Audiobook Review: All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz

All Night Long
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Amanda Cobb
Publication: Recorded Books (March 15, 2015)
Length: 10 hours and 6 minutes

Description: Shy, studious Irene Stenson and wild, privileged Pamela Webb had been the best of friends for one short high school summer. Their friendship ended the night Pamela dropped Irene off at home - and Irene walked in to discover her parents' bodies on the kitchen floor. It was ruled a murder-suicide, and Irene fled Dunsley, determined to wipe out every memory attached to her Northern California hometown. But now she has been summoned back.

Pamela's email had been short and cryptic. More alarming, it included the code word they had used as teenagers, suggesting an urgency and secrecy that puzzled Irene. What could be important enough to make her former friend get in touch after all these years? She won't find out - at least not from Pamela, who lies dead in the luxurious home of her father, a US senator, pill and liquor bottles beside her. The shock has barely subsided before the rumors begin to swirl.

Irene had planned to get out of this place as quickly as possible. But her reporter's instinct - and her own hunger to know the truth - compel her to extend her stay at the local lodge. Even more compelling is the man who runs the place - a hazel-eyed ex-marine who's as used to giving orders as Irene is to ignoring them.

Luke Danner can see the terrified young girl hidden beneath Irene Stenson's black-clad, confident exterior - and he is intent on protecting her. But he is also driven by passions of his own, and together they will risk far more than local gossip to sort out what happened to Pamela Webb and what really happened on that long-ago summer night.

My Thoughts: Irene Stenson left her Northern California home after her parents died in what looked like a murder-suicide. She has never gotten over their deaths. She refuses to believe that her father killed her mother and then himself. 

Many years later, Irene hears from her former best friend Pamela who says she has some news about the events of that night to share. Irene heads back home, rents a cabin at a run-down resort run by Luke Danner, and goes to see her former friend. Luke follows her when she leaves the resort late at night to rendezvous with Pamela who has stopped answering her phone or texts. That means that both of them are there when Irene discovers Pamela's body. It's an apparent suicide since Pamela is surrounded by pill and an empty pitcher of martinis. 

Irene isn't buying it. She can't believe that Pamela would kill herself when she had called Irene to her to give her some sort of message. Irene remembers an old hiding place of Pamela's and discovers a key. It is an ordinary key, and she doesn't know what it will open. Then the house is set on fire while she and Luke are searching it for any clues of what really happened. 

Meanwhile, Luke and Irene are falling in love. Luke has family issues. His family is sure that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome since he isn't behaving the way they expect. That isn't Luke's problem. But Irene does suffer from post-traumatic stress and can recognize it in others. 

Luke is a man who wants to go his own way rather than be sucked into the family wine business. He has a doctorate in philosophy and served in the Marines. He's currently writing a book which he hasn't mentioned to his family. 

This romantic suspense title comes from early in the author's career. It has a lot of the things that author has become known for: quirky characters, snappy dialog, and romance. It was an excellent romantic suspense title. 

I bought this one for Kindle and audiobook August 21, 2025. You can buy your copy here.