NEVER KISS A STRANGER by Heather Grothaus is an exciting historical romance set in 1276 England. It is fast paced,full of adventure,danger,and witty banter between the hero and heroine.This is the story of a commoner, Piers, who is actually a nobleman.He has been betrayed,his betters(his stepmother & stepbrother) after his father's death attempt to kill him,try to discredit him and hunt him down when they find out they did not kill him.For he is headed to see King Edward to claim his rightful place as the Lord of Gillwick.In route he meets young,beautiful, innocent Lady Alys,the youngest sister of the Fallstowe Castle sisters.She is determined to undermine her eldest sister who is the Queen of the Fallstowe Castle,since their mother's death.For Sybilla, has betrothed Alys to someone Alys hates. So Alys knows the legend of Foxe Ring ruins:If a unmarried man and woman meet at midnight within the ancient ruins,they are married. Rather by fate,legend or destiny Piers comes upon Alys sleeping within the ruins,yes with none other than an excited Monkey,who Alys rescued from her soon to be betroths mother.Who by the is rather hateful.Although,Alys and Piers have an usual adventure through the woods of England,being pursued by not only Alys,sister,who fears Alys is in danger,but also by the very people who tried to kill Piers.Together they find love,happiness and a great adventure.Piers,not only finds a family member he didn't know he had,his destiny,his rightful place as the Lord of Gillwick but he also finds his true love.Alys finds not only her true love,her place in the world,at her husband's side, but also that her sister,Sibilla,has only been looking out for her best interest.If you enjoy reading a story with witty banter between the hero and heroine from the beginning to the end and where the characters not only grow but also find themselves right in front of your eyes than this is definitely the story for you. This book was received for the purpose of review from the publisher and details can be find at Kensington Publishing Corp and My Book Addiction and More. The story takes place in England in 1276. I think the story only spans about a month or so. The heroine is eighteen year old Alys Foxe. She’s got pale blond hair and brown eyes. She’s the youngest of three sisters. Her parents are deceased and her older sister, Sybilla, runs everything. Alys runs away because Sybilla is making her marry someone whom she doesn’t want to marry.The hero is thirty year old Piers Mallory. He’s poor and on a mission: to claim his birthright from the King. He comes across Alys sleeping at something called Foxe Ring. It’s a stone ring outside that is supposedly where you go to meet your future spouse. Alys becomes convinced that they’re now husband and wife. I found that to be very annoying. At the beginning, Alys is given a monkey, whom she names Layla. The vicious monkey is on almost every page of the story. I didn’t care for that at all. That too was very annoying. I don’t believe a romance book should feature a pet. The monkey was very distracting and pointless, really. Piers suffers a terrible attack by two people who are very close to him. I like those characters because I feel all books, even romance, need a villian or two. I think they add to any story. I don’t think the ones in this story were given enough time to develop their characters. There wasn’t enough character development with both hero and heroine either. Piers lost his mother when he was just six. We don’t really know anything of his life before he met the heroine. Same goes with Alys. What was her life like, especially with no parents? We learned nothing about their pasts.Almost from the start she claimed she loved Piers and not long after he claimed he loved her too. That was way too rushed, came too fast. They don’t really even know each other. They were sort of thrown together and they didn’t have anyone but each other during a stressful, scary time. Their feelings for one another grew faster than most, I guess, because of it.I also didn’t like the ‘wood’ people, who live in trees, literally. I thought that was bizarre and unbelievable, more like something you’d read in a Grimm’s fairy tale. I guess it was a bit creative but a little too out-of-the-box for me.Overall, I found to this to be silly and I was disappointed. I grade it a C/3 stars.
What do You think about Never Kiss A Stranger (2011)?
decent. good attention to historical detail. the love story is a bit lacking.
—flameless
Loved Alys' determination and the twist of things as they went along.
—Shubhu
