Stranger in a Small Town
Grade : C+

Stranger in a Small Town is a Harlequin Intrigue that worked very well for me as a suspense novel...and less well as a romance novel. Balancing suspense and romance can be difficult with any novel, but it definitely gets particularly tricky in a short one. This one just misses the mark.

Maggie Harper inherits a home from her grandfather. Built in small Freemont, Pennsylvania, it's a solid home - with a very unfortunate past. A couple was tragically murdered there thirty years ago, leaving their five boys orphaned. The entire town would like to forget that it happened, and everyone wishes that Maggie would just sell the property so it could be demolished. But Maggie knows that the house has "good bones," and she really wants to fix it up and live there, even though she's competing with vandals, some of whom border on dangerous. And since the murder is still unsolved, and it's such a small town, it's quite possible that the killer still lives in Freemont.

Sam Ross is the only person who answers Maggie's help wanted ad. He's a stranger just drifting through - or so Maggie thinks. She meets him because she thinks he is the vandal who has been damaging her home, which is a reasonable assumption since he's sitting outside in his truck in the middle of the night. He tells her his name is John Samuels, and she agrees to take him on. The reason he lies is (you guessed it) it was his parents who were murdered in the house. He's come back to town to confront his demons and find the person responsible for his parents' deaths.

Early on, Maggie and Sam team up and start asking exploring the mystery together. Maggie doesn't really question Sam's avid interest in the case, and only one person recognizes Sam for who he really is. Freemont has a lot of secrets, and few people are willing to spill them all to Maggie and Sam. Nonetheless, they come up with a few suspects. The Ross family had a babysitter with a surly, belligerent dad - who had a very public argument with Emily Ross shortly before she was murdered. Greg Ross had a high school rival with a serious temper and a grudge against him. And a suspicious number of people all claim to have been out of town the night the Rosses were killed.

Maggie and Sam are attracted to each other, though it does seem rather incidental to the story. Maggie is coming off a difficult divorce, and many of her feelings about her ex-husband influence her stubborn refusal to give up on the house. Sam struggles with feelings of guilt about his parents' murder, and has secrets that he hasn't told anyone. And of course, he doesn't tell Maggie who he really is at first. They grow closer as they attempt to solve the mystery and dodge increasingly dangerous threats on their lives.

Right from the beginning, I was completely hooked on the mystery of the Ross murders. The suspects were interesting, the circumstances were creepy, and the whole scenario was very compelling. Both Sam and Maggie have legitmate, believable reasons for wanting to find out the truth, and I couldn't help sympathizing with Sam - who can hardly stand to be in the house, but really wants to resolve this difficult chapter in his life and move on. The villain wasn't obvious, and the foreshadowing was subtle enough that I missed it (quite a nice alternative to the more typical lay-it-on-thick variety). Also, Freemont is one small town that I actually liked. Give me creepy over sugary any day.

But though Sam and Maggie are both likable enough, I really had no interest in them as a couple. I would have been just as satisfied if Sam took off in his truck at the end and rode into the sunset. It may have been that they didn't really have any downtime together where they were just enjoying themselves, because pretty much all they do is concentrate on finding the murderer. At any rate, the romance fell flat.

If you're looking for a compelling suspense read and you don't particularly care about the romance angle, Stranger in a Small Town might very well work for you. Though I can't quite recommend it, I would definitely be willing to try another book by Kerry Connor. With a little more emphasis on the mushy stuff, her books could really have some potential.

Reviewed by Blythe Smith
Grade : C+
Book Type: Series Romance

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : June 10, 2010

Publication Date: 2010/05

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Blythe Smith

I've been at AAR since dinosaurs roamed the Internet. I've been a Reviewer, Reviews Editor, Managing Editor, Publisher, and Blogger. Oh, and Advertising Corodinator. Right now I'm taking a step back to concentrate on kids, new husband, and new job in law...but I'll still keep my toe in the romance waters.
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