The second book I read this weekend - and boy, am I glad I did - was All Night Long, by Michelle Jerott, now writing as Michele Albert.
A forever kind of guy tangles with a rolling stone kind of woman: On a hot July night in 1832, a young infantry officer disappeared. Almost 170 years later, the search for what happened to him -- and why -- draws Annie Beckett and Rik Magnusson together in a passionate affair. She tells herself she can't stay. He decides he won't let her go. Annie and Rik are determined to overcome the painful obstacles of their pasts to find happiness, but history is about to repeat itself as timeless constants of human behavior -- love and honor, friendship and rivalry -- threaten their fragile bonds of love and trust.This one was a reread, but I didn't remember it was so great. I mean, I knew I'd liked it, but I didn't remember how utterly re-readable it was. Anyway, I just loved it, and it gets an A+.
This one's just the kind of book I prefer. It concentrates on the romance (no gun-wielding villains here), but still has a neat little mystery to add that "something extra" to the book. The characters are excellently drawn, and very likeable. Rik's been burned by his ex-wife but doesn't hate all women, and Annie has some issues with commitment, but this isn't drawn out too long.
Rik and Annie together are very believable. Their relationship progresses slowly, and never feels rushed. And those love scenes! Full of humor and laughter and very, very hot.
I found the storyline about Lewis, the lost infantryman, fascinating. I don't know if it was believable that it would have garnered that much media attention (though I wouldn't think so), but I liked it and Jerott made good use of it to show us more about Annie.