Reviews for Hello Stranger

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

No one has to tell Garrett Gibson it's a man's world. As England's only female doctor, Garrett spends every minute of every day proving she is just as good if not better than her male counterparts. The last thing Garrett needs is for anyone to think that she is a lady who needs protecting. So, when Garrett discovers former Scotland Yard detective Ethan Ransom has been following her to see that she gets safely to and from the clinic in the East London Parish of Clerkenwell, where she works once a week, Garrett sets out to show Ethan she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. However, it soon turns out that Ethan might be the one in need of a bit of saving and that Garrett might just be the one woman capable of doing so. Unforgettable, beautifully etched characters; a flawless sense of pacing; and a perfectly executed plot imbued with an abundance of desire and danger are the outstanding literary hallmarks of the latest splendid addition to Kleypas' Ravenels series, following Devil in Spring (2017).--Charles, John Copyright 2018 Booklist


Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Strong-minded, intrepid to a fault, and the only female medical doctor in England, Garrett Gibson is devoted to her clinic, her duties at the workhouse infirmary, and caring for the people who need her. Even walking the precarious streets of Clerkenwell doesn't faze her-until she is accosted by a trio of drunken soldiers. Luckily, Ethan Ransom, a former police officer, now a government operative, and Garrett's self-appointed guardian, steps in to help. Naturally, Garrett is annoyed, but when Ethan offers to give her a few self-defense lessons, she grudgingly agrees, setting the stage for a romance that soon becomes more than a fling and dangerous in ways she'd never imagined. A fearless heroine and an Irish hero confront traitors, assassins, and a diabolical government plot-as well as each other-in a multilayered story that skillfully interweaves gripping suspense with bitter resentments and tangled family dynamics. VERDICT Witty, often hilarious, and delightfully passionate, this compelling, thrill-laced Victorian romance is another superb -series entry. Kleypas (Devil in Spring) lives in Washington State. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Publishers Weekly
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Kleypas sets the implausible fairy tale of Garrett Gibson, the only woman doctor in 1876 England, in working-class Clerkenwell, but this sanitized version of London has the squeaky-clean artifice of a toothpaste commercial. Garrett, a constable's daughter, nonetheless earned a degree from the Sorbonne and, at age 28, has a state-of-the-art surgery plus a side gig subsidized by tycoon Rhys Winterborne (familiar from 2016's Marrying Winterborne). Into this frankly unbelievable life slouches Ethan Ransom, a kind of Victorian James Bond who spends Tuesdays shadowing Garrett on neighborhood rounds. This makes him conveniently available to rescue her from inevitable harassers. He agrees to tutor her in street-fighting skills, and they scarcely resist the ensuing onslaught of lust. Ethan is a double agent engaged in taking down his corrupt government boss, and Garrett doesn't know the risks she's taking by getting involved with him. There's a sense that Garrett has been cast as a doctor to excuse a liberal salting of research nuggets, and Ethan's Kama Sutra-derived erotic skills are annoyingly orientalist. Such details do give an uncommon flavor to a familiar suspense plot, and the anatomical dialogue, while expected, is still good for a chuckle, but there's little here for anyone other than series fans. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

England's only female doctor and a lethal government agent with secrets of his own fall in love.The fourth book in Kleypas' (Devil in Spring, 2017, etc.) The Ravenels series brings back a popular minor character, the capable and friendly Dr. Garrett Gibson. Kleypas modeled her on Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, who in 1865 became the first Englishwoman to qualify as a doctor. Garrett lives with her father above her busy office, and although her friendship with the Ravenels grants her proximity to wealth and nobility, she is fulfilled in her career and content in her life. At age 28, she may be "on the shelf," but "it happens to be a very interesting shelf." Little does the good doctor realize that in a chance encounter two years prior, her brilliance and beauty captivated secret government agent Ethan Ransom. Ransom, a "by-blow" of the late Earl of Ravenel, was raised by a prison guard. Rejecting his biological connections, he prefers a solitary, anonymous life, the better to exercise the espionage skills he gained under the tutelage of England's most powerful spymaster. Kleypas' depiction of the city Garrett and Ransom adore is one of the novel's delights: "It was a mean, big-bellied, prosperous city, shod in brick and iron, wearing a thick overcoat of factory smoke, carrying a million secrets in its pockets." A terrorism subplot gives Ransom strong reason to stay away from Garrett, who is game for a fling but concerned about her reputation, precarious as it already is given her controversial line of work. While Ransom's workplace issues never quite gel, vivid romantic encounters in nooks of London not often featured in this subgenrea fencing club, a raucous street party, a darkened labmake this a love story to savor.Another winner in Kleypas' Ravenels series, with elegant prose, a fascinating heroine, and a Victorian London constructed with compelling historical detail. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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