Barefoot Season (Blackberry Island)

I have read/listened to a lot of Susan Mallery's books. I always enjoy them... until this one. Characters weren't interesting and thus I didn't care about them at all.
Ordered this on CD.... and forced myself to listen to 2 of the 8 CD's. After that unpleasant experience.... I threw it in the trash.
Makes me question what happened to the fun, enjoyable books that she has written before.

Don't waste your money on this book!!!!!!!!!!

This is another in the Fools Gold series that does not have much story line but is a gentle read for summer. It is difficult to believe there are so many, somewhat dysfunctional, people living in one area, although the theme of a town coming to the rescue for everyone is a nice dream.

The characters were more lifelike than usual in romance novels. Charlie came from a dysfunctional environment and she was not a gorgeous, petite little thing. She had a solid, honest character and was a perfect fit for Clay who was trying to leave behind his own demons. Few relationships are without doubts and external pressures, but working through them together was the key to their success. I did enjoy the book, but could have done with fewer intimate details. I will look forward to reading more of her books.

I was a fool; I believed the 163 people that gave (Fools Gold) 5 stars. What were you thinking? The book was a maw of foolishness. Were you fooled by the superficial underwear model that had everything handed to him and then comes home to people handing him more money for a lame idea. That's right, you fell for his magnanimous gesture of falling in love with the ugly duckling; gag me with a spoon! She was a firefighter who should have known better! Susan Mallery should have known better than using the stereotype of a homely girl gets beautiful boy: how shallow! But I gave you one star for making her a firefighter! I will not be fooled again!

As a general rule I love Susan Mallory books, but this one was missing something. It seemed like she was all over the place touching many issues but never fully developing any of them. Normally there is interaction between the romantic leads in a romance novel. I did not find that to be the case in this book. There was little conversation between the two. This book was very disappointing.

This is another in the Fools Gold series that does not have much story line but is a gentle read for summer. It is difficult to believe there are so many, somewhat dysfunctional, people living in one area, although the theme of a town coming to the rescue for everyone is a nice dream.

The characters were more lifelike than usual in romance novels. Charlie came from a dysfunctional environment and she was not a gorgeous, petite little thing. She had a solid, honest character and was a perfect fit for Clay who was trying to leave behind his own demons. Few relationships are without doubts and external pressures, but working through them together was the key to their success. I did enjoy the book, but could have done with fewer intimate details. I will look forward to reading more of her books.

I was a fool; I believed the 163 people that gave (Fools Gold) 5 stars. What were you thinking? The book was a maw of foolishness. Were you fooled by the superficial underwear model that had everything handed to him and then comes home to people handing him more money for a lame idea. That's right, you fell for his magnanimous gesture of falling in love with the ugly duckling; gag me with a spoon! She was a firefighter who should have known better! Susan Mallery should have known better than using the stereotype of a homely girl gets beautiful boy: how shallow! But I gave you one star for making her a firefighter! I will not be fooled again!

As a general rule I love Susan Mallory books, but this one was missing something. It seemed like she was all over the place touching many issues but never fully developing any of them. Normally there is interaction between the romantic leads in a romance novel. I did not find that to be the case in this book. There was little conversation between the two. This book was very disappointing.

I am a huge fan of Susan Mallory but this is the worst piece of drivel I've had the displeasure to read in a long time. I'm not sure what it is but it is not a romance novel. It definitely is a fantasy and not in a good way. I kept looking forward to the white rabbit, man behind the curtain or perhaps even a vampire. Alas, no such luck.

Michelle is a returning wounded war veteran. Good marks for that one. However, she returns to find her former friend, Carly, has replaced her in her mother's affection, her former job and, most importantly, in her property. Not what one would expect when returning a war hero. Adding insult to injury, Michelle finds that her mother has mortgaged the property, a property that is owned wholly by Michelle, not once but twice and the bank is going to foreclose (of course they are) because the irresponsible mother didn't think to make the payments on the large loans.

This is where the fantasy begins. Banks (especially small town banks) do not lend large sums of money to persons of dubious means, for prolonged periods of time, on properties that do not belong to the borrower, without the owner's knowledge or consent. Even if we dispel reality for an instant and assume that the mother had some trust relationship over Michelle and the property, that trust relationship was very close to ending. Banks don't lend hundreds of thousands of dollars for tens of years to an individual in a position of fiduciary responsibility that is facing imminent termination of that very relationship.

Further, banks do not (not even small town banks) get involved in running a business that they have loaned money on. Banks are barely qualified to run their own businesses and, in this case, they have clearly mismanaged this piece of business. But, as one would expect from a flight of fancy, the bank agrees to work out payments if - and only if - Michelle agrees to retain the services of the traitorous Carly as Manager of the property/business. And, of course, Michelle eagerly agrees.

What absolute hogwash! In the real world, Michelle would have contacted the local bar association for a referral and brought suit against the bank for fraud with regard to those spurious contracts which were, at least, a huge breach of fiduciary responsibility, definitely unethical and very probably unlawful. Maybe then we could have had a really good court room drama with a heroic lawyer for the plaintiff. Or maybe Michelle would have contacted the local veterans association where she could have found legal advice and a hunky war vet to help her cause. Anything but the sentimental and oh so fantastic trash that was dished up.

In the end I felt that my intelligence had been insulted. It would have been much better if there had been a white rabbit, man behind the curtain or a vampire. At least that would have been true fantasy and I would not have been so offended.

In All Summer Long, Susan Mallery brings the Stryker brothers' trilogy to an outstanding finish and tantalizes her readers with a teasing glimpse of their sister Evageline's upcoming story. While this latest novel in the Fool's Gold series is a bit more serious than the previous two novels, it is a romantic and fairly light-hearted read.

Well drawn and true to life, Charlie Dixon and Clay Stryker are fabulous characters. Straightforward, blunt and to the point, Charlie is a refreshing breath of fresh air. She says what she means and she means what she says. Never mean or hurtful, she is sensitive to others' feelings and she gets her point across with an great deal of tact. Finally ready to put her painful past behind her, Charlie entices Clay with a proposal he finds impossible to resist.

Ahh, Clay. I confess. He is my favorite of the three brothers. Former underwear model and butt double with spectacular looks that routinely inspire numerous propositions from legions of women both young and old, he is surprisingly blasé about how gorgeous he is. More than just a pretty face (and butt), he is a kind-hearted, down-to-earth, intelligent and surprisingly insightful man. He has arrived in Fool's Gold with a well-researched business plan and a strong desire to contribute to the local community.

While their relationship is originally based on their mutual sexual attraction, there is true friendship, mutual respect and genuine affection between Clay and Charlie. Clay's patience and understanding with Charlie adds to his character's depth and appeal. Their sex scenes are quite sensual and reveal a lot about their emotions and feelings for one another.

The secondary story line with Charlie's mother, Dominique, provides most of the conflict in All Summer Long. Dominique is vain, shallow, amazingly self-centered and highly critical of Charlie. Absent for much of Charlie's childhood due to Dominique's career as a world-renowned ballerina, they have been estranged for quite some time and for Charlie, their relationship is a minefield of hurt feelings and unmet needs. With a whole lot of advice from May Stryker, Dominique tries to heal past mistakes and become the mother that Charlie deserves.

Ms. Mallery presents some very interesting contrasts in All Summer Long. May Stryker is the epitome of the perfect mother (at least for the Stryker men) and Dominique, well, we know where she falls on the parenting spectrum. Instead of the heroine being judged based on her appearance, Clay is the one who is objectified. But the difference I found most striking and fascinating is the vast and completely opposite effect fame has on Clay and Dominique. It is absolutely amazing how differently the two react to their respective careers and how they view and interact with other people around them.

All Summer Long is a moving and heartfelt story about healing the past. It is also a beautiful romance that is slow-growing, sweet and most important, realistic. Susan Mallery handles a difficult and sensitive topic with exquisite care in a believable and forthright manner.

All Summer Long is another magnificent installment in the delightfully charming Fool's Gold series that old and new fans are sure to enjoy. The intriguing glimpses of old and new characters leave readers eagerly anticipating their next visit in the lovely town of Fool's Gold.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

I think this maybe my fave, so far, in the Fool's Gold series of course I've said this about each book LOL I do love both the hero and heroine. Charlie has been a little out of focus through several of the books-she's been seen as the big, strong friend but this book brings out her wonderful personality and of course the hero, Clay, that compliments her.

Charlie is best friends with Heidi, the newlywed in SUMMER DAYS, and Annabelle, the newly engaged in SUMMER NIGHTS, who have met their soulmates in the Stryker brothers, Rafe and Shane so this leaves the youngest brother Clay, single and unattached. He has been a underwear model and even had his bare butt in the movies. Charlie needs some help and Clay seems to be the guy that can do it!

You can take a wild guess what she needs help doing and maybe you'd be right. This is the big secret Charlie has been holding onto for years. She tells her close friends after she has decided to do this. To add to Charlie's problems her mother has come to town to make Charlie pay attention to her and Dominique needs a lesson on how to get along and be close as mother/daughter.

The book is great! Ms Mallery has created a too good place in Fool's Gold but like a tourist I'll keep coming back.

This is a book that is very timely with regard to some of the issues the author tackles. A returning veteran who did three deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan is faced with emotional and physical damage. Two former best friends are angry at each other over a very powerful event seen by both individuals as a betrayal. The need to overcome one or more deep seated fears -- whether it be fear of the water or a willingness to take a chance on love again. Michelle Sanderson is the returning wounded veteran. She owns Blackberry Island Inn. Carly Williams has managed the Inn for the last ten years, while Michelle has been in the military. These are the two key characters in the book, and former best friends. As the story unfolds it becomes clear that both Carly and Michelle have emotional baggage. Carly fears Michelle's feelings about her will cost Carly her job at the Inn. Michelle confronts Carly and fires her on Michelle's first day back, only to learn she badly needs Carly in the Inn's crisis situation. The book centers around the people and their relationships. Can Carly and Michelle call a truce given both are needed to overcome the dire financial straits faced by the Inn and accumulated by Michelle's now deceased mother, Brenda? Will Carly and Michelle bond? Does Ellen, the banker who drew up strict financial stipulations regarding the Inn, be a help or hindrance, friend or foe? Know that a Chance, an abused dog, given to Michelle by her landlord Jared, plays an important role in this story. The dog faces his own recovery. Also, not all people (e.g. Damaris) are what they seem to be! I loved reading this book especially because of the development of the characters. A good read!

All Summer Long A Fool's Gold Romance by Susan Mallery
ISBN: 9780373776948
Clay Stryker, model movie butt double was just trying to help the firewoman get the cat out of the tree.
Charlie is the towns firewoman and has a handle on things.
The Stryker family wants to go into business where families come to stay at their houses and work on the farm to see/feel how things are done in that environment with no deadlines, called haycations with some modern conveniences.
Clay was still considering joining the family to do just that.
Love the fact that you can read this as a standalone book and it summarizes on what's happened in the past so you're not totally lost.
Charlie has her horse stabled at Rafe's ranch, where Clay is staying so they run into one another often and go riding together. That gives them a lot of time to talk and get to know one another better.
Charlie has had a bad shake when it comes to men and that was explained in another Fool's Gold book. She's attempting to get over the fear by showing interest in Clay.
She opens up to Clay hoping he can help with her problems. She wonders if he will ever answer her after a few days have gone by.
There are a lot of things I've left unsaid as I think it's best you read about them yourselves first hand with a smile on your face as it was on mine.
Her famous mother coming back into he life just complicates things.
Like Clay's approach, nice and slow to fix her problems.
Steamy hot sex and you won't be disappointed in the storyline.
Learning about fires and how to fight them, the training they go through is very thorough.
Love the travel adventure, just right!

Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery

Michelle is back on Blackberry Island where she's owner of the Inn. She has left others in charge of it
while she was in the Army for 10 years. Her mother has passed away now also.
Carly is the one who runs the Inn. She stayed and married Allen after finding him in bed with Michelle.
They have a daughter called Gabby and Allen is out of the picture. Although his brother Robert has stepped
up to the plate by helping with anything Carly and Gabby need.
Michelle is still recuperating from her hip injury and she is still suffering from severe pain.
She doesn't like how the Inn has changed, inside and outside.
She is doing therapy at the VA center and on her way out finds a sign about a rental on the island. She called
and will be moving in after she saw the place. It's close to the Inn and will help once she gets the finances for
the Inn straightened out. She had to make a deal with the bank on that score.
Carly and Michelle are at least talking and brainstorming about how to save money so the Inn will survive.
Michelle also shares some of the ordeal she went through when she got shot.
She really needs a group to help with the pain of remembering what happened during the war and she's fighting doing
that. They handle crisis at the Inn and in their personal lives.
Something has to give or Michelle is just gonna collapse...
They are both forced to confront their parents, water mishaps and getting shut down by the Health Dept.
Recipes are at end make this an exc read!

I really enjoyed this book. It seems as though I have read many books recently where the heroine is supporting her wounded or psychologically damaged man but this time the wounded warrior is the heroine! Michelle is an interesting character as she is physically and emotionally damaged and we should instantly like her. But she is also nasty and vindictive and at first not really likable.
Carly, the other main character in the series is also all of the things we normally admire; plucky single mom wronged by her husband and best friend, but she too has sides to her that are not very admirable. Both of these women have pasts that cause them to dislike each other but they also have a long friendship seems to be sorely needed by both of them.

