A woman who defies her time
Dr. Garrett Gibson, the only female physician in England, is as daring and independent as any man—why not take her pleasures like one? Yet she has never been tempted to embark on an affair, until now. Ethan Ransom, a former detective for Scotland Yard, is as gallant as he is secretive, a rumored assassin whose true loyalties are a mystery. For one exhilarating night, they give in to their potent attraction before becoming strangers again.
A man who breaks every rule
As a Ravenel by-blow spurned by his father, Ethan has little interest in polite society, yet he is captivated by the bold and beautiful Garrett. Despite their vow to resist each other after that sublime night, she is soon drawn into his most dangerous assignment yet. When the mission goes wrong, it will take all of Garrett’s skill and courage to save him. As they face the menace of a treacherous government plot, Ethan is willing to take any risk for the love of the most extraordinary woman he’s ever known.
It must be something in the air, but I have been drawn to the Victorian books the last couple of gos. While my blog mainlines Regencies, I do occasional dip into Georgian or Victorian eras, especially with favorite authors like Lisa Kleypas, who tends to write Victorian. She does it well, too, with all the exciting inventions and science stuff thrown in to make a steampunk fan swoon. Trains! Antiseptic! Canes used as weapons, and gas light! And ooh, talk to me about patents…
Hello Stranger is the fourth book in a series about the Ravenels, and true to form I read this one as a standalone without having read the three other books. I felt it worked fine, and although we get glimpses of characters from other books it wasn’t the full chapter set ups that put me off.
Heroine Garrett is the first female physician in England, and a smart one, to boot. She also is caring, devoted and learned the art of self-defense so that she can attend to patients at the workhouses in rougher parts of London. Determined and focused, she has also buried the feminine and beautiful part of herself, until it starts to manifest in the serious hots for totally ineligible Ethan Ransom. She is the heroine many romance readers want to read…powerful, ambitious and ahead of her time. A+ for empowering heroine!
Hero Ethan Ransom is the quintessential alpha bad boy, although he is also pretty forward thinking and feminism supporting. He has had a crush on Garrett since he first met her several years before, and is drawn to her even as his current lifestyle demands he have no attachments.
The plot is filled with action, intrigue, and sexy scenes that introduce the previously dispassionate, virgin Garrett to the art of making love. Ransom is the kind of guy who knows how to play with tension and desire to give Garrett the type of release she needs. They aren’t the hottest love scenes ever, but they are still pretty darn smokin’, especially if you like the bad boy teaching the uninitiated kind of thing.
Ransom is also part of a dangerous world of political power brokering, and his attention to Garrett puts them both in danger.
Some graphic medical scenes and descriptions are present and there is some definite violence, so not for the faint of heart.
The HEA is cute, the storyline neatly wrapped up, and all together we are left with a fun, action packed Victorian romance with steamy vanilla love scenes, a bit of violence, and a whole lot of female empowerment.
4.75 out of 6 Sexy Victorian spy type plot with England’s first lady doctor and a bad boy hero
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Medical, adultery, rape, violence | |
| Intimacy | |
| Vanilla variety, multiple scenes. | |
| Violence | |
| Fight scenes, assault, several medical scenes. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Mature readers. Clean readers steer clear. | |
