Summer Nights by Susan Mallery

Horse whisperer Shane Stryker is done with passion. This time around, he's determined to meet someone who will be content with the quiet life of a rancher's wife. And the fiery, pint-size redhead who dazzles him at the local bar definitely does not fit the bill. 

Small-town librarian Annabelle Weiss has always seen herself as more of a sweetheart than a siren, so she can't understand why Shane keeps pushing her away. Shane has formed the totally wrong impression of her but only he can help her with a special event for the next Fool's Gold festival. And maybe while he's at it, she can convince him to teach her a few things about kissing on hot summer nights, too—some lessons, a girl shouldn't learn from reading a book!

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With this being book #8 in the series you would think that it would be hard to keep it fresh while keeping up with the residents of Fool's Gold. Luckily, Susan Mallery is a master at her craft and "Summer Nights" just makes the little town of Fool's Gold, California seem more and more appealing.

With small town librarian Annabelle and horse whisperer Shane getting their turn in the spotlight, "Summer Nights" keeps with the long-standing formula of a great romance mixed in with the every day lives of people that we would all enjoy being friends with. Annabelle is looking to find someone who accepts her for exactly who she is without wanting her to change, unfortunately, Shane spots her at the one time in her life that she stepped out of her comfort zone and formed all kinds of wrong opinions of her! He's looking for someone who is stable and wants to settle down in to a peaceful existence with no drama and seeing Annabelle dancing on the bar has him thinking that she's the kind of woman who craves attention.


This was my favorite of this part of the Fool's Gold series and I found both of the leading characters to be very likable and people that I genuinely cared about.  That means a lot to me when I'm investing time and money into my reading addiction - give me characters that I care about and can relate to and a story that isn't completely far fetched.  This was definitely better than the previous title, "Summer Days".
 
The whole story is essentially wrapped around one of Fool's Gold's famous festivals and Susan Mallery lets us see how all of the locals are doing in their lives without letting them take up too much time from Shane and Annabelle. This is another great story for the series and a must read and a great addition to your Susan Mallery bookshelf!