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Hunted: Love with the Proper Stranger / Texas Prey
In the sights of a deadly predator
Love with the Proper Stranger by New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann
FBI agent John Miller is on the trail of a notorious female serial killer, and he can’t blow his cover to anyone. Not even gorgeous Mariah Carver, who unwittingly entangles herself in a web of deadly deceit. John can’t deny that Mariah is the woman he’s been waiting for. But he’s poised to wed the woman suspected of being the ruthless Black Widow, who married—then murdered—her victims…
FREE BONUS STORY INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME!
Texas Prey by USA TODAY bestselling author Barb Han
Rancher Brody Fields stops cold when he receives a plea for help from Rebecca Hughes. The one-time love of his life, who was abducted along with her brother fifteen years ago, now believes the kidnapper has returned to tie up loose ends. As they uncover answers to difficult—and deadly—questions, Brody has a question of his Can he trust the woman who once shattered his heart?
Previously published as Love with the Proper Stranger and Texas Prey
Love with the Proper Stranger by New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann
FBI agent John Miller is on the trail of a notorious female serial killer, and he can’t blow his cover to anyone. Not even gorgeous Mariah Carver, who unwittingly entangles herself in a web of deadly deceit. John can’t deny that Mariah is the woman he’s been waiting for. But he’s poised to wed the woman suspected of being the ruthless Black Widow, who married—then murdered—her victims…
FREE BONUS STORY INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME!
Texas Prey by USA TODAY bestselling author Barb Han
Rancher Brody Fields stops cold when he receives a plea for help from Rebecca Hughes. The one-time love of his life, who was abducted along with her brother fifteen years ago, now believes the kidnapper has returned to tie up loose ends. As they uncover answers to difficult—and deadly—questions, Brody has a question of his Can he trust the woman who once shattered his heart?
Previously published as Love with the Proper Stranger and Texas Prey
- GenresRomance
445 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 12, 2021
About the author
Suzanne Brockmann
205 books3,614 followersAfter childhood plans to become the captain of a starship didn’t pan out, Suzanne Brockmann took her fascination with military history, her respect for the men and women who serve, her reverence for diversity, and her love of storytelling, and explored brave new worlds as a bestselling romance author.
Over the past thirty years she has written sixty-three novels, including her award-winning Troubleshooters series about Navy SEAL heroes and the women—and sometimes men—who win their hearts. Her personal favorite is the one where her most popular character, gay FBI agent Jules Cassidy, wins his happily-ever-after and marries the man of his dreams. Called All Through the Night, this mainstream romance novel with a hero and a hero hit the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list. In 2007, Suz donated all of her earnings from this book, in perpetuity, to MassEquality, to help win and preserve equal marriage rights in Massachusetts.
In addition to writing books, Suz writes and produces indie movies and TV including the award-winning romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding. Her recent feature, Out of Body, is streaming on Amazon Prime.
In 2018, Suz was given the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America. Her latest projects are Blame It on Rio (Tall, Dark & Dangerous # 14), available in print and e-book from Suzanne Brockmann Books, and Marriage of Inconvenience, a six-episode LBGTQ rom-com TV series, streaming on Dekkoo in April 2023.
Over the past thirty years she has written sixty-three novels, including her award-winning Troubleshooters series about Navy SEAL heroes and the women—and sometimes men—who win their hearts. Her personal favorite is the one where her most popular character, gay FBI agent Jules Cassidy, wins his happily-ever-after and marries the man of his dreams. Called All Through the Night, this mainstream romance novel with a hero and a hero hit the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list. In 2007, Suz donated all of her earnings from this book, in perpetuity, to MassEquality, to help win and preserve equal marriage rights in Massachusetts.
In addition to writing books, Suz writes and produces indie movies and TV including the award-winning romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding. Her recent feature, Out of Body, is streaming on Amazon Prime.
In 2018, Suz was given the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America. Her latest projects are Blame It on Rio (Tall, Dark & Dangerous # 14), available in print and e-book from Suzanne Brockmann Books, and Marriage of Inconvenience, a six-episode LBGTQ rom-com TV series, streaming on Dekkoo in April 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 11, 2025
**MINOR SPOILERS**
This book has two stories in it. They are reviewed separately below. I gave this compilation 4 stars as that was the higher rating of the two. I do not recommend the book.
Love with the Proper Stranger by Suzanne Brockmann
Rating 3 stars
John Miller is an FBI agent that cannot get over the death of his partner and best friend. Tony, his partner, had died before John could rescue him. Two years later, he still has difficulty sleeping without nightmares and tries not to develop attachments to other people. He is immediately attracted to Mariah while trying to develop a relationship with a woman, Serena, who is a serial killer who kills her husbands. He is part of an investigation that is trying to trap Serena.
