The 10-book Good Things Come series is a window into Thoroughbred racing and farm life from a Canadian perspective. Grounded in her extensive backstretch experience, Linda Shantz’s writing is authentic and captivating. She provide just the right mix of down-to-the-wire racing suspense and the everyday interactions of humans and horses. There’s romantic tension, too, among believable characters who are easy to care about.

Many readers will identify with the author’s childhood. “I was a horse-crazy kid with limited hands-on exposure to horses. I spent a lot of time drawing, writing and reading about horses to make up for it,” says Shantz. “Every summer I had a week or two at a Western riding camp. When I was 13, I was asked to join the camp barn staff.”

Shantz spent summers, weekends and holidays at the camp until her family moved to the country. Then she started working for a neighbor who had hunters, all off-the-track Thoroughbreds. This gave her some show world experience, but she still dreamed of working at the racetrack. And soon she was on her way.

“When I was 18, I got a job at Woodbine Racetrack near Toronto,” Shantz says. “I worked my way up in the usual fashion: walking hots, then grooming and galloping. Some winters I went south to Florida’s Payson Park Thoroughbred Training Center. Some I stayed home on the farm to work with babies, leg up horses and stand night-watch on broodmares.”

Writing what she knows

Along the way, she explored other methods of expressing her interest in Thoroughbreds and racing. “I started selling my artwork when I was 20 and I continue to do equestrian paintings on commission,” she says. “I was 8 years old when I started writing the book that would become Good Things Come. But it took several decades for me to finish it. The book was published during Covid and the positive response from readers online encouraged me to continue writing. When I was finally able to do some in-person book events it was a bonus to meet people in real life who liked the series.”

Shantz’s work with horses and her art have taken her to top racing destinations, many of which made their way into her books. Although she is still best known for her artwork, the 10 books in her Good Things Come series have established her as a solid writer with a loyal following. She has her own farm where retired racehorses and a lively Border Collie keep her busy.

If you are just discovering the series, you’re in luck. Bright, Broken Things is a prequel written recently that provides interesting background on the characters. It’s not necessary to read it first, but I’d recommend adding it to your reading list. 

Reading list

Book 1

Good Things Come, was a finalist for the 2020 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, an annual prize for the best writing about Thoroughbred racing. During a tense life-or-death foaling, Liv Lachance, the headstrong heir-to-be of her family’s racing business, has help from Nate, the farm’s new exercise rider. She soon realizes she may also need his help in the training of the capricious foal, Chique. Liv has high hopes that the well-bred filly will become a contender in Canada’s most prestigious race, The Queen’s Plate.

Book 2

In All the Little Things, Liv and Nate are still trying to figure out where they stand with each other—and how to unlock the tempermental Chique’s talent. Meanwhile Liv’s best friend, Faye, has inherited, with her brother, her family’s breeding and training operation. Faye is not into horses, so she decides to buy and operate a popular coffee/bakery shop. This is an interesting turn by the author, revealing her love of baked treats such as butter tarts, a Canadian favorite. Desserts of all sorts feature in every book that follows. I warn you: You’ll be yearning for the pastries and confections Faye serves up at her shop, which becomes a hub of the community. But the plots are strong enough to keep you reading while your stomach growls.

Book 3

By the time you read All Good Things (which features the Canadian Triple Crown), I predict you’ll be hooked on the human and equine characters, and the situations Shantz creates. I also predict that you’ll find yourself so immersed in this fictional world that you will be sorry when you finish the latest book, All the Right Things, which was released last April. And you’ll be asking, as we all are, “What’s next?”

Linda Shantz’s 10-book Good Things Come series is available where books are sold and from her website.

Our reviewer

A former senior editor at POLO and SPUR magazines and a contributor to EQUUS, Dale Leatherman worked at New York’s Belmont Park in the 1970s, grooming, ponying and escorting horses to the starting gate.