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Where You Least Expect It #3
Long Summer Nights
Get away from it all… and have it all!
Journalist Jennifer Dale is on assignment, pretending that miserable isolation in upstate New York is the greatest thing ever. The only bright spot? The wickedly sexy recluse across the lake, who swims in the buff. Now, there's some wildlife a gal can enjoy watching over and over and over….
When Jennifer suffers a slight boating mishap, Hot Swimming Guy comes to her rescue. Turns out Aaron Barksdale is hot enough to switch her damsel's distress into a damsel undressed! But Aaron is more than a hot summer night between the sheets— he's also an award-winning author who disappeared from the public eye years ago. Revealing all could be the scoop of the century, but only if Jennifer's willing to risk it all.
Journalist Jennifer Dale is on assignment, pretending that miserable isolation in upstate New York is the greatest thing ever. The only bright spot? The wickedly sexy recluse across the lake, who swims in the buff. Now, there's some wildlife a gal can enjoy watching over and over and over….
When Jennifer suffers a slight boating mishap, Hot Swimming Guy comes to her rescue. Turns out Aaron Barksdale is hot enough to switch her damsel's distress into a damsel undressed! But Aaron is more than a hot summer night between the sheets— he's also an award-winning author who disappeared from the public eye years ago. Revealing all could be the scoop of the century, but only if Jennifer's willing to risk it all.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 21, 2010
About the author
Kathleen O'Reilly
110 books66 followersKathleen O'Reilly wrote her first romance at the age of eleven, which to her undying embarrassment was read aloud to her class. After taking over twenty years to recover from the profound distress, she is now proud to announce her new career - a romance author. Kathleen lives in New York with her husband and their two children who outwit her daily.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 18, 2020
Finding a book for the “Seasons” prompt was easy enough. I just scanned my shelves and pulled out Long Summer Nights because it had a season right there in the title. Trying to decide what I thought of this one was another story. This book, a Blaze title from 2010, was something of an unusual read. Unlike many category romance books I’ve read, it’s actually rather unsentimental and filled with awkward moments and sharp edges by design. Many readers will likely find it unlikable and yet there’s just something about it. Its tone just fits the characters and story perfectly, even as it might fall outside what some readers would consider a comfortable read.
The basic setup involves a heroine and hero kept in isolation. Jennifer Dale has landed a job at her dream paper, but she’s been sent from the city to upstate New York to stay in a rundown cabin at an isolated lake. There’s not much going on except for her reclusive, people-hating neighbor and his grouchy one-eyed cat.
Though the reader knows his real name right away, Aaron Barksdale initially hides his real identity from Jennifer. When they meet, she thinks he’s just a difficult recluse who writes. She doesn’t know that he’s actually a well-known writer living in exile. The two end up falling into a grouchy yet passionate affair that’s far from the usual emotional arc I’m accustomed to seeing in romance. On the one hand, I felt like I shouldn’t be liking this book because Aaron really is a cold-hearted jackass much of the time and yet I couldn’t stop reading.
If you need for your leads in a romance to be sunny and likable, this probably won’t be your book. Aaron can be off-puttingly cold and Jennifer is sometimes painfully unsure of herself and lacking in direction. Neither of them may be what traditional readers would consider an ideal person, but there is something deeply compelling about them, particularly when they are together.
This is a partial review. You can find the complete text here: https://allaboutromance.com/tbr-chall...
The basic setup involves a heroine and hero kept in isolation. Jennifer Dale has landed a job at her dream paper, but she’s been sent from the city to upstate New York to stay in a rundown cabin at an isolated lake. There’s not much going on except for her reclusive, people-hating neighbor and his grouchy one-eyed cat.
Though the reader knows his real name right away, Aaron Barksdale initially hides his real identity from Jennifer. When they meet, she thinks he’s just a difficult recluse who writes. She doesn’t know that he’s actually a well-known writer living in exile. The two end up falling into a grouchy yet passionate affair that’s far from the usual emotional arc I’m accustomed to seeing in romance. On the one hand, I felt like I shouldn’t be liking this book because Aaron really is a cold-hearted jackass much of the time and yet I couldn’t stop reading.
If you need for your leads in a romance to be sunny and likable, this probably won’t be your book. Aaron can be off-puttingly cold and Jennifer is sometimes painfully unsure of herself and lacking in direction. Neither of them may be what traditional readers would consider an ideal person, but there is something deeply compelling about them, particularly when they are together.
This is a partial review. You can find the complete text here: https://allaboutromance.com/tbr-chall...
July 20, 2014
This was a fun, quirky little book. I first heard about it from author Ruthie Knox's comments on http://wonkomance.com
"My favorite wonky hero is Aaron Barksdale, the hero of Kathleen O’Reilly’s Long Summer Nights. Aaron is a very crabby, snobby, not at all romantic novelist who lives in a cabin in the north woods and hates people. After he meets the heroine, the only sign that she’s getting to him is that he keeps killing the female character in his novel, over and over again. And then the heroine goes home to NYC, and the hero follows her and moves into the apartment above hers but doesn’t tell her, though of course she immediately figures it out. I know, it sounds like he’s horrible, but I promise, he’s great! This one is really wonky and really fun."
As we know, grumpy, fucked up heroes who resist their feelings but fall hard for their heroines anyway are my kryptonite, so I knew I'd love this. It did take a while to get going, and I put it down several times in the beginning, but once it hit about 60% things got pretty magical. The heroine was also great; she was a strong person and went after what she wanted, and was patient and kind with stubborn Aaron. And I loved all the little ways Aaron would show that he cared, even though he didn't want to.
The writing was very...lyrical I think is the right word, and though there were a lot of typos or usage of the wrong word (florid instead of floral, naval instead of navel), it wasn't too bothersome.
Despite a few imperfections and a somewhat slow beginning, this was a fun and cute story. Would definitely recommend sticking it out through the first few chapters to get to the good stuff.
"My favorite wonky hero is Aaron Barksdale, the hero of Kathleen O’Reilly’s Long Summer Nights. Aaron is a very crabby, snobby, not at all romantic novelist who lives in a cabin in the north woods and hates people. After he meets the heroine, the only sign that she’s getting to him is that he keeps killing the female character in his novel, over and over again. And then the heroine goes home to NYC, and the hero follows her and moves into the apartment above hers but doesn’t tell her, though of course she immediately figures it out. I know, it sounds like he’s horrible, but I promise, he’s great! This one is really wonky and really fun."
As we know, grumpy, fucked up heroes who resist their feelings but fall hard for their heroines anyway are my kryptonite, so I knew I'd love this. It did take a while to get going, and I put it down several times in the beginning, but once it hit about 60% things got pretty magical. The heroine was also great; she was a strong person and went after what she wanted, and was patient and kind with stubborn Aaron. And I loved all the little ways Aaron would show that he cared, even though he didn't want to.
The writing was very...lyrical I think is the right word, and though there were a lot of typos or usage of the wrong word (florid instead of floral, naval instead of navel), it wasn't too bothersome.
Despite a few imperfections and a somewhat slow beginning, this was a fun and cute story. Would definitely recommend sticking it out through the first few chapters to get to the good stuff.
July 1, 2015
So I'm cruising the e-book library desperately hoping for a cute little story to occupy my insomnia-filled night, and I hit on a collection of Harlequin romances. I don't usually read contemporaries, but there must be one book in there I can spend a few hours on, right? I started and quickly passed on a few, then in honor of my own Long Summer Night, I tried this one. And I was bowled over.
Kathleen O'Reilly should be writing literary fiction. No Kathleen O'Reilly is writing literary fiction disguised as 200-pages of genre romance. Which means, among other things, the reader is guaranteed a HEA. Her characters are interesting, somewhat angst-ridden, but very likable. The writing is sharp, the dialogue witty in a modern way, and the little nods to classic literature fun and not overdone. "She was his albatross, his white whale, his magnificent obsession" could get old fast, but a bit of it fit Aaron's personality and background and made me smile. What could have been sappy or silly instead was well-executed and engrossing.
I've never read anything else by this author, I have no idea if she's always this good. But this particular book impressed me a lot, and that's not easy to do. Especially at 3 AM when all I really want to do is sleep.
Kathleen O'Reilly should be writing literary fiction. No Kathleen O'Reilly is writing literary fiction disguised as 200-pages of genre romance. Which means, among other things, the reader is guaranteed a HEA. Her characters are interesting, somewhat angst-ridden, but very likable. The writing is sharp, the dialogue witty in a modern way, and the little nods to classic literature fun and not overdone. "She was his albatross, his white whale, his magnificent obsession" could get old fast, but a bit of it fit Aaron's personality and background and made me smile. What could have been sappy or silly instead was well-executed and engrossing.
I've never read anything else by this author, I have no idea if she's always this good. But this particular book impressed me a lot, and that's not easy to do. Especially at 3 AM when all I really want to do is sleep.
August 27, 2022
This is a lukewarm romance which I could not get into. The main reason is the note of disdain that is so heavy in this book. It’s the way the Aaron treated Jenn where he exposed his massive masculine fragility that she repeatedly called out but never really changed. Basically, he was written so badly that I don’t buy that the heroine could ever have changed his mind and his opinion about the world.
So, romance was NOT believable.
So, romance was NOT believable.
August 15, 2011
An excellent book that doesn't pull any punches. I adored the hero, he was so dark, tortured and Byronic. Definitely a book worth reading if you are into romances. I was not expecting anything this good and I was blown away by their relationship and the indept character analysis. This is what a romance should be. I do hope Blaze publishes more like this instead of some of the mediocre tripe they generally put out.
March 1, 2016
I really enjoyed the banter between Jennifer and Aaron. Or maybe I am just a sucker for a man that had a broken childhood and is slightly obsessive with his writing, who is hot - lol. She has a nice sunny personality and doesn't try to change him, just figure him out. Harmony Springs is the type of small town I would enjoy visiting (but maybe not stay at the cottages she was at). A quick, enjoyable read.
June 10, 2012
The second half of this book is so good! I almost gave up on it because the first half was so pedestrian and I didn't even really like the characters but I'm so glad I stuck with it.
I loved Didi. I kept hearing Edna Mode's voice in my head.
I loved Didi. I kept hearing Edna Mode's voice in my head.
May 13, 2010
Best contemporary series romance I've read in ages. Dialogue and characterization just blew me away.
November 9, 2010
See my review of this book: Long Summer Nights (Australian edition)
May 15, 2010
Blah, Harlequin Romance.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews