Dangerous Stranger

by Lucy Gillen

Melodie knew that Jed loved her in his own calm, settled way and that he would make her a good, kind husband. So she deeply resented it when the infuriating Keith Scott suggested her heart wasn't in it. Such a marriage may not do for him - so why didn't he leave her alone and concentrate on his own fiancee, the temperamental Maria?

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Pooja Peravali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Melodie, home to her grandfather's farm to look after him, becomes engaged to Jed thinking that it will be a safe and certain thing. However, sparks keep flying whenever she meets Keith, her infuriating neighbor.

I bought a big lot of old Harlequin romances recently - after all, I do prefer my romance to have been published between the sixties and the nineties. This is my first foray into the box, and it wasn't a bad one at all. Despite the brevity of the book, the characters are all well-sketched out and the situations engaged my interest.

The hero was commanding without being arrogant. Sometimes the heroine irritated me with her willful blindness to her situation, but for the most part I liked her as well. There are some complications in the central relationship with the intrusions of Jed and Maria, but it all is sorted out well enough.

I'd read more by this author - which is a good thing considering I've one more of her books in the lot!

[Lynn Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, the story and the main male and female characters. Loved the chemistry between the 2 main characters and found the male character very masculine and sexy for the time. The romance too is of its time and culture and would not be PC for today's readership as many books written in the 1960s-80s would reflect also.

Neither bookcover shown in here are my favourite. I prefer the UK book cover version for Mills and Boon to these shown here.

This book remains my favourite of this author and is a keeper in my collection to this day along with A Taste of Honey, Sweet Kate, The Silver Witch and A gentle Tyrant.

[Myrna · Rating 2 out of 5]

'The neighbouring land had been farmed by old Mr.Crowe, but three months ago the old man had died and the executors had sold the farm, lock, stock and barrel, to a newcomer and, worse, not even a Yorkshireman. It was rumoured that he was not even an Englishman, but some kind of a foreigner, although Melodie had some doubts about that, since his name was British enough even if his appearance wasn’t.'

The romance could have been very lovely if the h weren’t an unscrupulous cheater. In a moment of antagonism, she gets herself engaged to a dull local farmer and then spends her time cozying up with the foreign H with a British name. She lunches with him, accepts his rides, goes sightseeing, holds his hand, and allows him to kiss her. Every time her fiancé catches her, she responds with innocent wide-eyed looks and acts as if she doesn’t understand what the fuss is about.
She gaslights her fiancé and behaves self-righteously.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Melodie and Keith and their story. The writing was nice and so was the setting of the Yorkshire countryside. A light and fun read.