Mariah abruptly decides to quit her job to try to figure out what she wants to do with her life. She was the CEO of her family’s company and has money to do this. She heads out for an island off the Georgia coast where many rich people vacation and begins volunteering her time at an organization that builds houses for the needy. As you get to know her, Mariah comes across as friendly and open. It was a little hard to believe that she had the killer instinct needed for business but, at the beginning of the book, you find out she had just turned her family business around and kept them from failing.
Both Mariah and John are immediately attracted to each other. Because Mariah had tried to remove the stress from her life, she tries to coach John to do the same. Because John is investigating Serena, he fakes an attraction to her that causes Mariah pain. Mariah came across as a bit of a doormat as she kept accepting the back and forth behavior and the deception.
When Mariah arrives at the island, she becomes friends with Serena, the serial killer. This seemed odd to me as there seemed to be no motivation for Serena to become friends. Later in the story, Mariah tries to tell Serena to be careful with John, she lets it slip that he has nightmares about a friend of his dying and that the friend was a cop. At that point in the story, Mariah had not seen Serena for a while, and I was surprised that she told Serena this seemingly out of the blue and that she told John’s secrets. Some people would have kept it confidential. Serena, of course, realizes that there is a chance that law enforcement is on to her.
At the end of the book, John does not do something at a critical moment that did not make sense (trying not to give spoilers). There was no reason for him not act and the book lost one star for that.
What is a little strange is that Mariah decides to go on vacation using a fake name. She says to her aunt that she read the idea in a book as a way of creating a new you. It seemed unlikely. It might have been a little more believable if it had been related to trying to hide her name because she had money but, again, she was with people who had money to burn.
John’s new partner, Daniel, is a great person and I really liked him.
Most of the story is told from the perspective of John, Mariah, and Serena, the serial killer. Sometimes the point of view would change from one sentence to the next. There should have been a line between or a section break.
Suzanne Brockmann is generally an auto-buy for me but the book was not her best. The second star was lost because of the other points mentioned above.
Texas Prey by Barb Han
Rating 4 stars
This book is the first of 4 in the Mason Ridge series.
Rebecca and her younger brother were kidnapped when they were children. Rebecca was able to escape and ran for help but got lost. Her brother was never found. 15 years later, Rebecca is still traumatized by what happened and looks around warily when she is in circumstances where someone could be kidnapped. The title Texas Prey applies to her at this point in the story.
Rebecca is attacked in a supermarket parking lot, and she believes it is the person who kidnapped her. After no luck with the police, she decides to ask Brody to help her. Brody is former special forces and her former high school boyfriend. At this point, the villain becomes more of the prey as they begin searching for him.
The author overdid descriptions of Rebecca’s trauma. She was constantly crying or scared.
Brody is a good person and immediately drops everything to help Rebecca. Not everyone with their history would have done the same and, if it hadn’t been related to the kidnapping, I am not sure how likely it was. Both of them take time off from their work to investigate what happened (though, in a nitpick, there should have been a reference to Rebecca coordinating this with her employer). I think Brody and Rebecca were a good match. They were supportive of each other.
Brody’s mother stole some money and left him when he was a child. When Rebecca left town after high school, he felt it was similar to his mother abandoning him. A part of the story relates to Rebecca and Brody working through that she left.
As the book progresses, Brody and Rebecca renew their relationship and take it further.
The story alternates between Rebecca and Brody’s point of view.
The male main characters from later books are introduced. They all seem like decent, honorable men. The female main characters are mentioned and one is introduced.
It was a little unlikely when Brody gets hit in the head with something metal and, after a short visit to the hospital, is able to proceed normally. Both Brody and Rebecca see the villain but are not able to describe him very well afterwards. I do not know whether or not special forces personnel are given training on identifying people, but I would have thought that they did.
Brody’s father still has a ranch and I thought it was a little bit of a surprise that Brody bought a ranch rather than working with his father. It was also a little surprising that his father did not make an appearance in the story, but it was not important.
This author was new to me. I do not plan to continue reading her books. I thought it was an ok book, but not great.
This book has two stories in it. They are reviewed separately below. I gave this compilation 4 stars as that was the higher rating of the two. I do not recommend the book.
Love with the Proper Stranger by Suzanne Brockmann
Rating 3 stars
John Miller is an FBI agent that cannot get over the death of his partner and best friend. Tony, his partner, had died before John could rescue him. Two years later, he still has difficulty sleeping without nightmares and tries not to develop attachments to other people. He is immediately attracted to Mariah while trying to develop a relationship with a woman, Serena, who is a serial killer who kills her husbands. He is part of an investigation that is trying to trap Serena.
Mariah abruptly decides to quit her job to try to figure out what she wants to do with her life. She was the CEO of her family’s company and has money to do this. She heads out for an island off the Georgia coast where many rich people vacation and begins volunteering her time at an organization that builds houses for the needy. As you get to know her, Mariah comes across as friendly and open. It was a little hard to believe that she had the killer instinct needed for business but, at the beginning of the book, you find out she had just turned her family business around and kept them from failing.
Both Mariah and John are immediately attracted to each other. Because Mariah had tried to remove the stress from her life, she tries to coach John to do the same. Because John is investigating Serena, he fakes an attraction to her that causes Mariah pain. Mariah came across as a bit of a doormat as she kept accepting the back and forth behavior and the deception.
When Mariah arrives at the island, she becomes friends with Serena, the serial killer. This seemed odd to me as there seemed to be no motivation for Serena to become friends. Later in the story, Mariah tries to tell Serena to be careful with John, she lets it slip that he has nightmares about a friend of his dying and that the friend was a cop. At that point in the story, Mariah had not seen Serena for a while, and I was surprised that she told Serena this seemingly out of the blue and that she told John’s secrets. Some people would have kept it confidential. Serena, of course, realizes that there is a chance that law enforcement is on to her.
At the end of the book, John does not do something at a critical moment that did not make sense (trying not to give spoilers). There was no reason for him not act and the book lost one star for that.
What is a little strange is that Mariah decides to go on vacation using a fake name. She says to her aunt that she read the idea in a book as a way of creating a new you. It seemed unlikely. It might have been a little more believable if it had been related to trying to hide her name because she had money but, again, she was with people who had money to burn.
John’s new partner, Daniel, is a great person and I really liked him.
Most of the story is told from the perspective of John, Mariah, and Serena, the serial killer. Sometimes the point of view would change from one sentence to the next. There should have been a line between or a section break.
Suzanne Brockmann is generally an auto-buy for me but the book was not her best. The second star was lost because of the other points mentioned above.
Texas Prey by Barb Han
Rating 4 stars
This book is the first of 4 in the Mason Ridge series.
Rebecca and her younger brother were kidnapped when they were children. Rebecca was able to escape and ran for help but got lost. Her brother was never found. 15 years later, Rebecca is still traumatized by what happened and looks around warily when she is in circumstances where someone could be kidnapped. The title Texas Prey applies to her at this point in the story.
Rebecca is attacked in a supermarket parking lot, and she believes it is the person who kidnapped her. After no luck with the police, she decides to ask Brody to help her. Brody is former special forces and her former high school boyfriend. At this point, the villain becomes more of the prey as they begin searching for him.
The author overdid descriptions of Rebecca’s trauma. She was constantly crying or scared.
Brody is a good person and immediately drops everything to help Rebecca. Not everyone with their history would have done the same and, if it hadn’t been related to the kidnapping, I am not sure how likely it was. Both of them take time off from their work to investigate what happened (though, in a nitpick, there should have been a reference to Rebecca coordinating this with her employer). I think Brody and Rebecca were a good match. They were supportive of each other.
Brody’s mother stole some money and left him when he was a child. When Rebecca left town after high school, he felt it was similar to his mother abandoning him. A part of the story relates to Rebecca and Brody working through that she left.
As the book progresses, Brody and Rebecca renew their relationship and take it further.
The story alternates between Rebecca and Brody’s point of view.
The male main characters from later books are introduced. They all seem like decent, honorable men. The female main characters are mentioned and one is introduced.
It was a little unlikely when Brody gets hit in the head with something metal and, after a short visit to the hospital, is able to proceed normally. Both Brody and Rebecca see the villain but are not able to describe him very well afterwards. I do not know whether or not special forces personnel are given training on identifying people, but I would have thought that they did.
Brody’s father still has a ranch and I thought it was a little bit of a surprise that Brody bought a ranch rather than working with his father. It was also a little surprising that his father did not make an appearance in the story, but it was not important.
This author was new to me. I do not plan to continue reading her books. I thought it was an ok book, but not great.
May 16, 2025
Rebecca lost her little brother when she was 12
She never gave up looking for him. With Brody's help they think they can find him. Then Brody needs to decide if he can forgive her leaving him.
She never gave up looking for him. With Brody's help they think they can find him. Then Brody needs to decide if he can forgive her leaving him.
July 6, 2021
Easy Read after long work day
April 18, 2026
Hunting a murder!
I always enjoy Suzanne Brick mamma stories!.I've read all my library offered but maybe kindle will be kinder ! Suspense. romance if this is your genre read it.
I always enjoy Suzanne Brick mamma stories!.I've read all my library offered but maybe kindle will be kinder ! Suspense. romance if this is your genre read it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews