Title: Summer Days
Author: Susan Mallery
Series: Fool’s Gold, #7
Published: May 2012, HQN Books
Format: e-book, 378 pages
Source: Personal copy
New York Times bestselling
author Susan Mallery returns with a new Fool’s Gold trilogy featuring
three rugged cowboys who will find love in the unlikeliest of
places….Locked in an unexpected land dispute, Rafe
Stryker is trapped in the one place he vowed never to return to-the
Castle Ranch in Fool’s Gold, California. He made millions facing
ruthless adversaries in the boardroom, but nothing could’ve prepared him
to go head-to-head against stubborn, beautiful Heidi Simpson. No one is
more surprised than Rafe to discover that he’s finding Heidi-and life
as a cowboy-much more compelling than he wants to admit.For
Heidi, the Castle Ranch is the home she’s always wanted. After a life
on the road, the vivacious blonde has finally put down roots. She won’t
give that up without a fight, not even for a man whose late-night kisses
make her yearn to be a little less…wholesome.As the two turn from passionate adversaries to passionate, period, they’ll discover that summer love can last a lifetime.
My thoughts: Oh, how I am loving this series. It seems that each book has me falling more in love with the town of Fool’s Gold and the characters. This time around, the trilogy involves the Stryker brothers – and I just know I am going to love each one more than the last one!
The first one focuses on Rafe, a good guy at heart, but I loved how Susan Mallery shows that he has his bad boy traits as well. After putting his rough childhood behind him, the last thing he wants is to come back to Fool’s Gold and be suckered again. When his mom, May is taken advantage of by Heidi’s grandfather, he arrives guns blazing. After a court hearing decides that they must share the land until further notice, he reluctantly agrees to stay. The thing is, he finds himself attracted to Heidi despite his eagerness to get things settled for his mom and get out of dodge.
I loved how Heidi and Rafe dance around for a while…it’s so clear there’s something brewing between them. Of course, their path to love is not an easy one – and really – what fun is it when the path is easy? They have their ups and downs, and along the way, some other relationships blossom, too. There are also some interesting arrivals at the ranch – including a big elephant – all due to May and her love of animals. We also get to know Heidi’s friends and I have a feeling they are going to be the ones that get paired up in this trilogy…wouldn’t that be fun – friends becoming sisters-in-laws!!!
What I really enjoy about this series is that the books are light and relatively quick reads. The characters are fun and you find yourself cheering for them as they feel their way through their issues. I particularly enjoy it when the trilogies focus on families – then we really get to know them – as we did with the Hendrix family and now we will with the Strkyer family. That’s what I love about small towns like Fool’s Gold – everyone knowing everyone!
Books in this series:
1. Chasing Perfect 8. Summer Nights
2. Almost Perfect 9. All Summer Long
2.5 Sister of the Bride 9.5 A Fool’s Gold Christmas
3. Finding Perfect 9.75 Halfway There
4. Only Mine 10. Just One Kiss
5. Only Yours 11. Two of a Kind
6. Only His 12. Three Little Words
6.1 Only Us 12.5 Christmas on 4th Street
6.2 Almost Summer
7. Summer Days
