Review
More Than a Stranger is a fantastic debut historical romance that will have readers sighing and wishing for a sexy secret agent of their own.
Benedict Hastings never imagined that when he started writing back to his best friend’s little sister (after she sent him a letter telling him to stop being friends with her brother) that he would come to feel more for her than friendship. Or that one day he would have to cause her pain in order to keep a secret of his own.
Lady Evelyn Moore had her heart broken when Hastings sent her a last letter claiming he didn’t want anything more to do with her and that she was just a child he didn’t have time for. This heartbreak was so strong that she decided love wasn’t for her and that she would just spend her life with the horses in her father’s stable.
When they are reunited secrets abound, but they both feel the connection between them.
I adored this book.
Hastings is a fantastically complex character. He lets go of everyone and everything he holds dear to become an agent of the crown. When things go to hell he runs to his best friend and the one man who will let him just be and think about what to do next. Hastings keeps secrets, but not for any selfish reasons, it is just part of who he has become. When he is face to face with Evie he can’t bring himself to reveal who he truly is, he knows that he hurt her in the past and doesn’t want to see it happen again.
Evie is equally fantastic. She is a woman who knows her own mind and isn’t afraid to express what she’s thinking and feeling. There is a scene in the book where she calls Hastings (who she doesn’t know is Hastings) a nitwit. I loved that she wasn’t a simpering miss.
The romance between Hastings and Evie begins when they are mere children. Writing back and forth while he is at Eton and never meeting in person. The anonymity of the letters allows them both to be completely honest with the other and they come to know each other more than any other person. I found the snippets of letters at the beginning of each chapter delightful.
There is sweetness to the romance between Evie and Hastings. While there is a little kissing and touching there is no sex in the book. But I didn’t miss those scenes. It didn’t even register until I was finished that there was no “consummation” between the two. I loved that their love was innocent in the face of everything Hastings was facing in his life.
The writing is flawless. I couldn’t put the book down and stayed up late into the night reading. I had to know what would happen next between the couple and that they would achieve their happily ever after. I have added Ms. Knightly to my list of must-buy authors.
Reviewed by Carrie