To Trust A Stranger

Rating:
Summary: Another bomb
Review: I don't know why I keep reading Karen Robards' books. I guess I keep thinking of the few good novels I've read by her (One Summer, and a couple of others) and hoping that each successive one I read will be good. Unfortunately, this is another lousy read. It's just plain silly. The novel gives absolutely no reason why the hero and heroine fall in love, especially after knowing each other for less than a week. Other than the fact that they find each other attractive (which isn't surprising since he's your typical, hunky blonde male and she's literally a beauty queen), what is the basis for their relationship? They have hot sex, but what else do they have in common? Nothing, according to the way Robards writes it.

Also, the focus on the dog got to be a bit much after a while. I'm an animal lover, but even I got tired of Josephine the poodle's antics. This was another one of Robards' ... attempts at humor in this novel (the other attempt has our hero dressed in drag).

I didn't even bother to finish reading this and I certainly do not recommend it to others. I gave it 2 stars because it did have a couple of good moments and a romance novel has to be really terrible to get 1 star from me (e.g., Robards' novel Irresitible comes to mind).

Rating:
Summary: Good Story
Review: I love Karen Robards' novels. The heroine is usually pretty lively even when life has dealt them a hard blow, and the men in her novels are all "definitely men". This is a very good story and I would highly recommend. Julie Carlson believes that her husband is having an affair on her. She decides to track him down and instead runs into a drag queen who is actually private investigator Mac McQuarry. Mac is interested in Julie, and he also has his own score to settle with Julie's husband who he believes set him up. Then someone tries to murder Julie, and now its up to Mac to figure out who the killer is before Julie winds up dead. Very good story!

Rating:
Summary: Another Robards, another try...
Review: Julie Carlson has had it. When her husband (Sid Carlson) sneaks out in the middle of the night (again), she trails him to a red-light district, and ends up getting carnapped, left only in her PJs with cellphone in hand.

She meets "Debbie," a cross-dresser in drag, and has no choice but to trust him (her?). "Debbie" is actually an investigator named Mac McQuarry, spying on a client's soon-to-be-divorced husband.

Together, they try to find the truth about Sid, and end up falling in love. They also end up in bed, and almost getting killed.

I like the humor in this. As weird as this might sound, my favorite character is the poodle, Josephine, Mac's angel-of-a-dog with a slight Dr.-Jekyll-Mr.-Hyde problem. Basically, she's all cute today, then biting a man's leg off tomorrow.

I have to say that I don't know what Mac sees in Julie. They go to bed, and then she tells him to forget about it 'cause she's just going through an immature phase? And I got tired of her in the middle of the book. Sure, she had a right to be mad when Mac didn't tell her the truth about important things. But when the guy is trying to make sure you don't get killed, you've gotta give him a hand. She was being so difficult, it was almost silly.

But, like other Robards books, the plot was up to par. It twisted enough to keep me guessing, and still had that happy ending. I just couldn't see the falling-in-love part.

Rating:
Summary: TRUST THIS STRANGER!
Review: Karen Robards latest is a great escape. Think Linda Howard's MR. PERFECT or Janet Evanovich's series with Stephanie Plum. . . What do these books have in common with TO TRUST A STRANGER? Humor! Humor! I love it. Oh, don't worry. You'll get the handsome hero and the beautiful heroine in danger, the bad guys, the steamy sex, etc. But you also get a large does of humor. I love authors whose characters are funny as well as sexy. I'm not sure why this book didn't get a solid 5 stars in the ratings, but I for one urge you to give it a read. A keeper!

Rating:
Summary: Terrific Suspense
Review: Suspenseful and sexy, Ms. Robards' read is a thriller with non-stop action providing hours of glued-to-the-pages entertainment.

Former South Carolina beauty queen Julie Carlson suspects that her mega-bucks husband, Sid, is cheating on her. As she follows him one night, a farcical set of circumstances leave her clad in skimpy pajamas, stranded in Charleston's red light district without a car and with a transvestite named Debbie as her only companion.

Debbie is really Mac McQuarry, a P.I. who went undercover to locate a client's cheating husband. When Mac aids Julie out of the jam she is in, Julie discovers that Debbie is really a man, but she assumes that he is gay. Not bothering to correct her, Mac lets Julie think what she will, adding an element of humor to this intense read as Julie finds herself fantasizing about Debbie aka Mac.

Soon, Julie discovers that her life may be in danger, and Mac is probably the only one that she can trust. Swallowing her pride, Julie tries to overlook the fact that Mac omitted the truth about his sexuality and his previous association with Sid. In a heart-stopping race for their lives, Julie and Mac are on the run from the police, the mob, and a hit man. Can they find safety before they both end up dead?

Combining the excitement of a mystery with the spice of a romance, Ms. Robards has, once again, firmly established her position in the genre of romantic suspense. And all the characters, most especially Mac and Julie, are so realistically written, thereby increasing the credibility of this read. A MUST READ!

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read!
Review: To Trust A Stranger by Karen Robards is absolutely wonderful.
This is the first book that I have read by the author. The book is a combination of mystery and romance. It is simply amazing how the author had a seemingly perfect family involved with so many secrets. Julie Carlson and Sid Carlson marriage was based on a lie from the beginning. Julie ended up trusting a total stranger, Mac, who was a private investigator. One of the best parts in this story was about the love for Mac's dog named, Josephine. If you love a good story, you just have to read this book. The reader plans to go back and read Mrs. Robards previous novels. Recommend her to your friends!!!

Rating:
Summary: My favorite of Karen Robards
Review: To Trust a Stranger is my favorite Karen Robards book so far and I have enjoyed her other work as well.

I just liked Mac so much from the beginning it added to my enjoyment of the book. A big, masculine guy who is comfortable enough in his own skin to dress in drag in order to spy on a cheating spouse for his client was so funny. He's got this attitude like "Yeah, so, I'm in a dress." Then Julie runs into him while out doing her own spying on her husband. She lets Mac help her simply because she's thinking of him as a "Girlfriend." Her assumption about Mac's sexual orientation gives her that impression that it's nice to have a man around who will be nothing more than a friend.

Of course all that changes as things start coming out into the open. Julie's husband is doing more than cheating and Mac isn't who she thinks he is. Around every corner there is something unexpected popping up and it was an enjoyable read. I first heard the abridged audio of this book and it really didn't do the book justice. It leaned toward the humor and there is much more to the story than that, so I picked up the book and was glad I did.

As others have mentioned it's pretty steamy so I like to add that in so you don't pick up this book and then are shocked that it's in there. This book has some definite HEAT coming off of it so be warned.

Julie is kind of annoying but for me Mac made up for it by miles and miles. I really like this book and have read it several times now.

Rating:
Summary: Trust this awesome book for a good read!!
Review: To Trust a Stranger was so awesome I could not put it down! I'll admit the heroine was a bit of a let down simply because of her problem with her image and food. But it was steamy as usual and one of Ms. Robard's best!! Read it! You won't be dissapointed!