To Trust a Stranger [Mass Market Paperback]

Karen Robards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2002

She trusted her husband and got burned.

Now she's playing with fire and daring

To Trust A Stranger

Suspicion burned within Julie Carlson -- the heartbreaking, infuriating suspicion that her husband, a wealthy and powerful contractor, was having an affair. Not sure whom to trust, Julie turns to a handsome stranger....Private detective Mac McQuarry ignores his better judgment about not mixing women and work when he's hired by Julie Carlson. Not only is she drop-dead gorgeous, but Sid Carlson was a player in Mac's inglorious downfall from the Charleston P.D. -- and revenge would be sweet indeed. But when Mac witnesses an explosive hit that targeted Julie, the tables are turned -- and Mac and Julie become the hunted. With their fiery flirtation sparking into full-blown passion, they must crash their way through a maze of buried secrets and deadly deceptions.

Karen Robards electrifies the page with thrilling passion and suspense in this heart-pounding New York Times bestseller.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The usual ingredients bubble and boil in Robards's latest romantic suspense thriller. Julie Carlson, once a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks but now the beautiful owner of a successful boutique in Charleston, S.C., seems to have it all. As the novel begins, however, a hit man circles her suburban mansion: Julie's rich husband, Sid, has hired thugs to kill her. Unaware of the danger she is in but convinced that Sid is cheating on her, Julie slips out of the house just in time and follows her husband to the red-light district, where she serendipitously and literally runs into private detective Mac McQuarry, dressed up in drag to spy on a client's husband. Julie isn't sure whether she should trust a man in a dress, but she has no one else to turn to, and soon she and Mac are working together to get the goods on Julie's crooked husband. As it happens, Mac holds a personal grudge against Sid, a prominent builder in Charleston, because Sid was involved in the disappearance of Mac's half-brother 15 years before, and then got Mac kicked off the police force when Mac tried to prove it. Robards's fans will enjoy the machinations before Julie and Mac get together, though cliches clutter every page ("The truth hit him like a hammer over the head: He had a galloping case of the hots for his newest client, who was not incidentally his oldest enemy's wife"). Of course, true love solves past mysteries, while hot kisses get as much play as life-threatening confrontations. A bodice ripper at heart, the novel is the equivalent of a box of junk candy.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Former beauty queen Julie Carlson hires investigator Mac McQuarry to prove her husband is cheating. Mac is elated; he has been looking for a reason to nail her husband for 15 years. But when Mac witnesses a hit on Julie (her husband hired thugs to kill her), he quickly discovers he'll do anything to keep her alive. Unfortunately, the story is not particularly compelling. While Mac is a solid hero, Julie is an unbearably weak and inconsistently drawn heroine. The overacting of narrator Laura Hicks doesn't help Julie become any deeper; Hicks doesn't trust the writing and overemotes every suspenseful or romantic moment to the point of laughter. The reading is unusually ridden with narrative stutters and replays. Robards is extremely popular, but you can pass on this one.
Jodi L. Israel, MLS, Jamaica Plain, MA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (December 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671786601
• ISBN-13: 978-0671786601
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #262,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Karen Robards is the bestselling author of twenty-seven novels. The winner of six Silver Pen awards for favorite romance novelist, as well as numerous other awards, she lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband, Doug, and their sons Peter, Christopher, and Jack. She says, "I read, I write, and I chase children. That's my life."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Page Turner, December 30, 2001

By 

L. Ponder "linsfolly" (Hamilton, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Trust a Stranger (Hardcover)

Julie Carlson decides to follow her husband one night, as he leaves their home. She believes he's been cheating on her. That night, Mac, dressed as a transvestite, will meet Julie, as her car crashes into his. Coincidentally, Mac is in an investigation business. And, he knows Julie's husband.

As Julie has Mac investigate her husband, she will not know Mac's hidden agenda. That agenda will cause problems between them, as both Julie's and Mac's lives are threatened.

TO TRUST A STRANGER has one of the best prologues I've ever read. And, the relationship between Julie and Mac is believable, and very tempestuous and sexy. There's some interesting secondary characters, and some really scary bad guys. The story moves very quickly, and made this book a real page-turner. Oh yes, and before I forget, there's a dog, Josephine, who is a real scene-stealer.

There's only a couple of things that keep this book from being a 5-star read, for me. The book seemed a little too short, the romantic relationship between Julie and Mac, a little too quick. Still, it's very much worth reading, and maybe rereading.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Suspense, December 29, 2001

By 

Sheri Melnick (Enola, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Trust a Stranger (Hardcover)

Suspenseful and sexy, Ms. Robards' read is a thriller with non-stop action providing hours of glued-to-the-pages entertainment.

Former South Carolina beauty queen Julie Carlson suspects that her mega-bucks husband, Sid, is cheating on her. As she follows him one night, a farcical set of circumstances leave her clad in skimpy pajamas, stranded in Charleston's red light district without a car and with a transvestite named Debbie as her only companion.

Debbie is really Mac McQuarry, a P.I. who went undercover to locate a client's cheating husband. When Mac aids Julie out of the jam she is in, Julie discovers that Debbie is really a man, but she assumes that he is gay. Not bothering to correct her, Mac lets Julie think what she will, adding an element of humor to this intense read as Julie finds herself fantasizing about Debbie aka Mac.

Soon, Julie discovers that her life may be in danger, and Mac is probably the only one that she can trust. Swallowing her pride, Julie tries to overlook the fact that Mac omitted the truth about his sexuality and his previous association with Sid. In a heart-stopping race for their lives, Julie and Mac are on the run from the police, the mob, and a hit man. Can they find safety before they both end up dead?

Combining the excitement of a mystery with the spice of a romance, Ms. Robards has, once again, firmly established her position in the genre of romantic suspense. And all the characters, most especially Mac and Julie, are so realistically written, thereby increasing the credibility of this read. A MUST READ!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TRUST THIS STRANGER!, January 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: To Trust a Stranger (Mass Market Paperback)

Karen Robards latest is a great escape. Think Linda Howard's MR. PERFECT or Janet Evanovich's series with Stephanie Plum. . . What do these books have in common with TO TRUST A STRANGER? Humor! Humor! I love it. Oh, don't worry. You'll get the handsome hero and the beautiful heroine in danger, the bad guys, the steamy sex, etc. But you also get a large does of humor. I love authors whose characters are funny as well as sexy. I'm not sure why this book didn't get a solid 5 stars in the ratings, but I for one urge you to give it a read. A keeper!