the farm's racing stock was dispersed and Sham was purchased by Sigmund and Viola Sommer for US$200,000, the second-highest price of the dispersal. The colt was trained by Woody Stephens at 2 and by Frank “Pancho” Martin at 3. After being syndicated at a total valuation of US$3 million, Sham entered stud in Kentucky in 1974 at Spendthrift Farm. He later moved to Walmac Farm in November 1992 and died there of an apparent heart attack on April 3, 1993. Pedigree notes. Sham is inbred 5x4x4 to Selene. He is a half brother to stakes winner Dendron (by Tat á n) and to Little Sequoia (by Double Jay), dam of stakes winners Decidedly D (by Decidedly) and Princess Doubleday (by Hitting Away) and second dam of Grade 3 winner Broto. He is also a half brother to Shinnecock (by Tom Fool), dam of Grade 3 winner Top Competitor and stakes winner Poppycock. Sham's dam Sequoia, winner of the 1957 Spinaway Stakes, is a full sister to 1951 Kentucky Oaks and Coaching Club American Oaks winner How, dam of 1965 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Pocahontas (by Roman). Sequoia is also a full sister to 1954 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Cherokee Rose, second dam of 1971 Horse of the Year Ack Ack and 1974 Futurity Stakes (USA-G1) winner Just the Time. Sequoia and her siblings were produced from The Squaw II (by Sickle), a half sister to 1947 Grand Prix de Paris winner Avenger (by Victrix). The Squaw II is also a half sister to Dynamite II (by Dogat), second dam of 1959 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes winner Toluene. The Squaw II's dam Minnewaska (by Blandford) is out of 1926 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Nipisiquit (by Buchan), also the dam of the good English stakes winner Raymond (by Gainsborough). Sham: In the Shadow of a Superhorse was written by Mary Walsh and released by Aventine Press in 2007. The unpublished manuscript had previously won the Eaton Literary Agency's 2005 award for Best Book. Ms. Walsh also wrote Sham's Dream , a children's book released by Echo Publishing in 2011. Sham: Great Was Second Best was written by Phil Dandrea. A Bronze Medal winner in the Sports/Fitness/Recreation category in the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards, the book was released by Acanthus Publishing in 2010.