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I have read many of Ms. Wodiwiss' works but this book seems completely out of character compared to the others. There is little to no character development for any of the major characters, while the most interesting person in the boom (Marelda Rousse) was given more attention in the beginning and then she is dropped like a hot potato. I ended up baffled and annoyed with the story line. I kept reading hoping it would get good. It didn't. And the ending felt like it was written by a first time novelist - everything tied up neatly while the villan helpfully spent the final pages doing a play by play soliloquy. I half expected Malcolm to say "And I would have gotten away with it, if if wasn't for you nosy kids!" Yeah, definitely not one of Kathleen Wodiwiss' best efforts.

Please read Shanna, A Rose In Winter, or The Wolf and the Dove first. In fact, just skip Come Love a Stranger completely.

This romance, while not one of Woodiwiss' best (see Flame and the Flower, Shanna, Wolf and the Dove, which I've rated 5 stars and see my other reviews), is a reasonably good story with an interesting concepts of love lost and regained, confused identities and amnesia. I thought it was a bit slow in the middle and the ending, as other reviewers have commented, has issues. Frankly, there was just too much action, too many fist fights and too many threads coming together in a short time so that the end was chaotic and frankly confusing. I do think I got it, but I think it could have been better done.

Set in the 1830's in Mississippi and the South, Come Love a Stranger is the story of a wealthy plantation owner/shipping merchant, Ashton Wingate, a progressive when it comes to slaves, and noble man in character, who marries the beautiful redhead Lierin after a world-wind courtship. He takes her on his riverboat back to his home but while on the way, pirates overrun his paddleboat and his new bride is tossed overboard and he is shot. While they cannot find her body, Ashton believes she is dead. Three years later, his carriage collides with a rider in the dark, and he believes the woman on the horse, now unconscious, is his lost wife. When the woman revives, she has amnesia and only remembers a murder her mind keeps bringing to mind. Willing to remain with him until she recovers, Lierin soon finds she is falling in love with the kind and gentle Ashton. While her memory has yet to return, she and Ashton begin to live as husband and wife. Then Malcolm Sinclair arrives and claims that Lierin is actually his wife Lenore, Lierin's twin sister. Ashton believes in his heart that the woman he has in his home is his lost love Lierin and vows to never lose her again. So the two men commence a battle for the woman each wants.

In addition to my issues mentioned at the outset, there were a few "nits" that bothered me and all of that resulted in the lower review. For example, were the two sisters English? Their father lived in England but it seems they might have spent time as children in the South so it wasn't clear. There was no mention of either a Southern or English accent. On another issue, while I don't fully understand amnesia, I kept wondering what amnesiac would forget they had a twin? I thought Ashton was a great character, a man to desire, but at times Lierin was weak and frankly slow in her thinking. Woodiwiss has crafted some wonderful heroines in her other romances so this was disappointing. I just didn't think Lierin had enough depth. Yes, she was beautiful and kind and all loved her but there should have been more to her character.

Kathleen wa one of my favorite authors. She lifts your
spirits. The stories will make you smile. Even
Feminist will like the disguise of female strength .

Have always loved Kathleen Wodiwiss. The Flame and the Flower was the first book I actually said down and read all the way through. I was pregnant and decided to name my baby Brandon if he was a boy, of course that was 36 yrs ago. I knew then I love this author. Yes her descriptions of certain subjects can get a little strenuous , but it still wonderful!! As any book it's all make believe cause some times you wonder what are these men are made of ...lol. But this is a great book but I do believe if I had been Lierin/Lenore , having some of the flash backs She had I might have figured it out !! Have fun it's a great book.

Come Love A Stranger.......

Bloody Hell.. Where was the DNA testing Lab
Okay with that said I loved this book....It starts off with Ashton and Lierin on a steamer boat heading home to Mississippi from New Orleans after there marriage vows are said .. Then in the still of night pirates steal aboard the River Witch and start a ruckus Lierin is thrown over board Ashton is shot .....three years later an accident occurs and Ashton `s carriage collides with a cloaked rider Immediately Ashton is taken back .Are his eyes playing tricks on him or is it his longing for his dead beloved wife that makes him see Lierin laying in his arms?

Got to love an Amnesia plot This book is filled to the brink with mystery Is it Lierin or her twin sister Lenore? I was back and forth with this same question on every other page.
Ashton deserves a medal for his hero-ness he was a determined and devoted husband always never faltering . Lierin as well deserves a medal for her strength and sheer will to find her life again and the love that these to share is worth the fight

I just have to throw this out there Mr. Horace Titch reminded me a little bit of The Mayor of Munchkin City just the way KEW wrote him I guess but none the less funny to me
Got to love the little hussy Marelda with her fierce tongue . When Malcolm Sinclair comes into the story your first thought is "no it can't be" you don't want it to be but it is.....or is it? A lot of plot twists and turns can't go to much into detail don't want to spoil the read for anyone.
I loved the ending but would of liked to at least have another chapter into the lives of Ashton and his beloved Lierin
Anyways read the book it is worth the time

In my younger days I had purchased and read a few of Ms Woodiwiss's books. When I recently checked to see what other books she had written, I just had to order them in hardcover since the first 5 or 6 that I had were in hardcover (I like to have matching collections). This story was just as enjoyable as the others I had. Ms Woodiwiss was an excellent writer and great storyteller. The world is a sadder place since her passing.