review: Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

Release Date: March 2009/Contemporary

Publisher: St. Martin's/Hardcover

ISBN: 978-0-312351663

Ella Varner has it all--a successful career as an advice columnist, a handsome boyfriend, and a circle of friends in Austin. When anyone has a problem, Ella knows the answers. But one night she receives a call that changes everything. And as Ella's world is turned upside-down, she meets a man who is the opposite of everything she ever wanted . . . a man who will offer her the most irresistible challenge she has ever known . . .

Jack Travis leads the uncomplicated life of a millionaire Texas playboy. He makes no commitments, he loves many women, he lives for pleasure. But no one has ever truly touched his heart or soul. Until one day, a woman appears on his doorstep with fury on her face and a baby in her arms. It seems Jack is the father and this woman is the baby’s aunt. The real mother has abandoned the child to her more responsible sister. And now, Jack is being called upon to take responsibility for the first time in his life.

This contemporary romance by Lisa Kleypas is the third in related stories featuring members of the Travis family starting with Sugar Daddy and the eldest son Gage, then sibling Haven and her story in Blue-Eyed Devil. In Smooth Talking Stranger it is Jack's turn at a HEA and the reader finds out if there is more to him than a fun-loving and charming man. I thought the story for Jack and Ella had the most balanced couple and greatest focus on their relationship. The result is a solid and enjoyable read.

Each Travis story is told by the heroine in first-person perspective, although it is the author's heroes whom I usually find the most memorable. Ms. Kleypas always creates a very attractive blend of dark, intense and commanding men who lavish focused attention on the women they are pursuing. Jack reveals depth and complexity that were hidden by the playful and lighthearted sides we saw in the previous books. As for Ella, I did like her overall but I do prefer heroines to be strongly independent and spirited as those in my favourite Kleypas historicals Lady Sophia's Lover, Lily Lawson of Then Came You, or Dreaming of You's Sara Fielding. However, I guess a heroine that was too self-reliant wouldn't find the heroes as deliciously overwhelming and irresistible!