Customer Reviews

Never Marry a Stranger

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This was a fast read with a decent plot but it was nearly impossible for me to empathize with the heroine of Never Marry A Stranger because I never really knew her.

Hero Matthew Leland is presumed dead in India but he returns to his family and is in for quite a surprise as a woman is residing with his family claiming to be his wife. He knows she is lying but wants to avoid a scandal so keeps mum about her and "pretends" to have partial amnesia. This will give him time to discern her motives and see if she is a threat to his family.

Emily Grey's plans for a secure existence are shattered when Matthew returns from the dead. She faints when she sees him and when she comes to she is relieved her plans are not up in smoke. To Emily, Matthew's amnesia is a godsend. Emily has no family and actually did meet Matthew before he went to India. He saved her from a shipwreck.

Emily is a consummate liar. She has been telling whoppers for over a year to Matthew's family and she keeps up the pretense when Matthew is home. I did not know when she acted with true sincerity. She claims to love the Lelands but feels little guilt about lying to them. She is willing to be Matthew's wife even when she believes he has another one. How self-serving. Her plan is to make Matthew fall in love with her so that if he does regain his memory she can stay in the bosom of his family.

Matthew falls under Emily's spell even though he knows she can lie with a straight face. Within days he finds out Emily is just too good to be true, she helps his estranged parents make a better marriage, opens a school for village children, is the perfect sister-in-law, etc. How can he not be enchanted? Plus she is so solicitous to him, and willing to sleep with him too. Again, I never knew how honest Emily was with her emotions and actions. Perhaps she really was this angelic but the author only gives us small glimpses into her motivations and usually they centered on self preservation.

Emily is good at keeping secrets but not that good. She underestimates Matthew and her secret turns out to be great blackmail material for a past associate. Emily is almost clinical in how she goes about securing a position in Matthew's affections. She definitely knows what she wants and has few qualms about lying to others to attain her security.

Matthew I knew only a little. His determination to avoid a scandal was directly responsible for his lying to his "wife." He seemed infinitely patient with her and obviously felt a physical attraction right away, but he was less than honest with Emily and his family too.

I felt like I only got a small look into the real Emily and those peeks were usually of a desperate woman willing to do desperate things. She was kind and considerate to others but had no compunction about lying to people too. Because of their constant lying, it was rather unbelievable that Emily and Matthew fell in love within just a matter of a few weeks, they never trusted nor really knew each other.

Miss Emily Grey is plucked from the water by the dashing Captain Matthew Leland and his kindness, in her time of loss, cements that she loses he heart to him. So while she falls in love with Capt. Matthew he doesn't know this and is still shipped off to India the next day.

Shortly after it is announced the Captain has died while in India, Emily shows up at his family's estate claiming to be his bride. The little white lie looked to be innocent and his family easily took her in. Unfortunately, when Captain Leland shows up at home not only is his family shocked at his arrival but he is shocked to find he apparently has a wife. He finds this an interesting turn of events and decides to play along to be able to expose Emily's scheme.

What neither expects to happen is that they just might be well matched for each other and even be destined to be together.

Gayle Callen has shown again why she is a highly popular historical romance writer with Never Marry a Stranger. Both Emily and Matthew were well written characters who were not perfect but whose flaws made them even more likeable characters. Never Marry a Stranger shows again why telling a "little white lie" can come back to haunt you, or in this case come back from the dead. If you haven't added this historical to your collection I think you should.

Tanya
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This was an enjoyable story about a man who returns from India (where he was reported as dead) to discover he appears to have a wife - but he knows he didn't marry Emily. Captain Matthew Leland's unexpected return gives great joy to his family - but he's more interested in knowing what Emily - his purported wife - is planning. He pretends to have amnesia, thus not to remember her, to give himself space to discover more about her and her motivations.

Despite the deception that both are involved in, they begin to create something of a life together. When their trust is tested, can they believe enough in each other, despite the lies, to make a future?

This was an enjoyable read with appealing main characters. There were some flaws in the book - I felt that the blackmail subplot didn't work entirely well, and that the occasional focus on sister Susanna and Matthew's parents wasn't entirely successful - but overall it was a good read and an uplifting one. It was good to read of people who, despite having every reason to turn against each other, are able to forgive and forget and move on.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2010

After reading the first 2 books in this trilogy, I couldn't wait for this one to come out!
I was not disappointed! Ms Callen is a wonderful writer and always pulls me right in to the
story from the 1st page! I have read all of her books - minus the first trilogy, and have
been captivated from the very beginning!

