Virginia A. Simpson, PhD, FT is a bereavement care specialist and the Executive Counseling Director for hundreds of funeral homes throughout the United States and Canada. She is the founder of The Mourning Star Center for grieving children and their families, which she ran from 1995 to 2005. Simpson has appeared on numerous television and radio programs. She holds a Fellowship in Thanatology from the Association of Death Education & Counseling (ADEC), and has been honored for her work by the cities of Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and Rancho Mirage. She lives in El Dorado Hills, California with her husband, Bob, and golden retriever, Shelby.

A heartwarming dual-perspective memoir for fans of The Ride of Her Life and Horse Crazy, The Brat and the Bullfighter explores how a misunderstood Lusitano stallion and an uprooted Army brat find healing, belonging, and each other.

Some horses don’t just change your life, they save it.

Arty’s blood runs hot. White hot. A white Lusitano stallion with bullfighting in his bones, he was born on a prestigious Brazilian farm and sold through an elite auction to a private ranch in California. There, human misunderstanding dims his brilliance. Rider after rider mistakes his sensitivity for defiance, eroding his confidence and trust.

As an Army brat, Erin relates. She grew up always moving—the perpetual new kid, never quite belonging, rarely feeling understood. Her love for horses was her only constant. So, when Arty’s owner recognizes he needs something different and offers to sell him to her, she can’t refuse.

What follows isn’t a fairytale. Erin questions everything: her choices, her ability, whether she’s helping or hurting him. But when unexpected loss shatters her, Arty steps forward to light a path through darkness.

Told from both human and horse perspectives, The Brat and the Bullfighter is a dual coming-of-age memoir about trust, love, and the bond that forms between two souls who, in finding each other, finally find home.