Summer Nights

Mallery (Summer Days) is an unabashed escapist, and her cozy California town of Fool’s Gold has never heard of a state budget crisis. It offers every possible service, including in-vitro fertilization, at prices all can afford; women occupy most positions of power; and the only bad guys come from out of town. Annabelle Weiss is a bombshell librarian who moved to Fool’s Gold to escape her marriage to a pompous jerk. Shane Stryker is a local cowboy made good who’s also divorced, but unlike Annabelle, he’s willing to try again—with someone nice, safe, and boring. Annabelle, who likes to dance on bars, doesn’t fit the bill. But he also can’t stop thinking about her, and when she shows up at his thoroughbred ranch (where an Arabian stallion improbably roams free) to ask for riding lessons, Shane goes along for the gallop. There’s a little fun, a little sizzle, and a whole lot of homespun charm. Agent: Annelise Robey, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (July)