From Publishers Weekly
Continuing the saga of the Colemans and the Thorntons as recounted in Texas and Vegas, this latest novel puts the next generation center stage and is the first in a projected new trilogy. Thirty years after escaping her father's repressive Virginia home with her illegitimate daughter, Nealy Coleman Diamond returns to his deathbed, scrabbling to find answers to why Josh Coleman was so hateful and abusive. In the intervening period, she's become a woman of means, succeeding in the man's world of thoroughbred racing in Kentucky. Once all the secrets have been revealed and she's taken revenge on the scoundrel who impregnated her, will Nealy be free to find true love at last? As usual with Michaels's sagas, the characters range from the kindhearted to the blackhearted, with scarcely any halftones between. The plot verges on the melodramatic, but it moves too quickly to pall. It helps for readers to be interested in racing, since Michaels knows her Secretariat from her Man O'War. The audience for her previous works is probably waiting at the starting gate for this one. Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Clubs featured alternate; Literary Guild alternate; author tour; Brilliance Audio. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Following her popular "Texas" and "Vegas" trilogies (e.g., Vegas Heat), Michaels draws the same families into a new series, bringing readers another family saga. Moving from oil and casinos to the world of thoroughbred racing, she introduces Nealy Coleman Diamond, daughter of another branch of the Colemans. Once again, a downtrodden but feisty young woman finds her way to riches through a combination of incredibly lucky circumstances and hard work. Nealy's life improves, but her troubles are set up to continue into the next volume. The plot is straightforward until the end, when the rapid introduction of multiple characters from Texas and Las Vegas creates confusion, especially for readers unfamiliar with the previous novels. Michaels tends to skimp on character development and skim over long passages of time, but her plucky heroines in the world of the rich and famous obviously entertain many. Public libraries will need to buy where there is demand. [Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Rhapsody Book Club alternate selection.] Barbara E. Kemp, Univ. of Houston Libs.- Barbara E. Kemp, Univ. of Houston Libs. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Michaels adds to her popular Texas and Vegas series with a new branch of the Coleman family. Nealy Coleman is forced to leave her home in Virginia by her cruel father. Sick with fever, she and her daughter, Emmie, travel until she collapses at the Diamond horse farm in Kentucky. The owner, Maud, recognizes Nealy's rare gift with horses, ends up adopting her, and believes that Nealy can pick another Kentucky Derby winner for the prestigious farm. For Nealy, working on the Diamond farm is a dream come true, and when Maud dies, she leaves Nealy the farm and all her wealth. But Nealy is still haunted by her past. When Nealy hears that her father is dying thirty years after he drove her away, she goes back to confront him but finds that even more secrets and battles lay ahead. Michaels' Danielle Steel-like fun read has more plot twists than a soap opera, and will keep readers on tenterhooks for the next in the series. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

Nealy Coleman was only 17 and deathly ill when she took her baby, Emmie, and fled into a snowstorm before her father could carry out his threat to send her little girl to an orphanage. Fate guided them to Maud Diamond's stud farm, where Nealy's sad story and her talent for working with horses earned her a place in the old woman's heart and convinced Maud that Nealy alone could chose the right mare and stallion to produce the farm's third Kentucky Derby winner. That's just the beginning of Nealy's amazing journey as she makes a place for herself in the dynamic and demanding world of horse racing, finds and loses love, acquires wealth and polish, and finally comes to terms with her father and family, too.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Josh Coleman left behind unfinished family business when he took to his deathbed at SunStar, the thoroughbred horse farm he'd built from nothing. But now that unfinished business cannot be ignored - because his long-lost daughter has come back to settle an old score.

Nealy Coleman no longer resembles the teenaged waif who slipped away in the middle of the night with her illegitimate child, Emmie, thirty years ago. This Nealy is rich, sophisticated, and renowned in the racing world - a woman to be reckoned with.

Nealy's shocking return will change everything for her two brothers, Pyne and Rhy; for her daughter, Emmie; and for all the Thorntons and Colemans, who have strong connections with SunStar. And when the truth about her father and a family's troubled past is revealed, Nealy will find herself faced with the greatest challenges of her life - challenges that will test her courage in unexpected ways and reveal what is truly important.

In Kentucky Rich, Fern Michaels surpasses herself once again, with a novel as rich and lush as the Kentucky bluegrass country itself￯﾿ﾽa story of stunning power that ushers in an extraordinary new trilogy.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Continuing the saga of the Colemans and the Thorntons as recounted in Texas and Vegas, this latest novel puts the next generation center stage and is the first in a projected new trilogy. Thirty years after escaping her father's repressive Virginia home with her illegitimate daughter, Nealy Coleman Diamond returns to his deathbed, scrabbling to find answers to why Josh Coleman was so hateful and abusive. In the intervening period, she's become a woman of means, succeeding in the man's world of thoroughbred racing in Kentucky. Once all the secrets have been revealed and she's taken revenge on the scoundrel who impregnated her, will Nealy be free to find true love at last? As usual with Michaels's sagas, the characters range from the kindhearted to the blackhearted, with scarcely any halftones between. The plot verges on the melodramatic, but it moves too quickly to pall. It helps for readers to be interested in racing, since Michaels knows her Secretariat from her Man O'War. The audience for her previous works is probably waiting at the starting gate for this one. Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Clubs featured alternate; Literary Guild alternate; author tour; Brilliance Audio. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal