f2-beamer

4 1/2 stars I’ve enjoyed this three book series by Ms. Kleypas. I’ve got my fingers crossed for #4 which may tell Joe’s, the remaining Travis son, story. In Smooth Talking Stranger we get to know Jack Travis, who we met previously, and know as a womanizing playboy. One day he walks out of meeting and there is a woman with a newborn infant with her and she is demanding that he take a paternity test asap. She explains the baby is her nephew and that Jack has to be the father. Jack is sure he is not the father, but agrees amiably. Ella has been avoiding her narcissistic mother and sister for the past two years, and feels better for it. She feels inferior to their beauty, which they constantly point out to her. Both women, especially the mother, are mentally abusive and too self absorbed to notice Ella unless they want something from her. Ella finds herself with a newborn boy that was dumped on her by her sister. She hadn’t even known her sister was pregnant! She needs to find her sister and two the father. She can’t keep this baby. Not to mention she has a safe boyfriend back at home. This third installment has plenty of steamy scenes, for those that want to know! After meeting Jack, and determining that he is not the father, Ella realizes she has come to lean on Jack. He becomes a very close friend and ally. Not to mention he is drop dead sexy and unbelievably rich. He’s that mixture between Alpha and Beta—I think it’s called Gamma. ? They become lovers, yet Ella cannot allow her self to fall for him. She is very slow to trust after the way she was raised with her mother. There is this, a little bit of a mystery and some nice chemistry. However, what kept me from the full 5 stars was I felt the resolution to who the baby’s father was, and also who is responsible for an near fatal accident at the end of the story was a nice build up to a let down. Very anti-climactic. Oh, Billybob is the father didn’t you know, and wait, that suspicious accident was not suspicious at all. Just an accident. I kind of felt the author originally may have wanted to tie the two together, but gave up at the end and tidied it up. Maybe I was just expecting more than there was.

2023-08-03 21:39