On Second Thought - - Wicked Wyckerly

Wicked Wyckerly

By Patricia Rice

Publisher: Signet

Release Date: July 6, 2010

Reviewed by Janga

 

John Fitzhugh Wyckerly is the younger son of a drunken, irresponsible earl who has mostly ignored his spare. Fitz, a mathematical genius with an interest in insects, has used math skills to support himself through gambling and stayed out of the orbit of his father and older brother since he left home at seventeen. But when his brother breaks his neck in a drunken fall shortly after inheriting the title, Fitz finds himself the seventh Earl of Danecroft, heir to a crumbling estate, overwhelming debt, and creditors eager to see someone suffer for their losses. Fitz’s sole resource is a stallion he won in a bet. On his way to collect that resource, he also collects his six-year-old illegitimate daughter, Penelope, whose unruly behavior gets them tossed off the stagecoach. Fitz is in desperate need of an heiress to wed.

Abigail Meriweather, daughter of a magistrate, owns the small farm that had been part of her mother’s dowry. After the deaths of her stepmother and father, she had been content to run the small holding and care for her four half-siblings: Tommy, 10; Jennie, 6; and twins Cissy and Jeremy, 3. But her father’s solicitor decided the children needed male guidance and had them sent away to a childless couple who would act as their guardians. Abby has vainly petitioned a distant relative, a marquess, for help, but in the face of his silence, she has decided that her only hope of reclaiming custody of her young siblings is to find a wealthy, influential husband.

When Fitz and his daughter are dumped almost on Abby’s doorstep, she offers them shelter despite her misgivings. Young Penny quickly wins her heart, and Abby and Fitz, both determined to ignore the attraction between them, are beginning to become friends. That budding friendship is tested when the widow of the silent marquess shows up and Abby learns that Fitz is an earl. The marchioness plans to dower Abby and take her to London to find a husband, thus enabling her to insist on the return of her siblings. Fitz and Penny follow them to London where Fitz finds fault with all the candidates for Abby’s hand. Practicality and the marchioness say Abby and Fitz are all wrong for each other, but their hearts carry a different message.

This first book in Rice’s Rebellious Sons series was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten romances of 2010 and included in an impressive field of Rita finalists for Best Regency Historical in 2011. It is one of my all-time favorite Regency-set historicals. Abby is a delight with a strong will and a tender heart, but it is Fitz who makes the book for me. He has none of the arrogance so often found in romance heroes.  In fact, he has quite an humble view of himself. He also has some memorable lines about heroic expectations.

“We are not all of us born heroes, I fear. Women expect us to be wealthy and well-mannered and sophisticated. To be witty and thoughtful and honest. To be tender to children, loving to spouses and parents, and tough to bullies. Veritable saints, but...” He slanted her a look. “Pardon my bluntness, but women also expect us to be exciting, mysterious devils in the bedroom. Perhaps a contradiction?”

The children are mischievous, vulnerable, and endearing. The financial problems Fitz faces are real, and Rice does not trivialize them. The relationship between Fitz and Penny and between Abby and her siblings and the relationship Abby develops with Penny and Fitz with the young Meriweathers are important and believable. Another of the best things about the book is that there is no fairy tale solution to the burden that Fitz inherited. There is hope, but the resolution falls within the bounds of reason. Best of all, the reader is left with the happy conviction that Abby, Fitz, Tommy, Jennie, Penny, Cissy, and Jeremy will live and love together in familial harmony that will doubtless gain from new additions over the next few years.

I sound one note of caution. If you are a reader who dislikes children in romance novels, you will want to give Wicked Wyckerly a pass. But if you like romance that is humorous and substantive, romantic and real, I highly recommend this book. I just read it for the fourth time, and this time I am following the reread with rereads of the other three books in the series: The Devilish Montague, Notorious Atherton, Formidable Lord Quentin. All are good, but The Wicked Wyckerly is the best.

Today's Special - - We Own the Sky Excerpt & Giveaway

We Own the Sky
By Luke Allnutt
Publisher: Park Row / Harlequin
Release Date: April 3, 2018

Rob Coates feels like he’s won the lottery of life. There is Anna, his incredible wife, their London town house and, most precious of all, Jack, their son, who makes every day an extraordinary adventure. But when a devastating illness befalls his family, Rob’s world begins to unravel. Suddenly finding himself alone, Rob seeks solace in photographing the skyscrapers and clifftops he and his son Jack used to visit. And just when it seems that all hope is lost, Rob embarks on the most unforgettable of journeys to find his way back to life, and forgiveness. 

We Own the Sky is a tender, heartrending, but ultimately life-affirming novel that will resonate deeply with anyone who has suffered loss or experienced great love. With stunning eloquence and acumen, Luke Allnutt has penned a soaring debut and a true testament to the power of love, showing how even the most thoroughly broken heart can learn to beat again.

We Own the Sky

Excerpt

“You okay?”

“What? Yes, fine,” I say, taking a sip of my pint.

“You were miles away.”

“Oh, sorry.”

She doesn’t say anything and drinks half of her rum and Coke and shakes the ice around in the glass.

“It’s all right, Tintagel,” she says to nobody in particular. “I work in the village, at one of the gift shops. My friend works here.” She points at the barmaid, the one with the kind face.

“It’s a nice pub.”

“It’s okay,” she says. “Better on the weekend, and there’s ka­raoke on Tuesdays.”

“Do you sing?”

She snorts a little. “Only once, never again.”

“Shame, I’d like to see that,” I say smiling, holding her gaze.

She laughs and smiles back, then coyly looks away.

“Same again?” I ask. “I’m having another.”

“Not having something from that, then?” She reaches over and pats my jacket pocket, feeling for my hip flask.

I am annoyed that she has seen me and just as I’m thinking what to say, she gently touches my arm.

“You’re not exactly subtle about it, mate.” She looks at her watch and then realizes she is not wearing one, so instead checks the time on her phone.

“Go on then. Last one,” she says, chuckling to herself, strug­gling to get off her stool in her tight skirt. I watch her walk to the bathroom—a journey she chastely announces—and I can see the outline of her underwear beneath her skirt, the imprint of the bar stool on her thighs.

She smells of perfume when she comes back, and she has fixed her makeup and tied back her hair. We order some shots, and we are talking and drinking and swigging together from my hip flask, and then she is showing me videos of dogs on YouTube, because her family breeds Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and then clips of people fighting, people getting knocked out on the street on CCTV, because one of her mates from Cam­borne was a kickboxer but he was in prison now, assault.

Then I look up and it is all a blur, a skipping CD, the lights are on, and I can hear the harsh whine of a vacuum cleaner. I wonder if I have fallen asleep, passed out, but Charlie is still there next to me and I see we are now drinking vodka and Red Bull. I look at her and she smiles with wet, drunken eyes and she starts laughing again, pointing to her friend, the bar­maid, who is scowling and pushing the vacuum cleaner around the carpet.

And then we leave, via a brief little farce where she said she thought she should go home, and then we are walking arm in arm along the deserted High Street, giggling and shushing and falling up the stairs to the little flat she has above the gift shop where she works. When we get to the top of the stairs, she looks at me, her mouth shaped like a heart and I feel a rush of boozy lust, so I pull her close to me and we start kissing, my hand reaching under her skirt.

After we finish, we lie on her small single mattress on the floor, without making eye contact, our heads buried into each other’s necks. When we have held each other for what seems like an acceptable amount of time, I walk along the hall look­ing for the bathroom. I fumble for a light switch, but it is not the bathroom, it is a child’s bedroom. While Charlie’s room was sparse, unfurnished, the bedroom looks like a showroom in a department store. A light shaped like an airplane, mir­rored by a giant stencil on the wall. Neatly stacked boxes full of toys. A desk with colored pencils and stacks of paper. And then, pinned to a board, certificates and awards, for football and judo and being a superstar in school.

Next to the bed there is a night-light, and I cannot stop my­self from turning it on. I watch as it casts pale-blue moons and stars onto the ceiling. I walk toward the window, breathing in the faint smell of fabric conditioner and children’s shampoo. In the corner, I see a little yellow flashlight, just like one Jack once had, and take it in my hands, feeling the tough plastic, the durable rubber, the big buttons made for young, unskill­ful fingers.

“Hello,” Charlie says, and it startles me and I jump. Her tone is nearly but not quite a question.

“Sorry,” I stammer, suddenly feeling very sober, my hands beginning to shake. “I was looking for the bathroom.”

She looks down at my hands, and I realize I am still hold­ing the flashlight.

“My little boy,” she says, a moon from the night-light danc­ing across her face. “He’s staying with my sister tonight, that’s why I’m out getting drunk.” She straightens out some paper and crayons, making them symmetrical with the edge of the desk. “I’ve just had the room done,” she says, putting some­thing in the drawer of the bedside table. “Had to sell a lot of my stuff to pay for it, but it looks nice, don’t it?”

“It’s lovely,” I say, because it really was, and she smiles and we stand like that for a while, watching the planets and stars dance around the room.

I know Charlie wants to ask me something: if I have kids, if I like kids, but I don’t want to answer so I kiss her, and I can still taste the vodka and cigarettes. I don’t think she is comfort­able kissing me here, in her son’s room, so she pulls away, takes the flashlight out of my hand and puts it carefully back on the shelf. She turns out the night-light and leads me out the door.

Back on the single mattress, she pecks me sweetly on the neck, as you would kiss a child good-night, and then turns away from me and falls asleep without saying a word. Her naked flank is exposed and the room is cold, so I reach over and tuck the cover under her and it reminds me of Jack. Snug as a bug, snug as a bug in a rug. I drink the remainder of my hip flask and lie awake in the pale amber light, listening to her breathe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We Own the Sky has been compared to novels by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Jodi Picoult, and John Green. To what authors do you turn when you want an intensely emotional story?

One person who leaves a comment before 11:00 PM, March 16 will receive a copy of We Own the Sky. (U.S. only) 

Review - - Surrender My Heart

Surrender My Heart
By LG O'Connor
Caught Up in Love - Book 3
Publisher: Collins-Young Publishing
Release Date: February 13, 2018
Reviewed by PJ

Kitty and John have spent a lifetime loving one another...but not together. High school sweethearts, they were certain of what the future held but life, critical decisions, and secrets sent them in different directions. The past thirty-five years have brought significant changes to both of their lives. A police detective, John has been divorced for many years while Kitty, a CPA, is married with an adult daughter. Each time they see one another, it's apparent that their feelings still run deep but John is too honorable to act upon them and Kitty, unknown to those around her, is holding herself together by a thread. Allowing herself to lean on John, the man she has always known was her kryptonite, would likely shatter the tight control onto which she is barely holding. When Kitty's marriage implodes due to her husband's unexpected actions, it leaves her mired in self-doubt and depression, a state from which her daughter, Jenny (book 2 - Shelter My Heart) and her younger sister, Jillian (book 1 - Caught Up in Raine) are determined to free her. The adult Kitty they both know is vastly different from the person she was as a young woman. That person, nicknamed Kat by John, was vibrant, bold, and sure of her place in life and in John's arms. But that person ceased to exist when decisions were made that could not be undone. The Kitty of today is an overweight, less confident, paler version of Kat, a woman suffering beneath the guilt of too many secrets.

Readers have come to know both Kitty and John through the first two books in this series but there is much more to these two individuals and their journey than the author has let us see up to this point. In Surrender My Heart, we finally uncover their past and discover the events that have led them to this point in their lives. Writing in first person with chapters in alternating points of view, and transitioning chapters from present to past, O'Connor offers readers a poignant, deeply emotional, and sometimes heartbreaking story of the joy of young love, the devastation of loss, and the suffocating guilt that can result from, as Kitty says, making "the best of the worst choices for all of us." Once again, this author has woven a complex and compelling story that kept me up half the night. With a deep sigh, and a few tears, I turned the final page at 3:00 am this morning after savoring every word. 

I've been in John's corner since first meeting these characters in Caught Up in Raine. His care and concern for Jillian, Raine, and Jenny won my heart and his obvious yearning for "his Kat" made me ache for him. As Kitty's story unfolds, we come to see a woman who has been deeply affected by secrets and actions over the years, both her own and those of people around her. I cheered for her as she slowly begins to take control of her life, her health, and her happiness. As their shared past is slowly revealed from each of their perspectives, my heart ached for both Kitty and John and the anguish caused by secrets and pride. What happened to them was not due to one decision, or one person. It's only through the acknowledgement of their own roles in the events that have brought them to this point, and forgiveness, of themselves and one another, that they have any hope of moving forward and creating a happy future...together.

If you're looking for a contemporary romance/women's fiction hybrid featuring mature characters, a compelling story, a poignant second chance, and affirmation that a man and woman in their fifties can still create sizzle, look no further than Surrender My Heart. I highly recommend it. 



Do you enjoy romances with more mature characters?

Have you read any of the books in this series yet?

One randomly chosen person posting a comment before 11:00 PM, March 15 will receive a digital copy of Surrender My Heart. 

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Connect with L.G. O’Connor

Website | Twitter | Facebook

L.G. O’Connor’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, March 5th: Reading Reality

Wednesday, March 7th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, March 12th: What is That Book About – author Q&A

Tuesday, March 13th: The Romance Dish

Wednesday, March 14th: Written Love Reviews author Q&A

Thursday, March 15th: Sultry Sirens Book Blog

Monday, March 19th: Books & Bindings

Tuesday, March 20th: Mama Reads Blog and @mamareadsblog

Wednesday, March 21st: Written Love Reviews

Thursday, March 22nd: @girlandherbooks 

Monday, March 26th: @book_hangover88

Tuesday, March 27th: The Sketchy Reader

Wednesday, March 28th: Run Wright

Friday, March 30th: Moonlight Rendezvous

Winner - - Hello Stranger

The randomly chosen winner of a print copy of

Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas is:

Lil

Congratulations!

Please send your full name and mailing address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Review - - Twins for the Rancher

Twins for the Rancher
By Trish Milburn
Publisher: Harlequin Western Romance
Release Date: March 6, 2018
Reviewed by PJ

TV chef and baker, Lauren Shayne has come to Blue Falls, Texas to start a new business, not a new relationship. Lauren has little trust left for the male half of the population after her louse of an ex-fiancé tried to steal half of her business, ruin her reputation, and publicly disavowed paternity of their twin daughters. The only male she needs in her life is her grandfather, Papa Ed, the man behind the idea to open a restaurant in Blue Falls where Lauren will feature Papa Ed's award-winning barbeque recipes, and who has come along to help take care of the babies while Lauren whips the building she's purchased into restaurant shape. But then along comes Adam Hartley. He stops by to pitch his family ranch's branded beef for that delicious barbeque and stays to help. Multiple times. The more Lauren is around him the more she likes him. Everyone says he's a good man. Her grandfather likes him. Her babies adore him. His family seems welcoming and genuine. But Lauren still has those trust issues.

Adam Hartley has a good life and a good family. One of five adopted children, he's known nothing but love and support from the Hartleys. Now he's searching for the right way to give back to the family ranch - as his siblings are doing - to ensure it's stability and prosperity for future generations. The Rocking Horse Ranch Collection - including branded beef - is his idea. If he can secure Lauren's business for his family ranch it will go a long way toward the establishment of that dream. He never anticipated that he would want to "secure" the woman herself. He's smitten from the get-go but, once he learns her background, he knows he has to take it slow if he's going to earn her trust. Will she be able to overcome her fears enough to trust him with her business? With her heart? If she's only willing to choose one, which will it be? Adam knows what he would choose but what about Lauren?

Trish Milburn returns to Blue Falls, Texas for another heartwarming story in this long-running series. I've read, and enjoyed, each one of these books and always look forward to another visit when a new book is released. Milburn really captures the essence of this part of the Texas Hill Country and the essence of the community represented in her fictional town of Blue Falls. While characters from previous books are featured in this one, it doesn't lessen the appeal for readers who haven't read those stories. If you're a fan of the series, it will feel like a visit with old friends but if you're new to Blue Falls, Milburn writes in such a way that you'll feel like you're meeting these characters for the first time, not an outsider looking in on a reunion of people you don't know.

The sizzle factor is low (but not non-existent) in this one and toward the end of the book. The sexual tension, however, builds throughout, making it realistic and heightening the anticipation. Adam and Lauren are both likable characters, deserving of a happy ending. I enjoyed their banter, their close relationships with their respective families, and the way Adam immediately embraces Lauren and the twins as a unit. His scenes with the twins melted me into a puddle or, as Lauren puts it, "her ovaries struck up a lively tune and started tap dancing."

The secondary characters in this book aren't just window dressing. They help to move the plot along while not distracting from the main couple. There is, however, a surprise secondary storyline that should delight fans of the series. I really hope we'll find out more about that down the line along with a story for Adam's sister. I'm also intrigued with Lauren's sister, Violet. Maybe we'll see more of her as well?

If you're looking for a fun, heartwarming romance from the heart of Texas that makes you laugh, sigh, and maybe causes your ovaries to do a little two-step, do give this one a try.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday Special: One person who leaves a comment on this post before 11:00 PM (Eastern), March 12, will receive a print copy of Twins for the Rancher (U.S. only)

Do you enjoy cooking or baking? What's your signature dish?

If you opened a restaurant, what kind would it be?

Who is the last fictional hero (books/TV/movies) who made your ovaries strike up a lively tune?

Review - - Come Home with Me

Come Home with Me

By Susan Fox

Publisher: Kensington/Zebra

Release Date: February 27, 2018

Reviewed by Janga

 

When Miranda Gabriel left Destiny Island after high school, she never expected to return, but when she was evicted from her Vancouver apartment, she found refuge for herself and her two-year-old daughter Ariana with her brother Aaron whose seaplane business, Blue Moon Air, is based on the island. Just when Miranda feels that her life is stable with her part-time job at a local children’s store and her success at continuing her education, her brother and Eden Blaine announce their engagement. Miranda likes Eden, and she is happy that her once-cynical brother has found happiness, but she is also concerned about how Aaron’s marriage will change her life and Ariana’s. Eden and her extended family are eager to make Miranda and Ariana part of their circle, but Miranda, although appreciative of their efforts, is too scarred by her troubled past to lose her sense of being an outsider.

Veterinarian Luke Chandler, the widowed father of four-year-old twin sons, Caleb and Brandon, has avoided relationships since the death of his wife when the twins were born. His wife Candace was his best friend and then his high school girlfriend before she became his wife. She was the only woman Luke ever dated, and his lack of interest in romance the past few years, despite encouragement from his parents and his in-laws to move on with his life, has convinced him that he is a one-woman man. But when he encounters Miranda while he is shopping for birthday gifts for his sons, he feels a definite spark of attraction.

Miranda and Luke knew each other in high school when she was the sexy bad girl, and he was the straight-arrow A student dating a cheerleader. They had nothing in common then, but now they find common ground in their status as single parents. Luke is eager to explore the feelings between them, but Miranda is wary. She has an unhappy history with bad-boy boyfriends, and she has sworn off relationships. However, she can’t resist Luke’s offer of friendship. These friends can’t deny their mutual attraction, but in this case the path of true love stays true to the proverb. Obstacles include Miranda’s feelings of unworthiness and the objections of Luke’s parents to Miranda, whose past reputation makes her totally unsuitable as a stepmother to their grandsons in their estimation.

Come Home with Me is the second book in Fox’s Blue Harbor series, but it works well as a standalone. This is a sweet story that combines the tropes of second chances and opposites attract. Both Miranda and Luke have experienced their share of heartache, and most readers will quickly find themselves rooting for this couple to resolve their conflicts and claim their HEA, complete with blended family. The setting is appealing, the secondary characters are a credible mix of the large-hearted and the mean-spirited, and there are enough hints of upcoming stories to hook readers who love a good small-town series.

If you enjoy authors such as RaeAnne Thayne and Sherryl Woods, you will likely enjoy Come Home with Me. This was my first book by Susan Fox, and I liked her voice and her style well enough to add Aaron and Eden’s story to my TBR and to note the next book in the series, Sail Away with Me (September 25), which features a painfully shy bookseller and romance reader as the heroine and a musician as her hero. It sounds intriguing.

Winner - - The Secret of Flirting

The randomly chosen winner of an ARC of

The Secret of Flirting by Sabrina Jeffries is:

AmandaRay

Congratulations!

Please send your full name and mailing address (U.S. only) to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Tour Review & Giveaway - - Hello Stranger

Hello Stranger
By Lisa Kleypas
The Ravenels - Book 4
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: February 27, 2018
Reviewed by PJ

 

Fans of The Ravenels series will recognize Dr. Garrett Gibson as the pragmatic, dedicated doctor who cares for Winterbourne employees and their families during the day and spends the rest of her time treating those in the poor sections of London who cannot afford her services. She is determined to use her hard-won medical knowledge and skills to educate and care for as many people as possible, especially the women of England who have been taught that to have an interest in their health or bodies is shameful. Her course is set and it doesn't include time for frivolities such as balls and soirees or love and romance. But then Ethan Ransom re-enters her life and brings with him flutters and desires that refuse to be denied. 

Ethan Ransom is not the man for Dr. Garrett Gibson. He knows that someone as special as the lady doctor deserves a much better man than he but, even knowing that, he can't seem to keep his distance. Ethan is a man of the shadows, with rough origins, lethal skills, and a secret government job that could bring deadly danger to Garrett's door. He does his best to stay away, while still watching over her, but fate conspires to bring them together time and again and each time their fascination with one another and desire for one another grow deeper. Garrett is confident she can indulge in her body's desires without emotional consequence while Ethan has already fallen hard. He wants her with every beat of his heart but fears what could happen to her if she's pulled into his deadly world. 

This is the deeply romantic Lisa Kleypas storytelling that I fell in love with years ago. From beginning to end, Hello Stranger is my favorite book so far in The Ravenels series.

I wasn't sure what to expect of Garrett when I started this book. In previous books in this series we've been shown a no-nonsense doctor who hasn't much of a life outside of her career but she really evolves throughout this story. I loved her strength and determination, her courage to pursue her dreams in the face of monumental odds and to take control of her happiness at the risk of damaging her reputation and endangering her livelihood. 

"I have to go," he said shortly, and pulled back while he was still able.
But Garrett moved with him, her hands reaching up to grip his head on either side, the way he'd taught her at Baujart's. The strength of her fingers electrified him.
"Kiss me," she commanded, "or I'll break your nose."
The threat startled a ragged laugh from him. He shook his head as he looked at her, this fearsomely capable woman who loved geese and was afraid of spaghetti, and could either wield a scalpel in a complex surgical procedure or use it as a throwing-knife.
There had always been a cold streak in him, but he couldn't seem to find it now, when he needed it most. He was breaking apart inside. He would never be the same after this.
"Christ, you've ruined me," he whispered.