The return of Captain Matthew Leland is quite shocking, because he was presumed dead. When he arrives home he is in for a shock himself, a bewitching beauty, who claims to be his wife is living at his family home. He pretends that he has amnesia and hopes to discover the reasons for her trickery. Soon a person from her past appears and tries to blackmail her. Meanwhile Matthew and Emily fall in love and try to find a way to eliminate the threat that comes from Emily's old acquaintance.

I have been a Gayle Callen fan from her first book onward and I was never disappointed by any of her books and NEVER MARRY A STRANGER is no exception. The book is another keeper and I am looking forward to see with what Ms. Callen comes up with next.

Ms. Callen has created great main characters, who make the book such an enjoyable read. You never really know what will happen next, because the book is absolutely not predictable. I was so caught up in the book, that I read it in one sitting.

Although NEVER MARRY A STRANGER is the third book of the Sons of Scandal trilogy you can easily read it as stand-alone or start the trilogy backward, because I tell you will want to read the previous books of the series, too, after reading this book.

NEVER MARRY A STRANGER is the wonderful story about those who dare to trust that love can conquer everything.

Awful. I truly cannot fathom why an author would write such a selfish, weak main character. I prefer female leads to be strong and have some sense of honor. Emily claims she has skills but instead of making her own way she lies to the Matthews bereaving family and moves in. Although she tries to blame it on a dead vicar, she lies to this family every minute of every day while she lives under their roof, eats their food, takes advantage of them for her every little thing. Did she ever plan on ending this charade in any way? Finding an acceptable way to move on and quit living this lie? And the author goes over the top in trying to show her to be a good person. I don't care how many people like you (actually, the person you are pretending to be, because nobody really knows her, do they?) or how many good deeds you turn - her very existence in this setting is a huge, horrible lie. And she obviously feels no guilt or remorse and has no plans on making it right. Even knowing Matthew has a real wife somewhere. Is she planning on discrediting this actual wife when she shows up?

Even worse is how she continues to lie and calculate when Matthew returns. And I don't believe for a minute that Mathew would find this amusing at all. Why wouldn't he say when he first comes home that they are not married? The idea that he is somewhat amused and goes along with this in order to avoid a scandal is ridiculous. The scandal will be less after he's lived with her for some time?

Usually the devious, plotting, lying and conniving female is a rejected former mistress or jealous competitor on the marriage mart - to have her be the protagonist is bizarre. I wonder if this is the authors normal MO. There is a reference in the book that says Matthews cousin married a woman who came into his house thru devious means to spy on him and expose him in her fathers newspaper. Nice. Why does this author put such detestable females in lead roles? I've returned Never Marry a Stranger to the bookstore and will not be buying another book by this person.

In 1845 Captain Matthew Leland returns home to England to inform his family he did not die in India as reported. When he left for overseas duty, his parents were estranged, but they seem reconciled as they enthusiastically greet him. He is stunned when they introduce him to his wife Emily as he knows his spouse died in India. He pretends he has amnesia and does not recognize her as he wants to avoid scandal and learn what her scam is. Matthew admires her reactions to his probing as she brazenly responds without tipping her hand.

Arthur Stanwood knows he is in trouble with his debtors. He seeks Emily who escaped from his control. The next day Matthew's two sisters are excited to see him. Matthew also notices how his family and the servants love Emily and she seems to cherish each one of them. They take a walk and she promises to help him remember. Having learned of the miraculous return in the paper, Stanwood sends a note to Emily informing her he knows the truth. She fears him knowing he murdered the Vicar Tillman for helping her. Matthew sees her toss the letter in the fire and removes it. He has proof of her duplicity, but not why. As they fall in love, each knows the other lies to protect his family, but neither knows why while Stanwood demands payment or else.

The spinning relationship between the lead couple is excellent starting with his coming home from the "dead" to a "wife". His family is fully developed and Emily has changed them from estranged to loving; however she is too perfect as everyone loves her. Still fans will appreciate this fine Victorian romance as those who dare to trust in love triumph every time.

Harriet Klausner