I've allowed a lot of time to pass in between reading the books of this series, but thankfully this one stands nicely on its own and I was able to remember the supporting characters well enough that I never felt lost. Smooth Talking Stranger is the third book in Lisa Kleypas's Travis series, a family saga that's part romance, part women's fiction. But when Tara returns for Luke and Jack's life is endangered by a storm will all of Ella's new dreams be lost? Review The more Ella gets to know the consummate playboy, the more she becomes attached to him as well, putting all her carefully laid plans for her life in jeopardy as she discovers that the idea of being a wife and mother no longer scare her. However, when her boyfriend refuses to allow an infant in their shared apartment, Jack steps in to offer help despite bearing no obligation to either of them. Then Ella is hit with the surprising realization that she's become attached to little Luke in a very short period of time, at just the time when she has no other option but to keep him while Tara undergoes treatment in a mental health facility. Although he insists that Luke isn't his, he reluctantly agrees to Ella's demands, but it soon becomes apparent that he was actually telling the truth. Determined to get him to take a paternity test, she marches into his office with fiery resolve. She has reason to believe that man is none other than Jack Travis, the middle son of one of the wealthiest families in Texas. Traveling from her home in Austin to Houston, Ella takes over the care of baby Luke, intending only to keep him until she finds the baby's father and makes him take responsibility. But when she receives shocking news that Tara has given birth to a baby that Ella didn't even know she was carrying and has abandoned him with their selfish mother who doesn't want anything to do with him, Ella must once again step up to the plate for her dysfunctional family. She has built a stable life for herself as a respected advice columnist, and believing she doesn't want any of the stereotypical feminine trappings of marriage or motherhood, she has a boyfriend whose priorities match her own.

Always the responsible one, she looked out for her younger sister, Tara, when they were kids but now, as an adult, she's had to distance herself from both her mother and the almost equally troubled Tara.

Evernight Teen Summer Kick-off Blog HopĪfter growing up in an unstable home with a self-centered mother who had a string of men coming and going from their lives, Ella Varner learned not to depend on anyone but herself.

Cosmo Red Hot Reads from Harlequin Launch.

Smooth talking stranger