It was a pleasure to watch Garrett learn to embrace her softer, emotional side without sacrificing any of the strength inherent in her scientific pragmatism and determination. Even when faced with near insurmountable odds to save someone she loves she rolls up her sleeves and marches into the fray, doing what she had been trained to do and refusing to allow emotion or fear to overtake her until every possible medical procedure has been completed. She has enormous strength of will. I admired her, liked her, and happily cheered her on throughout her journey. She is a heroine I will not soon forget.

What can I say about Ethan? ::sigh:: I really fell hard for this hero with his well-hidden Irish accent and caring, protective nature. He has so many layers and I savored the unveiling of every one of them. The scars of his childhood run deep and the bitterness he harbors for the Ravenel family is not without merit. He's convinced the best thing he can do for Garrett is put as much distance as possible between them but outside forces as well as his need to protect her continue to bring them together. He can be cold, ruthless, and lethal when necessary yet beneath the hard exterior lives the soul of a poet and a heart that yearns, as evidenced by this declaration to Garrett during a particularly dire scene:

"The first moment I saw you, I knew you were my share of the world. I've always loved you. If I could choose my fate, I'd never be parted from you. Acushla...pulse of my heart, breath of my soul...there's nothing on this earth more fair and fine than you. Your shadow on the ground is sunlight to me." 

::Sigh:: Added to that, he has an innate sensuality and a heart that beats solely for one unconventional woman not in spite of her intelligence and skills but, in large part, because of them. I mean, really, how could I not fall in love with him?

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was how good Garrett and Ethan are as a couple. They bring out the best in one another, complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. They are each strong individually but stronger together. Neither is diminished by the other and while there are times in the story when Garrett is rescued by Ethan there are others where Ethan is rescued by Garrett. Their love is deep and enduring but they also like one another, admire one another, desire one another, and, in the end, they save one another. 

For fans of the series, West Ravenel has a fair amount of page time in this book. The scenes between West and Ethan were some of my favorites in Hello Stranger and have upped my anticipation for West's story. I hope we'll be seeing more of Ethan and Garrett in future books as well. I haven't had nearly enough of them! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you read Hello Stranger yet? What did you think?

Who is/are your favorite Lisa Kleypas characters?

Are you as excited for West Ravenel's story as I am?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM (Eastern), March 10 will receive a print copy of Hello Stranger from the publisher. U.S. and Canadian addresses only.

 

Danielle Barnum Photography

ABOUT LISA KLEYPAS

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas graduated from Wellesley College with a political science degree. She is a RITA award winning author of both historical romance and contemporary women’s fiction. Her novels are published in fourteen different languages and are bestsellers all over the world. She lives in Washington State with her husband Gregory and their two children.

A woman who defies her time
Dr. Garrett Gibson, the only female physician in England, is as daring and independent as any man—why not take her pleasures like one? Yet she has never been tempted to embark on an affair, until now. Ethan Ransom, a former detective for Scotland Yard, is as gallant as he is secretive, a rumored assassin whose true loyalties are a mystery. For one exhilarating night, they give in to their potent attraction before becoming strangers again.

A man who breaks every rule

As a Ravenel by-blow spurned by his father, Ethan has little interest in polite society, yet he is captivated by the bold and beautiful Garrett. Despite their vow to resist each other after that sublime night, she is soon drawn into his most dangerous assignment yet. When the mission goes wrong, it will take all of Garrett’s skill and courage to save him. As they face the menace of a treacherous government plot, Ethan is willing to take any risk for the love of the most extraordinary woman he’s ever known.

Connect with Lisa Kleypas

Facebook: @LisaKleypas

Twitter: @LisaKleypas

Instagram: @lisakleypas

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