Shane Stryker has moved his horse operations to Fool’s Gold, California and is living with his mother at the Castle Ranch. Shane wants to settle down, build his own ranch and find a wife that likes the quiet life—unlike his ex-wife, who thrived on attention. Therefore, when he walked in Jo’s Bar to get a beer and saw this beautiful, red haired woman dancing on the bar it brought back memories of his ex-wife, Rachel.

Annabelle Weiss is the town librarian and needs to take horse riding lessons so that she will be ready for the pageant honoring the Maa-Zib women, warriors who lived in the vicinity of Fool’s Gold centuries ago. Annabelle is referred to Shane for the lessons, by his future sister-in-law, Heidi. The pageant is a fund raiser for the library and Annabelle hopes it will bring in enough money for a book mobile and some books for older residents and children living too far from town to get their books from her.

When the bar-dancing-red-head shows up to take a riding lesson Shane is appalled, mainly because of his attraction to her. When he finds out she has never been on a horse because she is afraid of them, he doesn’t know what to do. Shane has been trying to tame a beautiful rogue white stallion named Khater, the horse is considered a killer. But, when Khater sees Annabelle, the horse unlocks his enclosure and trots toward her with stars in his eyes. Shane makes a deal with Annabelle—if she will help him tame Khater he will teach her to ride at no charge. Together they will also try to teach Khater how to do a dance for the pageant parade.

The second entry in Susan Mallery’s Stryker Brothers series is one smoking hot and laugh out loud story. Annabelle is basically a very shy person and isn’t looking for love. Shane’s been burned once and has erroneously classified Annabelle as a fast woman without getting to know the real person. But he cannot deny the very strong chemistry between them. Returning characters from the first book, SUMMER DAYS, are back and as clever as they were in the series’ debut. This is a book that be enjoyed in all seasons and one of Ms. Mallery’s best.