SMOOTH TALKING STRANGER by Lisa Kleypas

SMOOTH TALKING STRANGER (Travises #3) by Lisa Kleypas

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published March 31st 2009 by St. Martin's Press
Genre: contemporary romance novel
Rating: 5 stars

When writing the review of a LK’s book, the risk is to sound redundant because she consistently  delivers with her signature style and she is always at her best whatever she writes, either historical or contemporary.

So, let me give it to you straight and simple…there are at least ten good reasons to love Smooth Talking Stranger.

1. The first person POV: Ms. Kleypas treats us to a smooth and flawless first person narrative style…what a pleasant surprise!
2. The LK trademark descriptive style: Ms. Kleypas’s highly descriptive prose delivers dramatic and effective characterization of  protagonists and their (Texan) environment. STS, like many other LK novels, has a strong “film” quality. It would work beautifully on screen!  
3. The richly nuanced characters: whether main or secondary, they are all striking and tridimensional, believable and endearing. Our heroine Ella Varner, in particular, with her tragic family background, her narcissistic mother and sister, her bookish personality, her fears and inhibitions.
4. The “on the mark” description of family dynamics, either normal or dysfunctional. You can’t but relate to this fictional microcosm.
5. The heart-wrenching storyline…I have to admit I got misty-eyed when the protagonist, Ella, heartbreakingly returns her baby nephew to the care of his mom. When a story is so well written, the suspension of disbelief kicks in…and you find yourself shedding tears, laughing and pining for these fictional characters and their fortunes/misfortunes.
6. The love story, as much more emotionally charged as stronger is the reluctance of one of the protagonists to be sentimentally involved…because love means facing your biggest fears.
7. Tasteful and sophisticated sensuality, building up through the pages and enhanced by a strong romantic tension.
8. A great stand-alone novel, although embedded in a trilogy. And brace yourself, because a further installment of the Travises  Series is in the works!
9. Male characters to die for…if you don’t fall in love with Jack Travis within the first one hundred pages, something is seriously wrong with you. Distractingly handsome and downright sweet…enough said.
10.  Heartwarming fairytale quality: yes, you could certainly put this one on your “modern fairytales bookshelf” and keep it, because it will give you sheer joy reading it over and over again. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!