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64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Smooth talking writer!, March 31, 2009
Ella Varner is a columnist living and working in Austin, Texas. She loves her life with her boyfriend Dane and is content in their relationship. Everything changes dramatically however when Ella's younger sister, Tara, has a baby, Luke, and Ella is forced to take care of him. Suddenly, Ella's neat and orderly life is interrupted with bottles, nightly feedings, little sleep, and a small but growing baby.
Ella is determined to do her best by Luke and Tara and she decides the best choice is to find the father. When Tara names wealthy playboy Jack Travis as the father, Ella marches down to his Houston office to get answers. Jack denies that he is Luke's father straight away, but Ella wants a paternity test. Jack agrees knowing he is not the father. But he sure would not mind spending more time with the feisty Ella. Jack is used to arm candy in the women he dates. Ella is anything but that. She is intelligent, strong-minded, and determined to never truly lose herself to a man. Let the battle of wills commence!
Smooth Talking Stranger is not as intense as the previous Travis story, Blue-Eyed Devil. There is more laughter and a lightness that Haven's story lacked, which makes sense given the very different plots of the story. While I definitely enjoyed Smooth Talking Stranger, it did not pull me in quite as much as Haven and Hardy's story. This is a romance that skims along the surface rather than delves deep into the characters' hearts and souls. This is not a bad thing but it is just a major difference. Jack and Ella's story is very enjoyable, and perhaps the most romantic out of all of Lisa Kleypas's contemporary romances but it just did not totally grab me.
That being said, it is still a Kleypas story and considering some of the romance drivel that is published, this book stands heads and tails above others. Ella is an interesting woman to get to know. She feels the pull of love, not only for Jack, but for Luke, but she wants to heartily deny it. She plays her emotions close to the vest while Jack is very free with his feelings, letting her know just how much he has started to love her. Jack is definitely the charmer and rascal he was in previous books as a secondary character, but there is a more serious side that is a welcome addition to his character. He is not perfect and as some of his previous relationships come back to haunt him, he gets a better understanding for just why Ella is so much more right for him.
Smooth Talking Stranger has its swoon-worthy moments and it showcases Lisa Kleypas's fun and unique writing style. I liked the characters and particularly the ending which just seemed very appropriate and wonderful for the overall tone of the book. Love comes in many forms as Ella is about to discover.
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44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Book!, April 3, 2009
This was by far my favorite of Lisa Kleypas' contemporary novels, which is saying a lot, because I've really enjoyed the others. I did not expect to love this book as much as I did, but Ella and Jack are such well-drawn characters - the reader gets a very real sense of who they are as people, and what has led to them being who they are. Both are flawed, but in a way that makes them all the more real, and they don't judge each other, but demonstrate a very real, very deep, mutual sense of understanding and acceptance.
Plus, their banter is fantastic! They're both incredibly bright and funny, and a lot of their conversations and back-and-forth snark are a lot of fun to read. That said, Kleypas doesn't skimp on meaningful conversations, either; Ella and Jack have many serious, meaningful talks that give us real insight into their ever-growing and intensifying feelings for one another.
The actual progression of their relationship is very well done. It does not move at a snail's pace, but it doesn't happen overnight, either. The reader is treated to seeing how their initial attraction to, and wariness of, one other develops into real friendship and trust, heat and passion, a breaking down of old walls and defenses, and a truly beautiful, strong love. Kleypas does all of this while managing to avoid a cliche or two that are repeated ad nauseum in books that feature alpha male playboys, and does so in such a way as to turn those cliches to her advantage, and strengthen the bond between the characters.
Then, too, there is involvement by other members of the Travis family (particularly Haven), and their significant others/spouses. It was a great to read about how their lives have grown and changed, and Kleypas integrated them very well into Jack and Ella's story.
This book was very good - in fact, it's one of the best romances that I've ever read. I *highly* recommend this book to all of those who are looking for a novel featuring real, deep love and romance; fun and playfulness; intense passion and need; some heart-string tugging events; and even some suspense. Kleypas truly outdid herself with this book!
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ella's a mess, but motherhood makes you man up., April 30, 2009
Up front, the problems. It's a first person romance, if you can't figure out who fathered Luke in about three minutes you haven't read many romances, and the only thing a Vegan needs is a good steak to see the error of their crazy Vegan ways. She may or may not be unfaithful. Also, it's more conventional than Sugar Daddy.
Back to the book. It's a bit brilliant, really. Ella has been so determined to be her own woman and not live her life according to the dictates of society or men that she fails to see her life is utterly bound by dogma and most of that is her boyfriend's dogma. When her toxic mother calls to disrupt her carefully planned existence, Ella has the first of many ultimatums placed before her - come get her unexpected newborn nephew or he goes to foster care. Within moments, she's handed the second - don't come home with a baby. Does Ella want the baby? Does she want to keep her relationship of four years? Where is her sister and what was the girl thinking? All of it falls to Ella, because the only answer she has is that she does not want baby Luke abandoned.
Ella's mother is a wonderful train wreck of a woman, recognizable and real. Anyone would remove a child from her care, so Ella does. Her cousin leads her to believe the baby's father is Jack Travis, wealthy and known to womanize. Ella decides it's time for daddy to step up to the plate. Jack what Ella needs is a healthy dose of himself. And it's on. Jack walks the line between dominating Ella and allowing her to discover that the things she believes and the woman she's made herself into are not choices but reactions. In reacting against her upbringing, Ella has signed on to some beliefs that are more about what she doesn't want than what she does. Entering a world of wealth ($17,000 a month in child support? Really?) and alpha males forces her to rethink her stand on total freedom. Does she want to stand alone, or would it be ok to have people to lean on?
Jack and Ella are interesting, but sometimes obscured by the oversize personalities around them. Drawn as a competition between Austin and Houston it's mostly Austin that bends as Houston shows that conservatives are compassionate too. Well worth reading, no matter which city you prefer.
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