When Michelle returns to run the inn her father left her years ago, she has just been discharged from a military hospital, and nothing is what she expected. Her recently deceased mother has run up the bills, added lots of unneeded parts to the inn and left Michelle's former best friend in charge. Michelle has every intention of giving Carly the boot, but circumstances force the two women together. There have been betrayals on both sides and neither woman is ready to forgive let alone forget

Ms. Mallery does a wonderful job of portraying two women in an awkward situation who have to just suck it up and get on with their lives. The reader thinks they know all of the reasons why they hate each other but we really only know the surface issue until halfway through the book. Both women need to find a way to coexist and put the past behind them. Michelle is dealing with PTSD and teetering on the edge of alcoholism. Her relationship with her landlord Jared is perfectly done- no Mr. Right jumping in and solving all of her problems right away. She has to work on getting better before the relationship. Carly also has to look at her priorities when a possible romance comes her way and not make the same bad decisions she has before.

There are some interesting secondary characters who provide a little villainy to the story but primarily the story revolves around Michelle and Carly which works very well. I am not sure if this is the start to a series but I would definitely enjoy another visit to Blackberry Island (Daisies and all) !

This is the end of the third cycle of books set in Fool's Gold. This book focuses on Charlie and Clay. Clay is the youngest Stryker brother. He is a former model who has moved back to Fool's Gold to be closer to family and start a new business venture. Charlie is a firefighter and has just watched her two friends Heidi and Annabelle fall in love. She has decided that she is going to overcome her issues with men and intimacy so that she can move on with her life. Charlie wants to be a mother and has decided she needs to work on her own healing first. Clay agrees to help her, with the understanding that everything is casual between them.

I can't say enough about the Fool's Gold series by Ms. Mallory! I usually do not like contemporary romance novels and yet I can't stop reading this series. I want to know more about the characters and want to learn more about the town. I love the little peeks at the prior couples and updates on their lives that she weaves into the story. I can't wait to pick up the next book!

I really enjoyed this book. The characters Charlie & Clay were two very emotional characters written very well. Charlie was afraid of touching men & men in general since a horrible experience 10 years earlier. Clay was trying to retire as a world famous butt model but found everyone judged him & saw him only as a model. They were both trying to break free of their past & found a way to help each other "heal".

I love the fact that Clay & Charlie became friends before they became lovers. They had great dialouge between each other since they were both stong minded. Their love story was sweet and had a great ending. I loved Clay, he so far is my favorite male in this series. I thought Charlie was okay, I am not fond of stories where the women is insecure in sexual ways but this is what Charlie's character is about and it written very well. It was nice seeing her open up to Clay and becoming more secure with herself & Clay.

There were some side stories about Charlies mom & Clay's haycations that went well with the story. You got to meet the sister Edie who will be in the next book. There was little with past characters from Fools Gold books, even Annibelle & Heidi. I enjoyed this book better than the last two in the series and look forward to more.

This is my second book from Susan Mallery and I loved the first one so I had extremely high standards for this book. I think that Mallery does a wonderful job writing literary fiction and has the ability to write about real-life problems without completely romanticizing everything. I like the fact that not everything is like a fairytale, much like real life. Of course, everyone wants that happy ending, but I also like realistic, which I think Mallery has certainly mastered in her writing.

I did find a tad bit of difficulty in starting out on the book, however, once I got past the first few chapters, it was smooth sailing and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Michelle and Carly. I thought that it was a great story, not similar to many other romance books. I have seen some complaints about the lack of romance in this story, however, I am just the opposite, and appreciated a real genuine story without all of the romance. I liked being able to hear about the life of Michelle and Carly and how they were trying to get back to their true selves and their true love for Blackberry Island.

I thought that the characters were catty, sarcastic, and unforgettable. I enjoyed reading about characters that are not your ordinary people. I would have liked to learn more of how the relationships evolved at the end but there's more to the series, so we will see what follows.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to more Blackberry Island with Three Sisters!

Charlie is my favorite Fool's Gold character!
Susan Mallery does a beautifully sensitive job writing about the lasting scars and long recovery from rape. She is able to incorporate fear, apprehension, longing, and humor into this sensitive subject.

Charlie grew up with a mother who made her believe she was too big and too awkward to ever be considered beautiful. And then when she was raped by one of the "popular" boys in college, no one believed he would ever have sex with someone like her without her begging for it. These emotional scars have remained with Charlie her entire life, and have kept her isolated from romance and relationships. When Charlie decides she wants to have children she talks to her friends about the options available to her without involving a man. Upon the urging of one of her friends, she decides to work on healing and caring for herself a little more before she tries to care for a child. When Charlie meets Clay she is excited that, for the first time since the rape, she has butterflies in her stomach and finds herself attracted to a man. The butterflies are an indicator to Charlie that she is not completely broken and healing may be possible. A friendship quickly develops between the two when Charlie sees Clay being unfairly judged based on his past work and good looks, and she decides to stand up for him. As Charlie begins to trust Clay and continues to feel yearnings and anticipation around him, she decides to ask Clay for help in her healing.

While Clay is taken by surprise at Charlie's request, and initially hesitant, he decides he would be honored to help his new friend. Clay takes Charlie's request very seriously and does some research on the trauma of rape and what victims need to recover. Clay refuses to honor Charlie's request to simply have sex; he wants to build up her trust and anticipation so the actual sexual event will be about the two of them and their relationship. But, as their relationship deepens and progresses, Clay worries about hurting Charlie because he "knows" he is not in love with her.

While all of this is happening with Charlie and Clay, Charlie's mother shows up in town determined to heal the relationship she is lacking with her daughter. Charlie's life is thrown into an upheaval and it is not clear if she is going to come out of it healed, or more damaged.

Reviewed By~Stacey
Review Copy Provided By~ARC by Author

Best friends; you love each other, you hate each other. It's all part of life. In Susan Mallery's soon-to-be released "Barefoot Season" we meet two former best friends who have so much hostility toward one another that it was hard to like them or imagine why anyone would want to be friends with them in the first place!

I have to admit, I am a die-hard Susan Mallery romance fan. I've read them all - twice! As with last year's Best of Friends, Susan takes us through the story that does have romantic elements but the main plot deals with the difficult relationships between family and friends. In previous books, she presents realistic struggles between friends, family and lovers and Barefoot Season is no exception. The animosity between Michelle and Carly is palpable on every page and at times I wished that they would just scream it out and move on.

Everything in its own time.

Not only is Michelle recovery from the horrors of war and an injury, she returns home after her mother's death to find her beloved inn in financial ruins. Add to that the fact that Carly is running the inn and the two are forced to work together.

Carly's a single mom struggling with a lifetime of lies and just wanting a chance at a normal life but with Michelle back in town, she finds it difficult to look at the future when the past is still hanging over her head. Along the way other relationships form and, as she does so well, we get that taste of romance that Susan Mallery writes so well. If I had one complaint it was that I would have liked to see a little bit more of the development of these relationships; I think it could have been interesting to watch the romantic relationships evolve and how those relationships come to help Carly and Michelle with their own friendship.

All in all, Barefoot Season is a wonderful read. Once I started, I could not put it down. While not your typical romance, there's still enough for even the most devout fan. For those of you looking for a good book to use with your book club, Susan has even included questions for discussion at the end. Being that we all have had best friends, this story has a lot to offer to a group discussion setting.

I love an author who is in tune with her readers!

For those of you that are fans of Susan Mallery's and have become obsessed with her Fool's Gold series (like myself) the first thing you realize is this is not the "Land of Happy Endings". But Blackberry Island will have you wanting to visit all the same.

Michelle left her home 10 years ago after her life fell apart and she lost everyone she cared about including and probably most importantly her best friend Carly. Now Michelle returns from serving her country batter and bruised in more ways then one. She was shot in the hip and what she wants is a little bit of R&R (rest and recovery) at home on Blackberry Island. She needs a place to heal both physically and emotionally. However as the saying goes "you can never go home again". When she returns to the Inn that was given to her by her father and was in trust until her mother died a few months ago she finds that everything has been changed and none of it for the good. And the worst part is that Carly has had a hand in all of it.

Carly has been running the inn under the assumption that she would grow into becoming a partner but when Michelle's mother passes she learns the 10 years she has spent working her tail off was for nothing. Her biggest fear is losing her job and being homeless with her 9 year old daughter. She would do anything for her daughter. Even work beside Michelle, the woman who betrayed her so many years ago.

This book is not about romance but about relationships. The relationship between friends, parents and men and how having them and losing them define who we are. Usually when reading a romance you read both the man and woman point of view but this is about Michelle and Carly. This is their story and while romance is on the horizon it is not the focus of this novel. It is about lifelong friendships and how the decisions we make effect us for the rest of our lives. The book is also a look into the healing of a returning soldier but this time that soldier is a female which is different then so many novels out now. This is an incredible book told about women by a woman and meant to be read by every woman. We have all had that friendship we thought would last a lifetime. But for Carly and Michelle it didn't.. or did it? Do not miss this book and while you are picking up this book pick up Mallery's Fool's Gold series... You will not be disappointed!

My Review:

Friendship.
Recovery.
Forgiveness.
That's what this book is about and it was a really fantastic read. But there is a long road in this book to the happy ending and a lot of it is filled with very real issues for both Carly and Michelle, but especially for Michelle. She's just come back from war, wounded both inside and out, and she is sinking fast.

This entire book takes place in the quaint little tourist destination of Blackberry Island. The inn where Michelle grew up is here and now she owns it. She's come back to take over after being gone for 10 years. Standing in her way is her former best friend, Carly. Michelle fled Blackberry Island when she slept with Carly's fiance 2 days before their wedding and they've never spoken since. But as you could guess, there is MUCH MORE to both sides of their story than this.

There are two main characters in this book...Carly and Michelle. Both of them have learned to be strong and self-reliant the hard way. Once upon a time, they were there for each other, but then one of those hard-knocks of life ripped their friendship to shreds and neither one of them have truly recovered in the ten years since. Michelle has spent that ten years at war as a soldier and she has the scars to prove it. Carly spent those ten years as a single mother under the dominated, manipulative hand of Michelle's mother. When they find out that they have to work together, neither one of them is happy, but they are in a situation that neither of them can control.

This is a book about healing. Michelle has a physical and mental healing that needs to happen. Carly needs some mental healing too. Both of them need relationship healing and over the course of the summer, you get to share that with them through this book. There are so many poignant, moving scenes in this book as well as minor romance story lines for the both girls. The scene when the dog comes on the scene with Michelle...bawling! Such an amazing scene.

This is a book that makes you feel good to read it. It's certainly not all rainbows and daisies...although there are a LOT of daisies in the book. But it's real. It's about real emotions and real feelings and real life situations....set in a fictional book. ;o) I really enjoyed it. It would make a fabulous summer vacation read.

Clay is one of three brothers. He left home young and made a career for himself as a model & got married. He's returning to his hometown a widower and looking to make his new business in town and put down roots in the community. Charlie is an only child - her father died years ago and she is enstranged from her prima ballerina mother. Years ago she was date raped in college, and while this hasn't stopped her from living her life (she is a full-time firewoman), she hasn't been in any kind of intimate relationship with a man for 10 years. When Clay and Charlie meet, they are able to talk and form a personal connection. Charlie asks Clay to work on her intimacy issues with her so that she can heal emotionally. Her goal is to be more together emotionally so that she can make plans to have a child. The learning curve of seduction for Charlie & the interaction between her and Clay is very sweet. In the end they both kind of heal each other. The sub-plot involving Charlie's mom coming to town was good too - realistic and not too syrupy. I would read more books by this author.

Two ex-best friends find themselves in a predicament. One, Michelle Sanderson, finds herself returning home to Blackberry Island injured and broken from the war, never expecting to find her legacy in its current state. The Blackberry Island Inn has changed drastically over the years that she has been gone, and its place stands a monstrosity in Michelle's opinion. Unfortunately, for Michelle there is one person who sees things differently.

Carly Williams had her carefully orchestrated life turned upside-down by those she thought were supposed to love her. Just days before her wedding, she found her fiancee in bed with whom she thought was supposed to be her best friend, a best friend who conveniently escaped the island and went off to war. Carly's life crumbled after that through further betrayals and it was at the Blackberry Island Inn that she found a way to try and heal and provide for her baby. That same inn was promised to her by Michelle's mother, Brenda, in return for dedicating her life to helping Brenda run it.

Michelle's return brings turmoil and pain as well as the truth about who actually owns the inn. Carly realizes that Brenda had lied to her and she and her daughter Gabby's future lies in Michelle's hands. Michelle and Carly are also surprised to see the financial damage that Brenda caused before her death and that both will have to work together to find a way to survive.

Susan Mallery weaves a story of broken friendships, betrayal and damaged relationships that need a helping hand in order to mend. Carly and Michelle are women that have been hurt in different ways and are both weary of change and the pain that may come along with it. Readers will enjoy learning about the characters struggles and inner strength while they rediscover the power of friendship. Susan Mallery has yet again written a story that draws you in and makes you root for the characters.

I enjoyed this book, though there were a few moments where I thought it could move faster.

This is a story about two women that grew up together as best friends but became estranged through family issues and jealously. Michelle ran away to the Army for ten years while Carly was a single mother scratching out a living. The story begins when Michelle returns home wounded physically and suffering from PTSD to find her former friend Carly has taken over the Inn that Michelle owns. It is a story about both of them finding themselves and rediscovering their friendship through financial and business problems.

I would classify this as a friendship story, since the romance relationships that each of them find is very secondary. The author had her work reviewed by returning women soldiers and I found the PTSD discussed in the book realistic and not overwhelming for a fiction and romance specification.

SPOILER ALERT: I had trouble understanding how the Michelle's mother was able to get 2 mortgages on the Inn when it seemed Michelle had just sort of let her manage the place while she was away. Access to checking accounts is one thing, but mortgage signature authority without the owner being involved? I also thought the father had died at some point and she had inherited the Inn, but he had run away so I guess he signed it over to his daughter in the divorce?

The next in the series appears to be on the same island and about 3 new women that rediscover themselves and friendship.

Format: Borrowed ebook

Review: Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery
4 STARS Barefoot Season is the first Blackberry Island novel. It is a complex storyline with a little romance in it. A couple of love scenes. I like the questions about the book in the back. Michelle has been away from her home on Blackberry Island at the hotel thats been in her family for a couple of years. She has been in the army and deployed over thier 3 times and come back wounded. Her mother has died three months ago and really blamed her for everything. She finds her former bestfriend Carly running the inn and living in her apartment with her daughter at the inn. Michelle and Carly were close until thier senior year when Michelle's father left her mother to runaway with Carly's mother. Carly and Michelle's mother both blamed her for thier running away. Both Michelle and Carly loved the same guy who two days before the wedding slep with Michelle and Carly walked in on them. Carly pregant still married him and Michelle ran away and enlisted. Michelle is suffering physcally and emotionly from the war. She also finds that the hotel has grown and now as two morgages on it. The day she got back she fired Carly when she found her living in her former room. Carly is scared for the future. She found out that Michelle's mother had lied to her for years telling her that she will be earning up to half of the hotel. It was never hers to promise that. She had been working for peanuts because of that promise of a better future for her and her daughter. Her husband Alan had left before the baby came and took all her money with her. she would lose her job and her daughters only home. So she did not leave as Michelle told her too. The bank officer is making Michelle keep Carly on for two years to run the hotel and if Michelle can't bring the morgages current will have to forfit the hotel. Thier has already been an offer for the hotel. The characters were complex at least Michelle and Carly are. They have real problems to work through. The romance of the book seems rushed and could have had a bigger part of the story than it did. I was surprised at some of the developments in the story. Like Gabby and Chance a lot. Wonder if I missed exactly why Michelle really hates daisies. I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley. 03/17/2012 PUB Harlequin Mira

"A delightful surprise from classic romance writer Susan Mallory, Barefoot Season explores the boundaries of friendship and family, and the difficulties our soldiers face when there is no longer a war to fight.

Wounded in action, Michelle Sanderson has no choice but to return to the place she had turned her back on so long ago, a small inn on Blackberry Island. Although her mother is no longer alive, every room is filled with reminders of Michelle's difficult past. Struggling with a very real but unacknowledged case of PTSD and her physical limitations, Michelle has little choice but to depend on her former friend Carly Williams despite an age-old betrayal that sent her fleeing to the armed services in the first place. To save the Inn, the two must put aside old bitterness and resentments and work together.

While each heroine is matched with a perfect romantic hero and romance blooms, the true heart of the story is in Michelle's recovery and rediscovered friendship between the two women. A pleasant surprise, Barefoot Season will stay with readers long after they turn that last page.

-Lanine Bradley, posted on Sacramento Book Review

Michelle Sanderson is returning to Blackberry Island Inn in Puget Sound after ten years in the army. She had fled her beloved inn after being caught in bed with her best friend Carly Williams's fiancé by Carly herself and the military seemed like a better alternative than facing Carly and Allan again. Michelle thought that after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the inn would be a sanctuary where she could recover from her wounds, both physical and emotional. Michelle is disappointed when she finds that everything has changed. Carly is now managing the inn and Michelle's mother, who is now deceased, renovated the inn and mismanaged the finances so poorly that the bank is about to foreclose. Michelle pleads with the bank manager and is given a chance to save the inn, on the condition she retains Carly as an employee. That means Michelle and Carly must put old grievances aside in order to keep the inn that means so much to each them.

Michelle and Carly have known each other since childhood and have always had a complex relationship. Carly is loving, but often insecure and wants everyone to like her. At first, I actually didn't care much for her, but then seeing what a good mother she is and how much she loves the inn, I grew to like her more. I connected more with Michelle's character right away, even though on the surface she isn't always likeable. Michelle is blunt and quick to anger, but is clearly vulnerable beneath all the bluster. As the story unfolds, there are plenty of twists as more details are revealed about events in their past and how they went from being best friends to enemies. While they are trying to get along for business purposes, it's hard to get over some of the events of the past, but they can't forget the good times they had. Seeing them take tentative steps to rebuild their friendship is my favorite part of the book. It's also interesting to see what it's like for a war veteran to adjust to civilian life, especially when the vet is a woman.

While learning how to work together to keep the inn, they each find time to take a chance on love. Carly is a single mother of a nine-year-old girl and is best friends with the girl's uncle, her ex-husband's brother. They love each other, but there is no chemistry. However, there are plenty of sparks between Carly and Michelle's army buddy Sam, which further complicates Carly and Michelle's tentative truce. On the other hand, Michelle slowly builds a friendship and then the possibility of something more with her landlord Jared. Their story is romantic and enjoyable to read.

While there are a couple of short, but steamy love scenes in the book, this is more a novel about friendship, overcoming fears, and moving past old hurts to find happiness. While some of the things that occur in the book are unbelievable, such as the conditions the bank board has put on the inn's mortgages, overall the story is sweet and uplifting. There are also discussion questions and a few recipes at the end. Also, something more unique is the reference and link to a website that gives readers access to additional recipes.

This review was originally written for The Season EZine. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Michelle ran away from mistakes made at home to the army, and now she's coming home from three tours of duty to Blackberry Island in the Pacific Northwest. Her father abandoned the family when she was a teenager, but left his historic inn in trust to her. Her mother was running it until she died, and now Michelle is back to reclaim her inheritance. Only it seems that her mother may have not so much been running the inn as running it into the ground. Meanwhile, Michelle's once best friend, Carly, thought she was working toward owning part of the inn only to be side-swiped by the fact that Michelle's mother lied to her....not to mention the bad blood between her and Michelle. It's a lot for anyone to deal with, but toss in Michelle's PTSD and Carly's single motherhood, and it seems impossible for either of them to ever truly get their lives in order.

I found the story relatable, heart-warming, and a welcome escape. The plot is complex, which I think is evident from my plot summary. There is a lot going on. But it never feels forced or like too much. Although both Michelle and Carly have their own romance plot lines, the story is really about healing their broken friendship, as well as their wounds from their individual painful pasts.Of course, being the mental illness advocate that I am, I was incredibly pleased to see Michelle's PTSD come up and be dealt with in such a true to life manner.

Although we do have a couple of sex scenes, I did feel that the romance was a bit....quick and forced for both women. However, this is the first book in a series, so perhaps their romantic relationships will be explored more in future books.

I also have to say that the title makes zero sense to me. It brings to mind summer, but that's about all the relation I can see between it and the story.

Overall, this is a piece of chick lit with an intelligent perspective on PTSD in female soldiers and a dash of romance. Recommended to fans of the genre as well as those who enjoy a contemporary tale and want to dip their toe into the chick lit world.

4.5 out of 5 stars, this is an emotional, compelling, and entertaining novel about two women who learn to deal with their past mistakes while trying to accept their current realities and overcome their adversity with each other to become best friends again. I truly got wrapped up in this novel with its multiple twists and intriguing storylines. It made me wish that Book 2 of this series was already written so I could start reading it now! The characters were fabulous!!

About the Characters:

* Michelle: Army vet and owner of her family's inn. Tough. Has PTSD but doesn't want to go to any support group for it. She's Jared's roommate.

* Carly: Manager of the inn. Very girly. Is scared of water--swimming or getting to close to it--even though she lives on an island. She's Gabby's mother.

* Gabby: She's 10-years-old and gets along with almost everyone and everything. She's Carly's daughter.

* Damaris: The cook at the inn. Has worked at the inn and known Michelle since she was 16-years-old. Is more of a mother figure to Michelle than Michelle's own mom is to her.

* Jared: Rents out a room in his house to Michelle. Use to be a sniper but now he owns his own boat tour company on the island.

* Sam: Michelle's ex but now her full-time friend. He's interested in dating Carly.

* Ellen: Works at the bank and is in charge of making sure Michelle pays her mortgage on time. She wants revenge on Carly for something Carly did to her in high school.

I'm very curious to see where this series will be going especially in comparison with Miss Mallery's Fools Gold Series. I say that since this novel isn't written in the same way (meaning it's more about the female characters--Michelle and Carly--instead of any romantic entanglements they might get into) making wonder if Michelle and Carly's story will be continuing in the next book (and if they'll still be the main characters) or if it'll be someone else on Blackberry Island. I can't wait to find out!

I recommend this novel and series to anyone who's a fan of Susan Mallery or to whoever enjoys dramatic novels that have great female leads that has some romance included.

Review By: From Me to You ... Book Reviews
(read more of this review and a few teasers on my blog)

I think out of all the Fool's Gold books, Charlie's story is the one that I have been anticipating the most.
I couldn't help but like Charlie's gruff exterior and heart of gold in past books and I couldn't wait to see her get past her demons and have a happily ever after. And to know that HEA might be with one of the fabulous Stryker brothers and the most handsome one at that? Well that made this read all the better.

And I wasn't wrong, Charlie was everything I thought she was going to be and I am so glad I read her story. I loved watching her character grow and learn and feel again.

I think out of all the woman in the Fool's Gold series, she is by far my favorite so far. I just loved how honest and down to earth she was.

And Clay, well Clay couldn't have been more perfect for her. I liked Rafe, really loved Shane, but Clay? Clay may have stolen the Stryker brother lime light. I loved how he handled Charlie and how he helped her and loved her.

This was a great addition to the Fool's Gold series and the Stryker Family story too.

I can't wait for the next one!

You just never know when it's time to confront your past. Let go of the pain, make amends with those you once loved. In Barefoot Season, Ms. Mallery sets the stage for two women, once friends, until betrayal tore them apart.

Carly and Michelle were like sisters at one point. Who would have thought they envied each other, never once sharing those feelings with one another? Michelle, bitter and angry, has come back from serving in the military. Though she isn't very likable at first, it's understandable why she acts the way she does. As the story progresses, Michelle is redeemed into a character I cared about. I'd hoped things would work out for her in the beginning, despite her attitude. She's got a lot to own up to, and people to deal with she'd left behind all those years ago. It's never easy.

Then there's Carly, the other heroine. She works hard to be the best mother she can be for her daughter. She doesn't allow her past to overcome her, though there are people on Blackberry Island who don't ever want to let her forgot who she once was. The fears within her about her Michelle's homecoming turn into surprise. Carly and Michelle are pushed into working together to save something they both care about - the inn.

It looks almost as if history may repeat itself again when Carly shows feelings for Sam, and he takes a liking to Carly and her daughter. For Michelle, her love interest is less subtle, but it does show promise with Jared. Though Both Sam and Jared play a role in this book, their relationship with the woman doesn't take a leading role in the story. I was particularly interested in how the story would play out with Sam, as he knows both Carly and Michelle. I would have loved to learn more about Jared, but his character wasn't as up front and center as some of the others.

Ms. Mallery creates another delightful story with emotion and depth readers are bound to fall in love with. When picking up a book by this author, we know one thing- we're in for a wonderful heartwarming ride. Barefoot Season is no different. The bonds of friendship and family are tested within the pages of this novel. Let's not forget about falling in love. Both Michelle and Carly have a chance for happiness.

This book aims to please. It's one that belongs on the keeper shelf, to be read over and over again. Michelle and Carly, plus all the other characters in this book found their way into my heart and mind, even when the book was finished. If you're a fan of contemporary women's fiction with strong romance elements, then I strongly suggest Barefoot Season.

originally posted at LAS Romance Reviews

I think women will relate to this book a lot easier than men. After all, what woman hasn't had a female friend who was closer than a sister, who betrayed them in some fundamental way, and then comes back - if not asking for "forgiveness", at least moving right back into the rhythm of the friendship that existed before the betrayal? And even though the wound (on the surface) looks healed and almost non-existent, it doesn't take much to rip the scab right off to expose raw nerves and blood. That's how I felt about the two heroines in this story. Right away, you can see, understand and identify with both sides of the story of betrayal - and yet, from the onset you can't help but wish that these two friends will see past the event in their past and rekindle the friendship of their youth. I think the mixed emotions come because there is no real "villainess" in the story. Both women made mistakes in their friendship, both women betrayed the other, and both women are seeking redemption from the other - even though they go about it in vastly different ways. This book also looks, realistically, at what our returning veterans go through when they come home and have to cope with the realities of what they faced while serving our country. PTSD, alcoholism, isolation, all of those issues are explored in an honest, compassionate and truthful way.

Received for Review
Overall Rating: 4.50
Story Rating: 4.50
Character Rating: 4.50

First thought when finished: This is definitely at the top of my favorite Women's Fiction stories.

What I Loved: Barefoot Season managed to do so many things to me while reading: I laughed, cried, rooted for reconciliation, and got fighting mad during the middle. I am not usually a fan of women's fiction but if there were more like this I would gobble them up by the handfuls. I identified with both lead characters: Michelle in the beginning and Carly at the end. There was so much to love about their characters and the development around both of them. I dare you to read this and not want to simultaneously hug and sock both of them (at different times). The secondary characters were just as strong and important to the story. Susan did a great job of not letting them overwhelm Michelle and Carly's story but they did support it in a fantastic way.

