Hello Stranger (Ravenels Series #4)

by Lisa Kleypas

Overview

"New York Times"-bestselling author Kleypas delivers a scintillating tale of an unconventional beauty who finds passion with the spy who can't resist her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062371911
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/27/2018
Series:	Ravenels Series , #4
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	100,706
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.60(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

New York Times Lisa Kleypas graduated from Wellesley College with a political science degree. Her historical romance and contemporary women’s fiction novels are published in forty different languages, and are bestsellers all over the world. Currently she lives in Southern California with her husband Gregory.

Editorial Reviews

02/05/2018
Kleypas sets the implausible fairy tale of Garrett Gibson, the only woman doctor in 1876 England, in working-class Clerkenwell, but this sanitized version of London has the squeaky-clean artifice of a toothpaste commercial. Garrett, a constable’s daughter, nonetheless earned a degree from the Sorbonne and, at age 28, has a state-of-the-art surgery plus a side gig subsidized by tycoon Rhys Winterborne (familiar from 2016’s Marrying Winterborne). Into this frankly unbelievable life slouches Ethan Ransom, a kind of Victorian James Bond who spends Tuesdays shadowing Garrett on neighborhood rounds. This makes him conveniently available to rescue her from inevitable harassers. He agrees to tutor her in street-fighting skills, and they scarcely resist the ensuing onslaught of lust. Ethan is a double agent engaged in taking down his corrupt government boss, and Garrett doesn’t know the risks she’s taking by getting involved with him. There’s a sense that Garrett has been cast as a doctor to excuse a liberal salting of research nuggets, and Ethan’s Kama Sutra–derived erotic skills are annoyingly orientalist. Such details do give an uncommon flavor to a familiar suspense plot, and the anatomical dialogue, while expected, is still good for a chuckle, but there’s little here for anyone other than series fans. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

A love story to savor. Another winner in Kleypas’ Ravenels series, with elegant prose, a fascinating heroine, and a Victorian London constructed with compelling historical detail.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Kleypas will continue to win readers’ hearts in book four of the Ravenels [...] Kleypas makes you feel every intense moment; each heated kiss and all the thrilling action as you race to the perfect ending. There is nothing quite like a Kleypas romance.” — RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars)

“Witty, often hilarious, and delightfully passionate, this compelling, thrill-laced Victorian romance is another superb series entry.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Kleypas’ elegant, assured prose and attentive characterization adorn every page of Hello Stranger. This is a fabulous love story with a perfectly matched pair at its heart.” — BookPage

“Unforgettable, beautifully etched characters; a flawless sense of pacing; and a perfectly executed plot imbued with an abundance of desire and danger are the outstanding literary hallmarks of the latest splendid addition to Kleypas’ Ravenels series.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

Unforgettable, beautifully etched characters; a flawless sense of pacing; and a perfectly executed plot imbued with an abundance of desire and danger are the outstanding literary hallmarks of the latest splendid addition to Kleypas’ Ravenels series.

Booklist

★ 2018-01-23
England's only female doctor and a lethal government agent with secrets of his own fall in love.The fourth book in Kleypas' (Devil in Spring, 2017, etc.) The Ravenels series brings back a popular minor character, the capable and friendly Dr. Garrett Gibson. Kleypas modeled her on Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, who in 1865 became the first Englishwoman to qualify as a doctor. Garrett lives with her father above her busy office, and although her friendship with the Ravenels grants her proximity to wealth and nobility, she is fulfilled in her career and content in her life. At age 28, she may be "on the shelf," but "it happens to be a very interesting shelf." Little does the good doctor realize that in a chance encounter two years prior, her brilliance and beauty captivated secret government agent Ethan Ransom. Ransom, a "by-blow" of the late Earl of Ravenel, was raised by a prison guard. Rejecting his biological connections, he prefers a solitary, anonymous life, the better to exercise the espionage skills he gained under the tutelage of England's most powerful spymaster. Kleypas' depiction of the city Garrett and Ransom adore is one of the novel's delights: "It was a mean, big-bellied, prosperous city, shod in brick and iron, wearing a thick overcoat of factory smoke, carrying a million secrets in its pockets." A terrorism subplot gives Ransom strong reason to stay away from Garrett, who is game for a fling but concerned about her reputation, precarious as it already is given her controversial line of work. While Ransom's workplace issues never quite gel, vivid romantic encounters in nooks of London not often featured in this subgenre—a fencing club, a raucous street party, a darkened lab—make this a love story to savor.Another winner in Kleypas' Ravenels series, with elegant prose, a fascinating heroine, and a Victorian London constructed with compelling historical detail.

Kirkus Reviews

Unforgettable, beautifully etched characters; a flawless sense of pacing; and a perfectly executed plot imbued with an abundance of desire and danger are the outstanding literary hallmarks of the latest splendid addition to Kleypas’ Ravenels series.

Booklist

Kleypas’ elegant, assured prose and attentive characterization adorn every page of Hello Stranger. This is a fabulous love story with a perfectly matched pair at its heart.

BookPage

Kleypas will continue to win readers’ hearts in book four of the Ravenels [...] Kleypas makes you feel every intense moment; each heated kiss and all the thrilling action as you race to the perfect ending. There is nothing quite like a Kleypas romance.

RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars)