I never even had a horsey phase. :-) But Francis&Francis had a talent for making the racehorsing world interesting even if you've never been interested in horses.

I'm reading them for the pleasure of it, but I'm also finding it interesting from a writer's perspective to watch how Francis constructed the novels. I think romance writers would do well to study the books, because they're an excellent course in how to write a formulaic genre without feeling formulaic.