What I Liked: I really liked the B&B. It was the perfect setting for this wonderful story of friendships, heartaches, and growth. You could feel the B&B working with the story and almost feeling like a character itself.

Final Thought: This a fantastic story and one that will stick with you long after your finished reading.

Felicia Extra Note: I am not usually a fan of women's fiction---I stop/start (DNF) more books in this genre more than any other. However, this is one that I would read again. In fact, I read the last 3 chapters 3 times because it was just a moving and fulfilling ending. I highly recommend this story to anyone who has had friendships that have been lost, gone through hard times, or is embarking on reconciliation with a friend. It truly left me thinking about miscommunication and things that happen in friendships to drive them apart!

Give me an S-U-S-A-N!! What does that spell?! Susan! LOL. I know it's corny. But I'm one of her cheerleaders and I have to cheer for Barefoot Seasons. Like all the other books Susan has written, this one didn't disappoint me. Even when Barefoot Season's main concept was more based about friendship and coping with PTSD then it did in the romance department. But don't for one second believe that's there no romance in this book, because there is. It's just more subtle. Once I finished reading this novel, as always Susan left me wanting to continue reading her Blackberry Island series.'

My heart went out to Michelle, wanting to run away from her problems, she enlisted in the Army. But running away from your problems isn't going to solve anything. Because as she settled back into civilian life, her problems escalated to something much more serious. Now having to put her best foot forward and face life head first, she must swallow her pride and do what she dreads the most.

I really liked this story. Barefoot Seasons is the only book I've read that's about a female Army vet. Susan wrote Michelle's part so well that I felt like hugging her at times and comforting her. I also enjoyed Carly's character, she was spunky just like Michelle. When both Carly and Michelle were on the same page together, I knew someone was going to blow up! That's what you get when you put two strong minded women together in one room or should I say one page. Throughout the story both characters show growth, and I promise you will definitely be pleased with the ending. A story well written! Barefoot seasons is a 4 out of 5 stars! A definite Good Choice for reading!

[...]

His looks enabled him to be a successful underwear model, but Clay Stryker wants to make it due to his intelligence. Everyone including his family assumes he is shallow except in the underwear region though he has been successful in business. He returns to Fool's Gold, California with plans to start a ranch.

Firefighter Chantal "Charlie" Dixon knows her mother the graceful ballerina has always been disappointed in her tomboyish offspring. She is like everyone else who assumes Clay has no depth outside his underwear. Thus when Clay volunteers as a firefighter, a surprised Charlie revises her opinion of him. They are attracted to one another, but he lost a loved one before and fears commitment of his soul; while she was assaulted at college and fears the intimate touch of the heart.

With a tender amusing gender bending look at don't judge a book by its cover, fans will enjoy this Summer's Fool's Gold romance (see Summer Nights and Summer Days). Besides the shallow first impressions that hurt each of them, the lead couple carry emotional baggage that they must overcome if they are to catch rather than run away from "the bright elusive butterfly of love" (Bob Lind).

Harriet Klausner

This book is a continuation of the Fool's Gold series but I think it is my favorite so far. This book touches on some serious issues but also includes a light, warmhearted touch. Charlie Dixon is the daughter of a famous ballerina. She always felt inferior in her mother's presence. She suffered a tragedy as a teen and is now trying to work through her issues of trust so that she can one day have a family. Clay Stryker is a former model and has moved back to Fool's Gold looking to fit in and become a member of the community. Clay and Charlie agree to help each other. The more time they spend together, they become friends, lovers and finally fall in love. Great story.

Have you ever just wanted to go home? To just go back where you know life is good, to where you were happy? Well, Michelle in this book wishes she could do that, but realizes in more ways than one that she can't--her mom is dead, there was a reason she left in the first place, and all is not well with the inn. Michelle herself is suffering from physical and psychological ills as a result of her military service. Getting "home" and finding that things have changed, and not for the better, is just one more thing to overcome.

Carly has been at the inn since Michelle left and had been under the impression that she would end up owning part of it. After Michelle's mom died, she learned that the inn had belonged to Michelle all along.

As these two women, who used to be best friends, are more or less forced to work together, they learn to deal with their pasts and work toward the future they want. Of course that future includes guys for both girls.

I enjoyed the story. Though the romances were not major parts of the story,I was disappointed there was not more development of relationships shown. In both cases, I didn't really think I knew why these people liked each other. Both couples end up in bed before marriage and while the language is more flowery than descriptive, we are in the room with them when it happens.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley. Grade: B.

Hott Synopsis
Charlie has been hiding. Ever since she was raped in college, Charlie has done her best to make herself invisible.
Now, it's time to get on with her life. She needs to heal so that she can have the child she so desperately wants without passing on her fear and mistrust to her child. There seems to be only one way to rid herself of those feelings.
Well, yes, she could go the psychotherapy route but doesn't it just make more sense to tackle her problem head on? Of course it does! Yet, there's only one man who has stirred any feelings in her since that fate filled night, Clay Stryker, but he'd never look twice at the likes of Charlie... until he does.

Hott Review
I adored it!! Every last second! All these years later Charlie is still reeling at the devastation, not only of the rape but also of her mother's reaction. Charlie can't help but feel mistrust but she doesn't want her child to be mistrustful just because Charlie's heart's been broken.
Clay, on the other hand, isn't ready to love again. He still misses his deceased wife and Charlie is one of the few people he knows she would have adored. It only makes sense that they should be friends - and of course friends help out with problems.
I think my favorite part about this is that it felt so real. The hurt, the animosity, the seduction, the friendship it was all so very genuine.

I have to say, Barefoot Season is my favorite Susan Mallery book to date. It had a much more serious feel to it than most of her contemporary romances, and a lot more substance. It dealt with some pretty heavy issues--friendship and family, betrayal and forgiveness, denial and healing.

I really liked both Michelle and Carly--which at times seemed like it would be impossible, since each woman seemed to have such opposite views of nearly everything! Mallery really helps you see every issue from both of their points of view, though, and eventually their issues and differences are explained to the reader in a way that is believable and makes sense. I was rooting for them every step of the way as they struggled through problem after problem in their quest to make their inn succeed--this was not a one-size-fits-all magical ending kind of book; they definitely had to work for their HEA. The secondary characters--Gabby, Helen, Sam, and Jared, among others--were all well done too. It definitely put me into a vacation mood (which is kind of sad, since it's only March, but still....something to look forward to. Where can I find a real-life Blackberry Island Inn?)

There are even some delicious sounding recipes at the end (including Helen's Chicken Salad!) and more on the author's website which I really want to try out. I can't wait to see what book two of this series will bring.

I was given the opportunity to read and review an ARC of "Barefoot Season". Readers who usually shy away from Mallery's contemporary romances will enjoy that this story is all about a friendship relationship. The main characters, Michelle and Carly, are very different but share a lot of common history. I didn't like Michelle's character for the way she treated Carly but she grew on me the more I read. I really admired Carly's character, she made mistakes and when people around her were hateful she powered through life. I love that she didn't settle for an easy relationship with one of the men around her when she wasn't attracted to them. The setting of the story is great, I could easily picture right were this island was located. I was so glad when the people who hated Carly finally got what they deserved. Because the story is focused on Michelle and Carly's friendship, I didn't feel the sparks when they met their love interests; Sam and Jared. Both the men were nice characters but there was no sizzle for me. I give "Barefoot Season" 3/5 stars. One of the best things about this book are the recipes in the back. Readers can attempt to make the delicious foods they read about.

Although a few others have criticized Susan Mallery's literary departure from pieces that focus on the romantic relationships between characters, Barefoot Season is a well-written, multi-faceted novel that examines the complex realities of life and relationships.

The novel introduces the life stories of Carly and Michelle who share a complex relationship as former friends, co-workers, and step-sisters. The road back to rebuilding their trust and friendship is a rocky one requiring them to work out personal and interpersonal issues.

Michelle is an injured war veteran suffering from PTSD and struggling with her rehabilitation. After ten years abroad she returns home to find that issues she had been running away from still need to be faced. As the story unfolds she is forced to challenge her perspective of the past while becoming open to the perspective of others. She faces the added challenge of struggling psychologically with the after-effects of active duty and the life or death decisions that she was forced to make. There is no knight in shining armor waiting to save Michelle from her self-destructive behaviour instead there are friends along the way who offer support but Michelle must do the real work herself. Hope comes in the form of an abused dog who also needs to learn to trust again. Like Michelle, Carly is also forced to examine the role she played in the outcome of past events.

Barefoot Season is a story of the human ability to overcome and how the past helps to shape the present.

This was my favourite out of the three Summer themed Fool's Gold books I read.
Charlie is tall and unfeminine, working as a firefighter. Clay is a model renowned for his butt. Two more disparate people you couldn't hope to throw together.
Yet when they do, it really works. Clay is really something. Not just a pretty face by any means and amazingly enough had a good marriage to an older woman that grounded him through his early meteoric rise to fame.
Now a widower, he is just the right person to help Charlie get over a nasty incident from her college years that left her fearful of intimacy and hiding her femininity.
As cliche ridden as this is I really engaged with this particular story. Clay is wonderful and real and warm and has human fears and failings. Charlie has courage and more than just physical bravery.
Tangled up with the romance is Charlie's reconciliation story with her mother who seriously didn't know what to do with such a gangling unfeminine daughter.
ONce again there was quite a bit of townsfolk clutter and yes I can guess who are the next couple to be hooked up. I really like Susan's romance style but I'm not a big fan of cluttery village stuff that takes me away from my main focus.

Why read: Requested from NetGalley

What impressed me: The assumed-to-be-dumb underwear model and the tough firefighter, in a complete role reversal that is more difficult that you could ever imagine. I've never been a large fan of Charlie, but I feel like I understand her now. In All Summer Long, Susan Mallery finally explains by Charlie is so uninterested in men and everything starts falling into place. This was perfect plot planning and went a long way to endear Charlie to readers. Clay is something other in the Fool's Gold world - a male love interest that doesn't immediately come off as an undeserving jerk. It's Clay you love from page one and Charlie you have to warm up to. Switching things up, I like it.

What disappointed me: Charlie had enough on her plate, emotion-wise, without having to add in her mother. Dredging up another part of her past and playing on her insecurities in yet another way is sort of overkill.

Recommended: Oh yeah. I have yet to read a Fool's Gold romance I didn't enjoy.

Continue series: Definitely. I'm still waiting for Mayor Marsha's love story.

Oh man where to begin...

Cons:
For starters I'd like to say the book started off very slow, I mean slow. Like, it didn't pick up until half way through the book and even then it was still pretty darn boring. I don't mind light, easy, reads but that as just painful! I found myself wondering what the point was all throughout the book.

The author tried to keep the reader engaged and in suspense by creating missing bits in the story; however, when you discover these missing bits it doesn't clear everything up for you in a `aha!' moment. In fact, it made me want to go back and read the beginning again because I felt I missed so much of the plot line due to being so confused with it.

I hated the writing style and structure of the author. Seriously, it drove me insane.

1. Things like this bother me personally: "Sure. Let's go in here." The "here" was a small conference room set aside for business guests.... Really? Did she have to say word the sentence like that?
2. The conflict was really immature. Most of the conflict between the two main characters and other characters in the book was from high school. I mean the banker hates Carly just because she thinks she's a slut and then tried to sabotage the Inn... THAT'S NOT EVEN Carly's... really? Are people on this Island that petty and bored with life?
3. The author really makes the reader feel stupid by stating the obvious connection we already make. I felt the author thought I was too stupid to make these connection on my own because she ALWAYS stated them when they didn't need to be stated.

For example: In this scene they're talking about the same person and Carly's confrontation with her yet the author still makes that connection for the reader for BOTH.... AND THEY'RE IN THE SAME DAMN SCENE!!!! It's pretty obvious when you're reading what Robert was asking and who he was referring to.

Gabby returned to the table and Robert closed the door. "How was it?" he asked, walking into the kitchen. Carly knew what he meant and didn't know how to answer.

"You saw her yesterday?" he asked. There was no reason to ask who "she" was.

4. Cheesy dialog at times and it really brings down her book. It is so unnatural; no one talks like that. For example: In this scene Michelle is buying a truck off a kid, a young kid, might I add.

He stepped back and studied her. The dog stayed back, his eyes dark with worry, a low whine indicating his concern. She held out her hand to the dog. "It's okay, Buster. I'm fine." The dog stepped forward and sniffed her fingers before giving them a quick lick. "Hey, I wanted to do that," the kid said, managing a shaky laugh. Michelle smiled. "Sorry. He's more my type."--> Really... no one talks like that. In fact, if some random kid I was buying a truck off of told me he wanted to lick my hand, I would be very weirded out. I wouldn't be laughing and joking back with him. Plus, she is much older than the kid and has a cane due to being shot at war and the kid was trying to get her in his bed... made no sense.

5. She made stupid comments throughout the book like, "Seasons are for sissies." Please explain what that means, because I have no idea what that even means... and I didn't take it out of context... it just made no sense.
6. Last, but definitely not least, both the main characters had these emotional connections with each other and they were done very sloppy. Happening too quickly, either when they're insulting each other and then say something randomly nice or are having a nice conversation and randomly start insulting each other and walk away upset. I can't explain it well; you would have to read the book to know what I'm talking about.

Pros

1. I liked that neither the characters were perfect. The author makes it look like Michelle is the complete bitch at the beginning but then you realize that Carly is no angel either.

I have so much more I could say but it's just not worth it. I've main the key points as to why I did not like the book. Hope this helps some people. I will not be reading any more from this author.

Civilian life is not an easy adjustment for Michelle, which she makes even harder by ignoring or spurning anyone who tries to help. Her bitterness and hostility are so relentless it is very hard to feel any empathy for her. Carly is almost a doormat in the face of Michelle’s tirades, yet her unwavering need for her daughter’s security keeps her standing strong. It may take a while, but I think Michelle eventually realizes how extremely lucky she is to have Carly and a few very special people in her life who refuse to let her self-destruct.

Lototy Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More - See more at: http://coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/barefootseasonbook3bysusanmallery.html#.VaFY4I39N9A

"All Summer Long" is one of the best romances I've read in a long time. The characters (both the main characters Charlie and Clay and all the quirky, lovable townsfolk of Fool's Gold) are well-developed with interesting backstories, flaws and qualities to admire. Charlie became a favorite of mine from the moment I met her, so I was ready to cheer for her when "All Summer Long" came out. Clay, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. With his ridiculous good looks and a successful career as a model, I was skeptical about him. However, Mallery has done an excellent job creating a multi-dimensional character in him. He is determined and gentle, but he also has some believable insecurities, particularly about making his Haycations idea work. I for one can certainly relate to that. Also, the way people look at him and see only what's on the outside rather than delving a little deeper and finding the real treasure within had me begging them to open their eyes.

I love that Mallery has created a whole cast of characters for Fool's Gold and gives readers the details about each necessary to make us feel like we are right there in Fool's Gold. These are people I feel like I know, people who help each other out and love and laugh together. The small town feel imbibed in this series is simply marvelous.

I cannot believe I had not read Susan Mallery's books before now. You can be assured I will be reading more by this author.

Barefoot Season is book #1 of the Blackberry Island Series. I wasn't sure what to expect in the story but was pleasantly surprised by the difficult issues that were raised in this wonderful novel. The sensitive way that issues like war veterans returning to civilian life, broken families, and unfair labeling of people made the subject lines personal and solutions for healing hopeful. The story line kept me engaged from the beginning to end with great character development and careful placement of romance. This was my first time reading one of her books, but Susan Mallery has absolutely gained a new fan. I can't wait to read all of her other books.

This is the last of this summer's trilogy in Fool's Gold that had the Stryker family at its center. There was so much depth and reality to this story - especially the layers that we peeled away from many of the characters to see the real them. Clay and Charlie stole my heart. Clay was more than a pretty face who made his fortune as an underwear model. He had heart. He was so caring in the way he treated Charlie until the end but that resolved itself in a great way but I wanted more. The chemistry built slowly but they connected and knew the others thoughts and feelings just by a look or a touch many times. There were some laugh out loud moments, tears, friends, family, romance and love. There were a couple of happily ever afters and others we hope will be resolved in a future book i.e. Evie. I think this is my favorite Fool's Gold story so far - sorry Annabelle - just because you could feel yourself a part of the story - happy when the characters were happy, sad when they were, etc. We also saw facets of characters we've met before that we hadn't seen before. Give Susan and the Fool's Gold series a try. You'll be glad you did.

Reading the latest Fool's Gold tale is like coming home after being away at school for a few months. It's comfy, cozy, you know all your neighbors & that you can get a strong cup of joe down the street at the local Starbucks. The ninth installment of Susan Mallery's hit series is no different.

Clay Stryker, former underwear model and butt double, is looking to settle into Fool's Gold now that his mom and two brothers have done the same. He's traveled, modeled, got his degree, married his one true love, and is ready to get involved in a community as well as start a new business with his brothers ("Haycations" where a family comes & works on a farm to get away from modern life...can't say I'd do it!) Between meetings with the City Council to gain support for his project, he starts the journey to become a volunteer firefighter in the community.

Enter Charlie Dixon. Charlie is one of Fool's Gold's female firefighters & one of the strongest (physically and emotionally) characters I've read in a while. I loved her spirit of growth, of wanting to be better for her future, for the opportunity at a real family. Charlie has the opposite problem Clay does. She grew up with a ballerina star for a mother, and she was never pretty enough, girly enough, or good enough. Then, to make her scars worse, when she was in college she was raped at a party and her mother blamed her. It made me irate. It made me wish I could scream and bitch slap that woman for even thinking that not being on your daughter's side against anyone else was even an option. But I digress.

In order to get over her fears of intimacy, Charlie asks Clay for his help, which of course being a man, he agrees. Neither expect anything but friendship from the arrangement (of course!) but both come to trust each other in a way that he hasn't had since his wife passed away, and she never experienced with anyone of the male persuasion. Watching them fall for each other was truly enjoyable and you end up wanting nothing but good things for them.

While I couldn't feel too bad for Clay & his greek godness, it was an interesting change of perspective - being too pretty to be taken seriously as a professional. It's hard to get past a nice ass! But I loved watching him prove himself to Fool's Gold as a valuable member of society and how Charlie stood up for him constantly, even when she didn't understand what that meant.

Mallery has proven once again that she deserves her spot on NYT Bestsellers list & I can't wait to see who will be falling in love in Fool's Gold next!

Rating: A

This review & more at RedHotBooks.com!

Barefoot Season, a Blackberry Island novel.

Susan Mallery is an accomplished writer that not only shows her creativity but shows her wit in her books with a good dose of humor. She is able to give descriptions that are decisive and realistic, her characters take on a life of their own which enables you to actually feel their suffering, sadness, fear and at times their annoyances, but Susan Mallery is able to complete it with love, desire and happiness.

For reasons unknown to me, I could actually envision a Robert Redford type in Sam, always the gentleman, and always a man of integrity and so willing to assist when needed. What I am saying is, the characters came to life easily in my mind, Sam was well suited with Carly and Gabby, yet it was easy to see how he and Michelle could fit together.

Jared, well now....... talk about a prince charming (Sam Elliott type in my mind). I liked him from the get go. When Jared gave Michelle Chance, it was a perfect solution; it gave Michelle a reason to think of something other than herself and the many problems she faces. Chance seemed to give her focus.

I fell in love with Blackberry Island and the Inn with its quirky employees. I see this as a place anyone would enjoy.

Susan Mallery is able to weave an incredible amount of history of two childhood friends and how their circumstances affected each of their lives, which keeps you turning pages.

This book covers many issues from friendship to parents with the complications of relationships and the feelings of betrayal, but balanced with an incredible amount of love.

This is my first Susan Mallery book but not my last; from beginning to end I enjoyed this book, and give it a strong 5 stars!

Thanks Goodreads!

5 out of 5 stars!! Ever since this year's three-part series from Fool's Gold came out, I have wanted to read more about Charlie's romance! Therefore, I'm so happy that it turned out even better than I expected!!! This is a novel about what the heart is able to overcome when faced with the opportunity to heal. I LOVED CHARLIE & CLAY!!! Together or apart Charlie and Clay were a great duo that I couldn't get enough of!! I loved the way this novel dealt with Charlie's fears, helping Clay with his ambitions, and bringing Charlie and her mother back together again. It was a charming book, which I could not put down!!

While this novel also gave me a little idea of what to expect within one of the next books in this series and I can't wait to see where it'll take us....Justice & Patience! *hahaa* Their names even sound great together!

I recommend this series and DEFINITELY this novel to anyone who loves contemporary romances that have just the right amount of drama! =0)

Review By: From Me to You ... Book Reviews
(read more of this review and two teasers on my blog)

A great summer read, Barefoot Season, by Susan Mallery opens with Michelle returning home from rehab after being injured in the war and finding that fitting back in is not as easy as one would hope. Especially when one suffers from PTSD. She struggles to overcome financial issues as well as interpersonal ones while trying to find peace with her past and a path toward her future.

The setting for this novel, a quaint inn on an island suited the story and my personal tastes wonderfully. All of the characters were exceptionally well developed and their mini story lines played out perfectly along side the main plot line. The pacing of the novel was perfect and I breezed through it very enjoyably in a matter of days. By the conclusion Michelle and we learn that home is not so much a place but is more the people with which you surround yourself.

Recommended as an enjoyable easy yet fulfilling summer read for all lovers of contemporary women's fiction, chick lit, or contemporary romance.

NOTE: I recieved a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, and the way it made me feel. Charlie is big, tall and awkward when it comes to men, and since she was young when she was raped, she has no interest in having a man near her. Clay is a model, he is perfect in all outward appearance, but he is tired of being looked at as just another wonderful body part. (He was a butt double in some movies.) Charlie knows what it is like to just want a chance, and that is all that Clay wants in this little town of Fool's Gold, Charlie helps the Fire Department and the rest of town see Clay as a businessman while Clay helps Charlie through the pain of not wanting anyone near her. He starts out slow in their friendship, and plans on helping her get over her sex phobia, but does not plan on giving her his heart. You will have to read the book to find out if they stay together or are separated forever.

I really enjoyed Barefoot Season. This is the first book in Susan Mallery's Blackberry Island series. I liked that the story was not mainly a romance novel but about the relationship of the two women. Romance was definitely secondary to the story. I have read many Susan Mallery novels. Most of the ones I read were primarily about romance. I enjoyed the different storyline. When I finished this book, I immediately got the next book in the series. I enjoyed the part of the novel that dealt with the character dealing with PTSD and how her dog helped her deal with it. I definitely recommend the book.

I love this author and I really enjoyed this story. The characters are well rounded, well developed and complex and the writing is very good. The fictional town of Blackberry Island is a detailed and fleshed out backdrop for the story,making you feel as if you are there. The two main characters, Carly and Michelle, are very interesting women and their relationship is colored by past betrayals, family tensions and present day struggles. I was touched by Michelle's post war battles with rehabilitation and PTSD. I was also sympathetic to Carly's struggles as a single parent. The author really draws the reader into these two strong women's struggles to make things right in their world, and you find yourself routing for them. The supporting characters are also interesting and add to the flavor of the place and the story. I always look forward to this author's books and will continue to do so.
Heat factor moderate.

My Review:

Ever since Summer Nights, I've been dying for Charlie's book and it lived up to all my expectations. I loved Charlie and Clay's story...OMG, *sigh*...so sweet and romantic!!!

I have never known what to expect from Charlie's story. She's a muscular, non-girly firefighter who's 5'10" tall. She doesn't have a feminine bone in her body. She's also completely straightforward and honest to a tee. But in Summer Nights, we learned the "why" for a lot of this. She was raped as a freshman in college and then blamed by everyone from the police to her mother that it was her own fault. She's never been intimate with a man since. She realizes that's an issue and HATES that she's afraid. She also wants to have kids and wants to be able to raise them as a whole person so she knows that she has to confront those fears.

Clay is a model...famous for his really incredibly hot butt. But he's retired now and has come home to join his family in Fool's Gold. He's trying to get taken more seriously and has plans for a business out on the family ranch. He also has a bit of his own tragic history. He was married and desperately in love with his wife (who was 14 yrs older than him and hated models), but she died suddenly in a car accident. He's accepted that he'll never love again.

These are two wonderful characters who deserve some happiness. They come together first out of friendship and things develop really incredibly slowly out of that. Yes, they are sexually involved, but it's completely as friends...nothing else, for a long while. I loved how their emotions developed. It was really incredibly written and I really enjoyed the two of them together. They're friends and they give each other sass like friends do. It's a nice, easy, fun relationship and no one is more surprised to find that it's more than each of them. This book was so good!!

And, as always, we got the beauty and fun of the small town of Fool's Gold. Seriously, can I move there?? I love this little town with all it's quirks. In this book, we got to add Charlie's mother...oh my. She is a character...totally self-absorbed prima ballerina, but now Fool's Gold is her home too. And I've really loved getting to know the Stryker family. I cannot wait for Evie's story. How can you not feel for this shunned Stryker?? She's going to have such an amazing story and I've loved Dante's wit and sarcasm ever since he was introduced as Rafe's lawyer and partner. It's going to be another fabulous book!!!
I received a complementary copy of this book in return for an honest review.

heroine raped at 18, decides at 29 that she needs someone to "do her" so that she will get over her fear of "it". she chooses a guy that she has known (not even dated, just known) for only a couple of weeks and asks him if he will have sex with her.

this is the second book in the Fool's Gold series that I have read. the other was not quite as disappointing as this, in that sex didn't enter into the book until the end. however, that one was a novella, and much shorter than a full length novel.

I have never read any other Susan Mallery books other than the two in the Fool's Gold series, but she has definitely given me the impression that she feels she can't properly develop the plot of a ROMANCE novel without SEX, and sorry, but I read romance novels for romance not sex. if I wanted sex, I'd watch a porn film, most of these "romance" novels are little better than that anyway.

This book has apparently been placed in the military romance category. While some of the characters used to be in the military, the story is really more about two adult women dealing with trauma that occurred during their teenage years, and finally moving past it. There is of course more to it than that, or it would be a short story instead of a novel. But the original event is the cause of everything that happened after. While there were romance elements to the plot, they seemed to be more added in as side storylines. More women's fiction than romance.

I liked the story. It developed well with *SPOILER* a happy ending for those who deserved one. And at least some of the trouble makers got what they deserved.

I put off reading this book because I didn't think I'd enjoy Mallery's women's fiction as well as I like her romance novels. I was wrong. This was a great story of relationships, healing, and life in general. Mallery does a great job of making you feel like both Carly and Michelle are your friends and I was rooting for them both to get their lives together from the start. They both had challenges to overcome above and beyond just fixing their friendship. Mallery allowed me to laugh and cry with them as they made new friends, lost old friends, and rediscovered their friendship with each other. Life happens to all of us but Mallery's story gives us hope that we can still find a happy ending amidst the chaos.

Chantal Dixon, Charlie to her friends, feels like an ugly duckling compared to her petite and beautiful ballerina mother. She's a firefighter in the small California community of Fools Gold. She's also single, a situation she feels is not likely to change, however that isn't going to deter her from fulfilling a desire to become a mother. Painful memories from her past must be overcome before she can move forward, and who else to help her out than Clay Striker?

The former underwear model has his own problems settling down in the small town and trying to become an entrepreneur when people think of him as a body more than a person. Not so Charlie, who sees the man beneath, but when she offers him a proposition, he's not the man to refuse her. And the more he's around her, the more he looks beyond the package.

Both Charlie and Clay are damaged people, sympathetically drawn. I empathized with each and found myself unable to put the book down. ALL SUMMER LONG satisfied on every level, and learning about these two hurting people and watching them interact with each other is only part of the fun of this story. Ms. Mallery has created a wonderful setting in Fools Gold, peopled it with fascinating characters one wants to read about. Charlie's and Clay's stories are a delight. Add Ms. Mallery's considerable talent and superb writing and you have a winning combination. More Fools Gold, please, Ms. Mallery.

The Fool's Gold series just keeps getting better. In this book, in addition to introducing new characters that will be featured in their own stories soon, AND updating stories of previous characters, we get to know Clay and Charlie. Clay is a gorgeous and recently retired male model. Charlie is a woman who does her best to hide the fact. She's been criticized her whole life, particularly by her own mother, and has suffered in her first and only real attempt at dating. Together, they find their own HEA.

Not my favorite couple of the series, but their story was still...enjoyable? Not sure if I would call the way Clay treated Charlie towards the end enjoyable but their adventures along the way were. I understand the hesitation of him grasping his feelings, but he was still a jerk. Glad with the way the book ended though. Onto the next one!

Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery is a touching novel about friendship, healing and forgiveness. Wounded in both body and spirit by multiple deployments to combat zones, Michelle Sanderson is confronted by her past when she returns to Blackberry Island.

Michelle Sanderson and Carly Williams were best friends until misunderstandings and betrayals destroyed their friendship. Michelle joined the army and stayed away from Blackberry Island for ten years. Now recovering from a battle injury, Michelle returns to the family owned Blackberry Inn following her mother's death. She is bitter and resentful when she discovers Carly has been working at the Blackberry Inn in her absence. Michelle is undergoing physical therapy for the wound she received in combat and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is also taking a toll. Rather than facing her problems head on, Michelle is self-medicating with alcohol. When a financial crisis and personal betrayal push her over the edge, she finally hits rock bottom and begins to take control of her life.

Carly is mistrustful of Michelle and terrified of losing her job and the only home her young daughter Gabby knows. The peace between Carly and Michelle is tenuous and fraught with unresolved issues as the two women forge an uneasy truce and attempt to put aside their personal feelings to save Blackberry Inn. Over time, both women are forced to accept responsibility for their respective roles in events of the past and they slowly rebuild their relationship.

Unlike Ms. Mallery's previous novels, romance takes a backseat in Barefoot Season. Instead, the book focuses mainly on Michelle and Carly's relationship, both past and present. Michelle's PTSD and recovery from her battle injuries are also a large part of the refreshing and unique storyline. There is a romantic element for both Michelle and Carly, but it is very subtle and understated.

Susan Mallery's Barefoot Season is a beautiful novel that explores the complexities of friendship and exposes the unseen toll that war takes on soldiers. Carly and Michelle are engaging and sympathetic characters that are amazingly true to life. Their struggles and emotions are realistic and oftentimes, heartbreaking. Easily Ms. Mallery's best work to date, I highly recommend this heartwarming and moving novel.

Another home run for Susan. Since you know the plot I won't print it here. Always love going back to Fools gold to revisit old characters. Charlie has been the tough girl for quite a while. She has not grown up with the motherly love she deserved. She has a horrible thing happen to her with no one to really turn too. Clay is used to being loved only for his looks. People don't take the time to get to know him, the real him. BAM! Charlie meets Clay. There are twist and turns, a mother to end all mothers, but the read is good. I can't wait to get back to Fool's Gold this fall for Evie's story.

As the title says this is my favorite. Loved the Characters and really loved the dialog.

I want to move to Fool's Gold!!! The more books I read the more I love the town.

Charlie is deeply scared from a trauma from college and also dealing with a self absorbed mother, this has made her a real tough but very likable character, then along comes Clay to turn her world upside down and with tenderness come to terms with her past.

Just a very enjoyable read, could not put it down, even when I know I should have been sleeping! Can't say enough about this one, It was a joy to read and discover how they help each other over come the problems in their lives

I will most likely finish the book, even though I'm 1/3 of the way through and it is beyond ridiculous. It's the 9th book in the series. I found the series to be what I was looking for. Easy. No thought. Time waster, so to speak. This book is beyond anything that you can remotely identify with. The homely girl attracting (of course) the MOST handsome perfect man ever to walk the earth. Naturally rich. Going to try and get her over her fear of men.

Every man in this series that is the catch of the day is beyond rich. Isn’t there any just plain mediocre looking men with a normal income barely making his mortgage payment?

Even though I’ve bought the next several installments, I’m not sure I will read them. I wouldn’t have kept up this long but I wanted to see how the rest of the oh so perfect people, in this oh so perfect fantasy town, were doing

Posted on Romancing the BOok's blog
Reviewed by Ashleigh
Review Copy Provided by Netgalley

Charlie Dixon wasn't looking for love, and yet love is just what is coming around for a lot of people these days. Watching her two best friends fall under the spell of cupid has Charlie contemplating whether it is something she really wants or not. Old trust issues from some bad family and even worse memories from college make her a hard person to get to, but that is just what Clay Stryker is determined to do. Will Charlie be able to deal with her past baggage in order to take the hand of an amazing man? Or will her fear from the past and of the unknown future continue to push him away until he can't hold on anymore?

Clay Stryker is determined to change himself. After coming back home from being a successful underwear/butt model, he has lost just about all respect from his brothers and more importantly his mother. It will be an up hill battle to prove that he is the same guy underneath all the hype that he always was. One thing that Clay wasn't anticipating is Charlie. She is bristly as a cactus and yet he can't seem to stay away from her. The more that she pushes him away the more he wants her. But Clay isn't going to have an easy ride with her, because when Charlie decides that he is the man for her there is no stopping her. They will have to work together to overcome the past and embark on a future together, in another installment of Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold series.

I have been a big fan of Susan Mallery since back before she was cool to other readers. Getting to watch her characters unfold again in the Fool's Gold series is a pleasure each time, and one that is easily shared. Her works are great easy reads and something that just about anyone can enjoy. So far the Fool's Gold series is my favorite, just because the heroes are hot and loving in the same measures. If you are looking for a great series of books, about hot men, the women they love and quirky little town than this is a great series to add to your collection!

At this point in the series I feel like I am a member of this town! I am emotionally tied into these characters and their lifes and loves... I check out the Fool's Gold website periodically, I have the SM iphone app, I get her email newsletter and I follow SM on FB - starting to worry I may be a little bit of a stalker!! (but only in the best possible way!) I was excited to see the happily single Charlie finally get her own story!! I had no doubt that Susan would give me the happy ending I crave but I loved the twist with Charlies' mom and the humanizing of a woman who left much to be desired at first! In my opinion, everyone should read EVERY ONE of Susans books... not very unbiased but oh well!! ;)

A great read! Enjoyed the setting centered around the inn as in the hotel business. Great characters and hope to see a series and would love to see more of Carly and Sam, and Michelle and Jared. "Michelle is a strong, independent woman, but on the inside, she is still the wounded girl who fled home years ago. A young army vet, Michelle returns to the quaint Blackberry Island Inn to claim her inheritance and recover from the perils of war. Instead, she finds the owner's suite occupied by the last person she wants to see - her rival enemy, Carly. Once inseparable, until a shocking betrayal destroyed their friendship. And now Carly is implicated in the financial disaster lurking behind the inn's cheerful veneer.

I loved this book, and the way it made me feel. Charlie is big, tall and awkward when it comes to men, and since she was young when she was raped, she has no interest in having a man near her. Clay is a model, he is perfect in all outward appearance, but he is tired of being looked at as just another wonderful body part. (He was a butt double in some movies.) Charlie knows what it is like to just want a chance, and that is all that Clay wants in this little town of Fool's Gold, Charlie helps the Fire Department and the rest of town see Clay as a businessman while Clay helps Charlie through the pain of not wanting anyone near her. He starts out slow in their friendship, and plans on helping her get over her sex phobia, but does not plan on giving her his heart. You will have to read the book to find out if they stay together or are separated forever.

I really enjoyed Barefoot Season. This is the first book in Susan Mallery's Blackberry Island series. I liked that the story was not mainly a romance novel but about the relationship of the two women. Romance was definitely secondary to the story. I have read many Susan Mallery novels. Most of the ones I read were primarily about romance. I enjoyed the different storyline. When I finished this book, I immediately got the next book in the series. I enjoyed the part of the novel that dealt with the character dealing with PTSD and how her dog helped her deal with it. I definitely recommend the book.

I love this author and I really enjoyed this story. The characters are well rounded, well developed and complex and the writing is very good. The fictional town of Blackberry Island is a detailed and fleshed out backdrop for the story,making you feel as if you are there. The two main characters, Carly and Michelle, are very interesting women and their relationship is colored by past betrayals, family tensions and present day struggles. I was touched by Michelle's post war battles with rehabilitation and PTSD. I was also sympathetic to Carly's struggles as a single parent. The author really draws the reader into these two strong women's struggles to make things right in their world, and you find yourself routing for them. The supporting characters are also interesting and add to the flavor of the place and the story. I always look forward to this author's books and will continue to do so.
Heat factor moderate.

My Review:

Ever since Summer Nights, I've been dying for Charlie's book and it lived up to all my expectations. I loved Charlie and Clay's story...OMG, *sigh*...so sweet and romantic!!!

I have never known what to expect from Charlie's story. She's a muscular, non-girly firefighter who's 5'10" tall. She doesn't have a feminine bone in her body. She's also completely straightforward and honest to a tee. But in Summer Nights, we learned the "why" for a lot of this. She was raped as a freshman in college and then blamed by everyone from the police to her mother that it was her own fault. She's never been intimate with a man since. She realizes that's an issue and HATES that she's afraid. She also wants to have kids and wants to be able to raise them as a whole person so she knows that she has to confront those fears.

Clay is a model...famous for his really incredibly hot butt. But he's retired now and has come home to join his family in Fool's Gold. He's trying to get taken more seriously and has plans for a business out on the family ranch. He also has a bit of his own tragic history. He was married and desperately in love with his wife (who was 14 yrs older than him and hated models), but she died suddenly in a car accident. He's accepted that he'll never love again.

These are two wonderful characters who deserve some happiness. They come together first out of friendship and things develop really incredibly slowly out of that. Yes, they are sexually involved, but it's completely as friends...nothing else, for a long while. I loved how their emotions developed. It was really incredibly written and I really enjoyed the two of them together. They're friends and they give each other sass like friends do. It's a nice, easy, fun relationship and no one is more surprised to find that it's more than each of them. This book was so good!!

And, as always, we got the beauty and fun of the small town of Fool's Gold. Seriously, can I move there?? I love this little town with all it's quirks. In this book, we got to add Charlie's mother...oh my. She is a character...totally self-absorbed prima ballerina, but now Fool's Gold is her home too. And I've really loved getting to know the Stryker family. I cannot wait for Evie's story. How can you not feel for this shunned Stryker?? She's going to have such an amazing story and I've loved Dante's wit and sarcasm ever since he was introduced as Rafe's lawyer and partner. It's going to be another fabulous book!!!
I received a complementary copy of this book in return for an honest review.

heroine raped at 18, decides at 29 that she needs someone to "do her" so that she will get over her fear of "it". she chooses a guy that she has known (not even dated, just known) for only a couple of weeks and asks him if he will have sex with her.

this is the second book in the Fool's Gold series that I have read. the other was not quite as disappointing as this, in that sex didn't enter into the book until the end. however, that one was a novella, and much shorter than a full length novel.

I have never read any other Susan Mallery books other than the two in the Fool's Gold series, but she has definitely given me the impression that she feels she can't properly develop the plot of a ROMANCE novel without SEX, and sorry, but I read romance novels for romance not sex. if I wanted sex, I'd watch a porn film, most of these "romance" novels are little better than that anyway.

This book has apparently been placed in the military romance category. While some of the characters used to be in the military, the story is really more about two adult women dealing with trauma that occurred during their teenage years, and finally moving past it. There is of course more to it than that, or it would be a short story instead of a novel. But the original event is the cause of everything that happened after. While there were romance elements to the plot, they seemed to be more added in as side storylines. More women's fiction than romance.

I liked the story. It developed well with *SPOILER* a happy ending for those who deserved one. And at least some of the trouble makers got what they deserved.

I put off reading this book because I didn't think I'd enjoy Mallery's women's fiction as well as I like her romance novels. I was wrong. This was a great story of relationships, healing, and life in general. Mallery does a great job of making you feel like both Carly and Michelle are your friends and I was rooting for them both to get their lives together from the start. They both had challenges to overcome above and beyond just fixing their friendship. Mallery allowed me to laugh and cry with them as they made new friends, lost old friends, and rediscovered their friendship with each other. Life happens to all of us but Mallery's story gives us hope that we can still find a happy ending amidst the chaos.

Chantal Dixon, Charlie to her friends, feels like an ugly duckling compared to her petite and beautiful ballerina mother. She's a firefighter in the small California community of Fools Gold. She's also single, a situation she feels is not likely to change, however that isn't going to deter her from fulfilling a desire to become a mother. Painful memories from her past must be overcome before she can move forward, and who else to help her out than Clay Striker?

The former underwear model has his own problems settling down in the small town and trying to become an entrepreneur when people think of him as a body more than a person. Not so Charlie, who sees the man beneath, but when she offers him a proposition, he's not the man to refuse her. And the more he's around her, the more he looks beyond the package.

Both Charlie and Clay are damaged people, sympathetically drawn. I empathized with each and found myself unable to put the book down. ALL SUMMER LONG satisfied on every level, and learning about these two hurting people and watching them interact with each other is only part of the fun of this story. Ms. Mallery has created a wonderful setting in Fools Gold, peopled it with fascinating characters one wants to read about. Charlie's and Clay's stories are a delight. Add Ms. Mallery's considerable talent and superb writing and you have a winning combination. More Fools Gold, please, Ms. Mallery.

The Fool's Gold series just keeps getting better. In this book, in addition to introducing new characters that will be featured in their own stories soon, AND updating stories of previous characters, we get to know Clay and Charlie. Clay is a gorgeous and recently retired male model. Charlie is a woman who does her best to hide the fact. She's been criticized her whole life, particularly by her own mother, and has suffered in her first and only real attempt at dating. Together, they find their own HEA.

Not my favorite couple of the series, but their story was still...enjoyable? Not sure if I would call the way Clay treated Charlie towards the end enjoyable but their adventures along the way were. I understand the hesitation of him grasping his feelings, but he was still a jerk. Glad with the way the book ended though. Onto the next one!

Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery is a touching novel about friendship, healing and forgiveness. Wounded in both body and spirit by multiple deployments to combat zones, Michelle Sanderson is confronted by her past when she returns to Blackberry Island.

Michelle Sanderson and Carly Williams were best friends until misunderstandings and betrayals destroyed their friendship. Michelle joined the army and stayed away from Blackberry Island for ten years. Now recovering from a battle injury, Michelle returns to the family owned Blackberry Inn following her mother's death. She is bitter and resentful when she discovers Carly has been working at the Blackberry Inn in her absence. Michelle is undergoing physical therapy for the wound she received in combat and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is also taking a toll. Rather than facing her problems head on, Michelle is self-medicating with alcohol. When a financial crisis and personal betrayal push her over the edge, she finally hits rock bottom and begins to take control of her life.

Carly is mistrustful of Michelle and terrified of losing her job and the only home her young daughter Gabby knows. The peace between Carly and Michelle is tenuous and fraught with unresolved issues as the two women forge an uneasy truce and attempt to put aside their personal feelings to save Blackberry Inn. Over time, both women are forced to accept responsibility for their respective roles in events of the past and they slowly rebuild their relationship.

Unlike Ms. Mallery's previous novels, romance takes a backseat in Barefoot Season. Instead, the book focuses mainly on Michelle and Carly's relationship, both past and present. Michelle's PTSD and recovery from her battle injuries are also a large part of the refreshing and unique storyline. There is a romantic element for both Michelle and Carly, but it is very subtle and understated.

Susan Mallery's Barefoot Season is a beautiful novel that explores the complexities of friendship and exposes the unseen toll that war takes on soldiers. Carly and Michelle are engaging and sympathetic characters that are amazingly true to life. Their struggles and emotions are realistic and oftentimes, heartbreaking. Easily Ms. Mallery's best work to date, I highly recommend this heartwarming and moving novel.

Another home run for Susan. Since you know the plot I won't print it here. Always love going back to Fools gold to revisit old characters. Charlie has been the tough girl for quite a while. She has not grown up with the motherly love she deserved. She has a horrible thing happen to her with no one to really turn too. Clay is used to being loved only for his looks. People don't take the time to get to know him, the real him. BAM! Charlie meets Clay. There are twist and turns, a mother to end all mothers, but the read is good. I can't wait to get back to Fool's Gold this fall for Evie's story.

As the title says this is my favorite. Loved the Characters and really loved the dialog.

I want to move to Fool's Gold!!! The more books I read the more I love the town.

Charlie is deeply scared from a trauma from college and also dealing with a self absorbed mother, this has made her a real tough but very likable character, then along comes Clay to turn her world upside down and with tenderness come to terms with her past.

Just a very enjoyable read, could not put it down, even when I know I should have been sleeping! Can't say enough about this one, It was a joy to read and discover how they help each other over come the problems in their lives

I will most likely finish the book, even though I'm 1/3 of the way through and it is beyond ridiculous. It's the 9th book in the series. I found the series to be what I was looking for. Easy. No thought. Time waster, so to speak. This book is beyond anything that you can remotely identify with. The homely girl attracting (of course) the MOST handsome perfect man ever to walk the earth. Naturally rich. Going to try and get her over her fear of men.

Every man in this series that is the catch of the day is beyond rich. Isn’t there any just plain mediocre looking men with a normal income barely making his mortgage payment?

Even though I’ve bought the next several installments, I’m not sure I will read them. I wouldn’t have kept up this long but I wanted to see how the rest of the oh so perfect people, in this oh so perfect fantasy town, were doing

Posted on Romancing the BOok's blog
Reviewed by Ashleigh
Review Copy Provided by Netgalley

Charlie Dixon wasn't looking for love, and yet love is just what is coming around for a lot of people these days. Watching her two best friends fall under the spell of cupid has Charlie contemplating whether it is something she really wants or not. Old trust issues from some bad family and even worse memories from college make her a hard person to get to, but that is just what Clay Stryker is determined to do. Will Charlie be able to deal with her past baggage in order to take the hand of an amazing man? Or will her fear from the past and of the unknown future continue to push him away until he can't hold on anymore?

Clay Stryker is determined to change himself. After coming back home from being a successful underwear/butt model, he has lost just about all respect from his brothers and more importantly his mother. It will be an up hill battle to prove that he is the same guy underneath all the hype that he always was. One thing that Clay wasn't anticipating is Charlie. She is bristly as a cactus and yet he can't seem to stay away from her. The more that she pushes him away the more he wants her. But Clay isn't going to have an easy ride with her, because when Charlie decides that he is the man for her there is no stopping her. They will have to work together to overcome the past and embark on a future together, in another installment of Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold series.

I have been a big fan of Susan Mallery since back before she was cool to other readers. Getting to watch her characters unfold again in the Fool's Gold series is a pleasure each time, and one that is easily shared. Her works are great easy reads and something that just about anyone can enjoy. So far the Fool's Gold series is my favorite, just because the heroes are hot and loving in the same measures. If you are looking for a great series of books, about hot men, the women they love and quirky little town than this is a great series to add to your collection!

At this point in the series I feel like I am a member of this town! I am emotionally tied into these characters and their lifes and loves... I check out the Fool's Gold website periodically, I have the SM iphone app, I get her email newsletter and I follow SM on FB - starting to worry I may be a little bit of a stalker!! (but only in the best possible way!) I was excited to see the happily single Charlie finally get her own story!! I had no doubt that Susan would give me the happy ending I crave but I loved the twist with Charlies' mom and the humanizing of a woman who left much to be desired at first! In my opinion, everyone should read EVERY ONE of Susans books... not very unbiased but oh well!! ;)

A great read! Enjoyed the setting centered around the inn as in the hotel business. Great characters and hope to see a series and would love to see more of Carly and Sam, and Michelle and Jared. "Michelle is a strong, independent woman, but on the inside, she is still the wounded girl who fled home years ago. A young army vet, Michelle returns to the quaint Blackberry Island Inn to claim her inheritance and recover from the perils of war. Instead, she finds the owner's suite occupied by the last person she wants to see - her rival enemy, Carly. Once inseparable, until a shocking betrayal destroyed their friendship. And now Carly is implicated in the financial disaster lurking behind the inn's cheerful veneer.

I really enjoyed Charlie and Clay's story. They are great characters and clearly bring out the best in each other. However, Charlie's "solution" to her problem was realllllly far-fetched; though I have to admit that it was ultimately handled well and of course seemed way more fun than traditional therapy. The story definitely hinged on it as a plot point, so I was more than willing to suspend belief this time in the name of fiction. Two things bothered me just a bit, though. One is that the treatment of Clay by many of the women of the town was just over-the-top inappropriate. I realize that Mallery was trying to make a point, but shouldn't a town that prides itself on its strong female presence and history be a bit more sensitive to blatant gender discrimination? Secondly, the ending/resolution seemed a bit rushed. The rest of the story was well-paced and developed, but the end had more of a slap-it-on-ending feel to it. Ultimately, though, I really liked this book. This trilogy of stories has definitely been the strongest of the series so far, and I am really looking forward to Dante and Evie's story.

(However--is it just me, or do the cover models for this series seem completely random? They never appear to match what the characters should really look like, IMO. Not that they're not pretty, but still....)

Another great story from Susan Mallery - set in Fool's Gold. This is Charlie and Clay's story. And it's a very powerful one. I highly recommend all the Fool's Gold books to anyone who loves a great story - with a fantastic cast of characters. Everyone from earlier stories pop in and out of the books - and you get little sneak peaks at the ones to come. I so love Fool's Gold. Boy, I wish I could live there. Since I can't, the next best thing is reading all the stories.

Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery was a good opening to the Blackberry Island Series. This book makes you think about what is important in your life, and makes you contemplate whether the characters are performing adequately as adults, or are in fact acting childish. I loved the ending of the book and look forward to the rest of the series. Some may find the PTSD, as spoken of in the book, a hard subject to read about. It happens everyday and as the book points out, a friend is what is needed at the end of a rough day. Another thing this book is good at pointing out is, do not give up.

I didn't like the premise of the book. It was clumsy and unrealistic. I really like parts of the book but it felt very amateurish. The ending was rushed and didn't make sense. The book had the possibility of being a good book but missed it.

I gave this book four stars.
It was a very readable book. The author is very talented. The story really grabs you from the beginning!
I was a little surprised because this was very different than any of the other books that I have read from this author.
It almost wasn't really a romance. It was a story about two former childhood friends who are both at a crisis in their lives.
I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone.

Susan Mallery is one of my "go to" authors. I don't even read the "blurbs" anymore. I just see a book by her, and get it! She has NEVER let me down; I have loved every book of hers that I've read, and Barefoot Season is NO exception! It may be, in fact, my favorite book by her to date.

Upon starting the book, I thought it was going to be solely Michelle's story; her coming home from the Army to recover, and reclaim her inheritance, the Blackberry Island Inn. I quickly realize that this was not JUST Michelle's story, but Carly's, too. Michelle and Carly are forced to work together, which neither of them are excited about. They butt heads often and hurt each other often, but that leads to understanding and reclaiming their old friendship.

My FULL REVIEW here: [...]

I've been waiting for this forever! ALL SUMMER LONG is just amazing. One of my all time favorites from Susan Mallery. If you've been reading the Fool's Gold books, then you know about Charlie. I'm so glad she finally met her guy. And Clay couldn't be more perfect. Not just because he's an underwear model! lol But his gentle masculinity is so good for her. Sigh. LOVED this story!!!

Not what I expected. I actually did not read a summary about the book but actually read this book based on the pretty cover and engaging title. I am not sure what barefoot season has to do with a story about a woman who comes home from serving several military tours overseas and is suffering from PTSD. She is also confronted with all kinds of unresolved issues that she sought to escape by joining the army. The story is very current and I enjoyed reading it.

I love the Fool's Gold series but this book was the best one yet! I love the fact that Charlie and Clay didn't even realize that their experiment was going to lead to love. It was understandable that neither one was expecting or looking to fall in love, which made it even more enjoyable when they both realized it happened. This book had it's moments of humor that literally left me laughing out loud but it was Clay's moments of tenderness and protection that I found most heartwarming. You will never be disappointed by reading a book by the NY Times Bestselling Author Susan Mallery. And "All Summer Long is a perfect example of why.

I really enjoyed Clay and Charlie. They are great characters with a great story. Susan Mallery deals with a sensitive subject in an interesting way, and in that way I felt like the progression of Charlie and Clay's relationship was very believable. And after reading the other Fools Gold books, I was familiar with Charlie's character and she was a personal favorite. So I was excited to hear her story. Enjoyable read. Good author.

I am a super huge fan of Susan Mallery. I think this was one of her best books yet. The charcters of Charlie and Clay felt so real to me. I cheered on the charcters through the whole book. I love that new charcters were introduced so I just have to read the next book. yeah!!! I love that the author keeps melding characters from the other stories. I would love to visit this town and its people. Highly reccomend this book.

Good cast of characters, not just H and h, but friends and family, too. Good humored and emotionally wrenching in turn. Delves not just into the romance, but also into parent-child and friend relationships, struggling to repair and/or support one another. Another good tearjerker from Susan Mallery.

