When Strangers Marry

Okay, so I am a huge fan of Lisa Kleypas and I absolutely adored Only in Your Arms only I never remembered the sexual encounters to be as HOT as they were in this re-write! WOW - score a 10 on the sensuality scale! I liked Maximillian Vallerand before but loved him here....so absolutely in control! I don't remember Lysette as being quite so spunky before either. All in all, if you are looking for a VERY STEAMY romance to put you in the mood.... look no futher because this one will positively ignite you!Briefly, the story is the same....Lysette is running from a mean step-father who is forcing her to marry, Etienne Legesse, a well to do Creole, who is also a bit of a drunken pig. Maximillian's twin sons Phillipe and Justin find Lysette trying to escape in the bayou and bring her home to their father. Upon hearing who she is betrothed to, Max decides then and there that he will ruin her if only to pay back Etienne for having an affair with and murdering Max's wife, Corrine. Naturally, Max comes to care for then admittedly fall in love with, Lysette. The mystery is who really killed Corrine after everyone has assumed it was Max all these years who murdered his own wife.Great story even when it was Only in Your Arms.....SUPER story with the heightened sensuality!

I have never been a romance reader but love history or historical fiction -- particularly Regency England. This summer I read my first romance which was a Kleypas novel working up to this fifth book. When I saw it was New Orleans and not England I almost put it down. But then the first chapter's intrigue surrounding Max kept me going. Now I have to say it is the best I have read of Kleypas or this category because of the way the murder mystery and the Burr conspiracy was worked in as well as all the characters' development. I did not like Max at first but eventually softened to him, as did Lysette. The story provides a believable psychology for his nature. I read the sequel solely to meet up with Max, Lysette and New Orleans again. I'd love to see a third sequel with Max and Lysette's grown daughters coming of age in it. I'd like to see how Max acts in that regard. That'd be really exciting.

I thought that this book was rather good, and I liked the 'mysterious plot' regarding the murder of Max's wife, which was successfully incorporated into the over-all scheme...Lisa Kleypas is talented enough to merge this in such a way that it does not eclipse the romance.There are a lot* of steamy scenes between the couple but they are perfectly suited to each other, and I liked them from the beginning. Lysette is innocent and sweet and she is the perfect foil for Max's darkness and cynicism.One of the nicest things I like about this novel is the effect the heroine has on her soulmate...his harsh disillusionment lessens when he falls in love with her, yet he still remains strong and solid, an intrinsic value I love in the heroes of this genre.This is, perhaps, my favorite among Kleypas books...and I hope to experience more like it.

One of my favorites by Lisa Kleypas. Although I didn't like Max at the beginning, his dark, smoldering character got me at the end. The book is, as usual, full of passionate scenes and emotional twists.I liked Lysette from the beginning, and I found her very endearing and a bit too head-strong at times. Max and Lysette's relationship started as a means to avenge a scandalous past, but it turned into a loving and equal in power at the end. A must read!The back cover reads:"Ravishing and desperate Lysette Kersaint flees and impending marriage to a man she hates to seek sanctuary with a man she fears. For rumors abound throughout New Orleans concerning her handsome, brooding protector, Maximilien Vallerand--whispers of his cruelty, his rages, his dark, mysterious past. Forced by circumstance, Lysette consents to wed the dangerous rake, becoming the unwitting instrument of his sworn vengeance. But the flame-haired beauty's innocent heart will awaken within him a soul of passion and poetry...and spawn a love magnificent, wild, and true."To read about Justin Vellarand, don't miss ONLY WITH YOUR LOVE, which isn't as great as ONLY IN YOUR ARMS, but good, nevertheless.S.