Unabridged audiobook narrated by Laura Hicks.
Grade C+

To Trust a Stranger was a mixed bag for me. Parts of the story were quite well done and interesting, but other areas dragged and fell short. The suspense plot overall was good. There wasn't a whole lot to figure out, the only mystery was why these things were happening. The author doesn't give the reader key information about that until the very end of the book, so there was no way for the reader to put the pieces together. That doesn't really detract much from the story, since the action and suspense come mostly from the killer stalking Julie, not from the mystery behind that. The action scenes were well-written and nail-biting. Julie's fear and reactions seem realistic.

The romance was weak in my opinion, even though it take up a good deal of the book. All I ever felt between these two was lust based on physical appearance, especially from Mac. A lot of emphasis is put on Julie's beauty queen looks, and I never saw Mac see her as anything other than that, which is basically how her first husband saw her. We never see any development in his feelings and his passionate declaration of love seems totally out of left field for me.

I liked Mac's character, and I liked Julie too, for the most part. She was strong and determined, even if she didn't always think through her actions. I did get tired of her anger toward Mac during much of the last half of the book, though. Someone had been trying to kill her and yet she refuses to even listen to Mac's theories on why. Plus she puts herself in danger. Even if her carelessness doesn't lead to any problems, she's still being TSYL.

Julie is a former beauty pageant winner who pulled herself up out of virtual poverty into a comfortable life with her looks. Besides being a trophy wife, she owns and operates a clothing store that operate on an appointment-only basis for pageant contestants only. She's smart and successful as a dress designer. It makes sense that, caught up in that life, there is a big emphasis on her looks and weight. But over the course of the book I got really tired of hearing how she was worried constantly about putting on an ounce of weight, how she starves herself, etc. Her husband comments on her ample backside (which isn't ample, she's probably a size 4) and for the rest of the book the author refers to her rear as large. Maybe it was suppose to be tongue-in-cheek, but we never hear any encouragement or positive words from anyone such as, "You look wonderful, you don't need to lose an ounce!" I guess the author was keeping everyone in character, but it seems to me that even at the end, Julie is still being cherished for her outward appearance and will have to work hard to remain beautiful all her life in order to keep the approval.

Two other minor quibbles: First, I don't think unruly, destructive dogs are funny. Josephine the poodle has her cute moments, but untrained pets make me shudder, not laugh. Second, Ms Robards has a love for metaphors that borders on an obsession. This could be another drinking game. Take a shot every time Ms Robards uses a metaphor. You'd be under the table within pages. I didn't notice this when I listened to One Summer, so hopefully this isn't her usual MO.

Lastly, the narrator didn't work for me on this book, although I would consider listening to another book where she wasn't trying to fake southern accents. She does a southern accent that makes people sound like ignorant hicks.