title: Smooth Talking Stranger
author:  Lisa Kleypas 
description: Ella Varner grew up with a troublesome mother and an insecure sister, but she has managed to come out of it reasonably sane, with a good (if vegan) boyfriend, Dane, and a job as an advice columnist. All of this gets turned upside down when her sister disappears and sticks Ella with her newborn, Luke. Determined to find Luke's father, Ella tracks down a likely suspectmillionaire playboy Jack Travis. The encounter results in Travis and Ella unexpectedly engaged in an irrepressible attraction. Meanwhile, Ella grows fond of baby Luke and fears what will happen when Tara returns. As Ella grapples with conflicting desires, she learns some important lessons about love and trust. Though Kleypas has trouble breaking her male characters out of archetype and the arc is familiar, Ella's familial dysfunction distinguishes her from other heroines, and her self-awareness draws her out of a stereotypical shell. This will please romance fans, even if it hews a bit too closely to genre conventions. <i>(Apr.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  SMOOTH  
  TALKING  
  STRANGER
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Also by Lisa Kleypas  
    
  Seduce Me at Sunrise  
    
  Blue-Eyed Devil  
    
  Mine Till Midnight  
    
  Sugar Daddy
  
  WALLFLOWER SERIES  
    
  A Wallflower Christmas  
    
  Scandal in Spring  
    
  Devil in Winter  
    
  It Happened One Autumn  
    
  Secrets of a Summer Night
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  LISA
  
  
    
  KLEYPAS
  
  ![](images/00002.jpg)
  
  SMOOTH
  
  
    
  TALKING
  
  
    
  STRANGER
  
  St. Martin’s Press ![](images/00005.jpg) New York
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To Greg  
  because every day I spend with you is the perfect day  
  love always,  
  L.K.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  SMOOTH  
  TALKING  
  STRANGER
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Contents
  
  [CHAPTER ONE](index_split_006.html#filepos4992)
  
  [CHAPTER TWO](index_split_007.html#filepos21021)
  
  [CHAPTER THREE](index_split_008.html#filepos62194)
  
  [CHAPTER FOUR](index_split_009.html#filepos94461)
  
  [CHAPTER FIVE](index_split_010.html#filepos121645)
  
  [CHAPTER SIX](index_split_011.html#filepos138592)
  
  [CHAPTER SEVEN](index_split_012.html#filepos173588)
  
  [CHAPTER NINE](index_split_014.html#filepos214