ALL SUMMER LONG is the best of the three Fool's Gold books, which tell the stories of the Stryker brothers, and that's saying a lot because they were all good books. The developement of Clay's relationship with Charlie, the heroine, is written with humor and compassion as they help each other deal with the burdens of their pasts. Charlie is a courageous, compassionate heroine dealing with a past that - sadly enough - is similar to many women in today's society. It seemed as if I wanted all summer for the book's publication, but it was definitely worth the wait. Another great book from Susan Mallery!!!!

Fools gold is a wonderful town that once you read about it makes you wish you could be there. I was always curious about Charlie and couldn't until we got her fully story. She is funny, strong and rude to a point, yet you just have to love her. Clay and Charlie just flowed so naturally. I just wanted more of it. It had me laughing & tearing. The Fools Gold series always has me waiting for the next book to come out.

**** This portion of the Stryker family is about Clay and Charlie. He was a male model and previously married, his wife had die from a car accident. She was raped in college, has trust issues. Charlie asks Clay to get her over her fear of male companionship. The story of how this plan takes place is wonderful. Author has done a wonderful job.

Coming off a very busy time with my business, I was looking for a light, easy, beachy book. This one fit the bill perfectly. It also had some depth in how the main characters dealt differently with past history as well as a lesson on who we trust in our lives to "have our back" isn't always who we think. I really enjoyed this book!

Charlie is struggling to overcome something from her past and Clay is just the man to help. Clay has already found love once (only to lose it too soon) and is not sure if he is ready to risk that loss again.

Hot...Hot...Hot!!! Loved this book! It's a must read for fans of this series. (Although the cover picture definitely does not match Clay - or at least the one I envisioned.)

The heroine's PTSD was handled with great care and realistic detail. I loved how the relationships slowly unfolded and old betrayals healed. Few authors write women as nuanced and true as Susan Mallery. Once again, I'll be thinking about her characters long after the book is finished. This book made me fall in love with Blackberry Island. I'm so glad more stories are coming. Could not recommend it more.

I'm a new reader to Susan Mallery's books and the first couple that I read were some of her lighter Christmas ones. This book starts with a very serious tone that almost disappointed me at first, until I got further in and the interaction between the characters was less intense and brought out more compassionate feelings from me. As a military brat, sister and mother, I have a sincere appreciation for books that can honestly touch on the heroism of those who serve, and also be realistic about their war experiences.

Another winner! I love the folks in the town of Fool's Gold and have enjoyed getting to know each of them. The story explores some complicated relationships and helps the characters to resolve personal issues. This book is another indication of SUSAN Mallery' s talent for story telling. A great read so get it soon.

3 stars

I did and didn't like this. Liked the plot, even if it was very unrealistic at times. I didn't like Carly that much. And Michelle was a little more likeable than Carly, but not by much.

I didn't like the premise of the book. It was clumsy and unrealistic. I really like parts of the book but it felt very amateurish. The ending was rushed and didn't make sense. The book had the possibility of being a good book but missed it.

I gave this book four stars.
It was a very readable book. The author is very talented. The story really grabs you from the beginning!
I was a little surprised because this was very different than any of the other books that I have read from this author.
It almost wasn't really a romance. It was a story about two former childhood friends who are both at a crisis in their lives.
I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone.

Susan Mallery is one of my "go to" authors. I don't even read the "blurbs" anymore. I just see a book by her, and get it! She has NEVER let me down; I have loved every book of hers that I've read, and Barefoot Season is NO exception! It may be, in fact, my favorite book by her to date.

Upon starting the book, I thought it was going to be solely Michelle's story; her coming home from the Army to recover, and reclaim her inheritance, the Blackberry Island Inn. I quickly realize that this was not JUST Michelle's story, but Carly's, too. Michelle and Carly are forced to work together, which neither of them are excited about. They butt heads often and hurt each other often, but that leads to understanding and reclaiming their old friendship.

My FULL REVIEW here: [...]

I've been waiting for this forever! ALL SUMMER LONG is just amazing. One of my all time favorites from Susan Mallery. If you've been reading the Fool's Gold books, then you know about Charlie. I'm so glad she finally met her guy. And Clay couldn't be more perfect. Not just because he's an underwear model! lol But his gentle masculinity is so good for her. Sigh. LOVED this story!!!

Not what I expected. I actually did not read a summary about the book but actually read this book based on the pretty cover and engaging title. I am not sure what barefoot season has to do with a story about a woman who comes home from serving several military tours overseas and is suffering from PTSD. She is also confronted with all kinds of unresolved issues that she sought to escape by joining the army. The story is very current and I enjoyed reading it.

I love the Fool's Gold series but this book was the best one yet! I love the fact that Charlie and Clay didn't even realize that their experiment was going to lead to love. It was understandable that neither one was expecting or looking to fall in love, which made it even more enjoyable when they both realized it happened. This book had it's moments of humor that literally left me laughing out loud but it was Clay's moments of tenderness and protection that I found most heartwarming. You will never be disappointed by reading a book by the NY Times Bestselling Author Susan Mallery. And "All Summer Long is a perfect example of why.

I really enjoyed Clay and Charlie. They are great characters with a great story. Susan Mallery deals with a sensitive subject in an interesting way, and in that way I felt like the progression of Charlie and Clay's relationship was very believable. And after reading the other Fools Gold books, I was familiar with Charlie's character and she was a personal favorite. So I was excited to hear her story. Enjoyable read. Good author.

I am a super huge fan of Susan Mallery. I think this was one of her best books yet. The charcters of Charlie and Clay felt so real to me. I cheered on the charcters through the whole book. I love that new charcters were introduced so I just have to read the next book. yeah!!! I love that the author keeps melding characters from the other stories. I would love to visit this town and its people. Highly reccomend this book.

Good cast of characters, not just H and h, but friends and family, too. Good humored and emotionally wrenching in turn. Delves not just into the romance, but also into parent-child and friend relationships, struggling to repair and/or support one another. Another good tearjerker from Susan Mallery.

ALL SUMMER LONG is the best of the three Fool's Gold books, which tell the stories of the Stryker brothers, and that's saying a lot because they were all good books. The developement of Clay's relationship with Charlie, the heroine, is written with humor and compassion as they help each other deal with the burdens of their pasts. Charlie is a courageous, compassionate heroine dealing with a past that - sadly enough - is similar to many women in today's society. It seemed as if I wanted all summer for the book's publication, but it was definitely worth the wait. Another great book from Susan Mallery!!!!

Fools gold is a wonderful town that once you read about it makes you wish you could be there. I was always curious about Charlie and couldn't until we got her fully story. She is funny, strong and rude to a point, yet you just have to love her. Clay and Charlie just flowed so naturally. I just wanted more of it. It had me laughing & tearing. The Fools Gold series always has me waiting for the next book to come out.

**** This portion of the Stryker family is about Clay and Charlie. He was a male model and previously married, his wife had die from a car accident. She was raped in college, has trust issues. Charlie asks Clay to get her over her fear of male companionship. The story of how this plan takes place is wonderful. Author has done a wonderful job.

Coming off a very busy time with my business, I was looking for a light, easy, beachy book. This one fit the bill perfectly. It also had some depth in how the main characters dealt differently with past history as well as a lesson on who we trust in our lives to "have our back" isn't always who we think. I really enjoyed this book!

Charlie is struggling to overcome something from her past and Clay is just the man to help. Clay has already found love once (only to lose it too soon) and is not sure if he is ready to risk that loss again.

Hot...Hot...Hot!!! Loved this book! It's a must read for fans of this series. (Although the cover picture definitely does not match Clay - or at least the one I envisioned.)

The heroine's PTSD was handled with great care and realistic detail. I loved how the relationships slowly unfolded and old betrayals healed. Few authors write women as nuanced and true as Susan Mallery. Once again, I'll be thinking about her characters long after the book is finished. This book made me fall in love with Blackberry Island. I'm so glad more stories are coming. Could not recommend it more.

I'm a new reader to Susan Mallery's books and the first couple that I read were some of her lighter Christmas ones. This book starts with a very serious tone that almost disappointed me at first, until I got further in and the interaction between the characters was less intense and brought out more compassionate feelings from me. As a military brat, sister and mother, I have a sincere appreciation for books that can honestly touch on the heroism of those who serve, and also be realistic about their war experiences.

Another winner! I love the folks in the town of Fool's Gold and have enjoyed getting to know each of them. The story explores some complicated relationships and helps the characters to resolve personal issues. This book is another indication of SUSAN Mallery' s talent for story telling. A great read so get it soon.

3 stars

I did and didn't like this. Liked the plot, even if it was very unrealistic at times. I didn't like Carly that much. And Michelle was a little more likeable than Carly, but not by much.

This book made me laugh and cry.

The story of Charlie and Clay is more serious than the other two Stryker Brothers books. I compared this to Mallery's previous Fools Gold book on Simon and Montana. It was a serious and sad topic, that was mixed with humor and passion. You find yourself deeply invested in the characters and truly rooting for thier happiness.

This was a great story and quite a twist on beautiful people and how others react to them. Loved the strong heroine and her psychological issues and her solution to her problem. Very intense and sexually descriptive. If this type of novel is not your speed you might not enjoy it. However it was just my type of story!

Susan Mallery delivers in this book. I'm going to like this series; it pulls you in. The characters make you care about what happens. Humor, emotion, interesting topics that seem plausible. I'm looking forward to more in this series.

OMG! If you have not read any Susan Mallery YOU MUST!!!! SHE IS THE BEST! And Fools gold books AWSOME SERIES!!!! I have several fav's in her Fools Gold series but THIS ONE made my NUMBER 1!!! LOVE CHARLIE!!! I have loved Charlie and waited for her store thru the series!!! I knew she would be a emotional one!!! AND SUSAN MALLERY DID IT!! Ebook or Print GET IT!!!!

I was very disappointed with this book. I could not wait to finish it. I kept hoping for the book to pick up speed but never did for me. I did not like any of the characters. The book was repetitive at times. I was touched a few times with the dog; unfortunately, not with the humans. I did not like how there would finally be an emotional moment and then it was quickly over and it never developed - then days or weeks pass. I also did not like all the sarcasm, and I am sarcastic. It just felt out of place and awkward - certainly not funny. The issue with Damaris was never resolved and very disappointing. Damaris clearly cared for Michelle. I would definitely not consider this book a romance novel, which is okay. Still I did not like it.

I just finished reading the latest book in Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold series, "All Summer Long".
If you have not read any of these, start with the first in the series and read them all! I
really like Charlie and Clay together. The book touches on the mother/daughter dynamic...
very touching. Charlie's mother is something else when she first shows up but learns a lot
from some of the other mothers in Fool's Gold. Great read!

Can't believe all the good reviews on this one. Didn't take to the heroine, her personality was too hard and as for the hero couldn't believe he could be bothered with helping her fix her 'problem' which was more than just a problem and needed professional intervention. Clay, the hero,is home to start up a new business having left his previous life as a big time model. Just too unrealistic for me, couldn't finish the book.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the Fool's Gold series. Reading this trilogy about the Stryker brothers has been lot of fun -- love watching those macho men fall! Clay Stryker was not the typical ranch-bred man, and Charlie not the typical "girlie-girl", but somehow they managed to overcome their damaged pasts and will go on to have a marvelous future.

I would place this book under general fiction rather than romance. The book went about 80% of the way without seeming like a romance at all. Then, when it was time to wrap it up, the usual romance ending fell into place. I enjoyed the book and felt satisfied with the ending. It just seemed that the end was inconsistent with the writing in the rest of the book.

I truly enjoyed this book. I liked getting to know the characters and the setting. The story revolves around two best friends through school who deal with the loss of parents and each other through betrayal, lies, war, but eventually learn to respect and appreciate each other again. This was a great summer read. Can't wait to continue the series.

The book deals not only with the romance of the protagonists, but also with real problems. Rape, over bearing mother, and low self esteem affect Charlie in her adult life. It was well written showing us real life issues and how the power of love and support can help one overcome them.
Once again, Susan Mallery has outdown herself.

A wonderful story with wonderful characters! I really enjoyed this book. I found the characters to be very real and likeable. The history between Michelle and Carly is revealed throughout the entire book which keeps the story interesting. A wonderful summer read about friendship, finding yourself, and of course, romance.

I loved this book and finished it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down! This is a great love story but has a lot more substance than other romances. The characters are interesting as are their relationships. The plot involves more than you would expect.

I really enjoyed this book & had a hard time putting it down. I'm a fan Susan Mallery's, but I think this book is definitely one of her best. It had a little bit of everything in it, but mostly dealing with relationships -- and not just romantic relationships, family & friendship as well. All in all, I loved it!

This was my first Susan Mallery book, but I cannot wait to start the next one. I could actually see all the characters and had to force myself to put the book down and go to bed. I am so excited to have discovered Susan Mallery!

This was an entertaining read. I only found it slow in a couple of spots. Clay and Charlie are great characters and the storyline was nice. A nice romantic read with just a little bit of suspense. Probably would have been better with more suspense involved but a really good read anyway.

Hated for this book to end. The journey Charlie and Clay took as they were falling in love was one of the best I've read. The "coming together" of Charlie and her mother was well done. I recommend this book to everyone. If you've not read a Susan Mallery book before, this series will certainly hook you.

A good read specially at this time when we are getting so many vets with PTSD. Good reminder of the damages that war brings not only to the vets but also to the families left behind. And also a good reminder that being a parent is not a temporary job but a lifetime commitment.