Love with the Proper Stranger

by Suzanne Brockmann

His name wasn't Jonathan Mills, and he wasn't vacationing on the idyllic island. FBI agent John Miller was on the trail of a notorious female serial killer, and he couldn't blow his cover to anyone. Not even the beguiling Mariah Carver, who had unwittingly entangled herself in a web of deadly deceit.

John couldn't deny that sweet, sensual Mariah was the woman he had been waiting for. Nor could he act on the passion that tormented them both. The daring lawman was poised to wed another the ruthless Black Widow, who married--then murdered--her victims....

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Suspense, Fiction

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 12, 1998

About the author

After childhood plans to become the captain of a starship didn’t pan out, Suzanne Brockmann took her fascination with military history, her respect for the men and women who serve, her reverence for diversity, and her love of storytelling, and explored brave new worlds as a bestselling romance author.

Over the past thirty years she has written sixty-three novels, including her award-winning Troubleshooters series about Navy SEAL heroes and the women—and sometimes men—who win their hearts. Her personal favorite is the one where her most popular character, gay FBI agent Jules Cassidy, wins his happily-ever-after and marries the man of his dreams. Called All Through the Night, this mainstream romance novel with a hero and a hero hit the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list. In 2007, Suz donated all of her earnings from this book, in perpetuity, to MassEquality, to help win and preserve equal marriage rights in Massachusetts.

In addition to writing books, Suz writes and produces indie movies and TV including the award-winning romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding. Her recent feature, Out of Body, is streaming on Amazon Prime.

In 2018, Suz was given the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America. Her latest projects are Blame It on Rio (Tall, Dark & Dangerous # 14), available in print and e-book from Suzanne Brockmann Books, and Marriage of Inconvenience, a six-episode LBGTQ rom-com TV series, streaming on Dekkoo in April 2023.

Reviews

[Buggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opening Line:"She laced his coffee with opium."

This is one of the better early Brockmann romances I‘ve read. (Shame about the cover though) Written in 97, it's really worthy of a re-release because there’s an excellent suspense filled story here that managed to surprise me several times by not following the usual cookie cutter formula required of category romances. I never really knew where this was going to go; with events setting up in one direction only to end up going a very different way. And with several steamy love scenes, a tortured hero I just wanted to hug and a heroine that was well… normal (meaning that she didn’t ‘suddenly’ know how to use a gun, or annoy me with stupid talk and the usual quarrels) I had trouble putting this one down. When Brockmann’s on her game theres just no one better and this quick romantic suspense gave me everything I could possibly want.

FBI agent John Miller is known throughout the department as “the robot”. Still reeling from the death of his partner which he blames himself for, John is unable to sleep or eat, just barely going through the motions of living. When he’s sent undercover to catch a black widow serial killer, John actually resembles the hollow, sickly cancer patient he’s meant to be.

The plan is for “Johnathan Mills” to appear wealthy, in bad health and to marry their suspect Serena Westford, gathering enough evidence to take her down before she murders another husband. The plan however is not for John to fall in love with her best friend Mariah Robinson. Somehow though she’s made him feel alive for the first time in years and even though he knows he’s sending her mixed signals (that kiss was probably a mistake as was falling asleep on her couch after a back rub) he can’t blow his cover. For as much as he wants Mariah he’s going to have to follow through and marry and sleep with Serena.

As I said the story here is not as straightforward as I first thought; the antagonist is always one step ahead of the FBI and as it turns out Mariah is not who she seems to be either. Oh and our strong, manly hero cries at the end which just did me in. Cheers.

[Bona Caballero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una novelita genérica muy entretenida.
John Miller es un agente encubierto que quiere cazar a una asesina en serie. Y cree que intimando con Marie Carver, lo va a conseguir. Estos tres personajes coincidirán en una isla del Sur de los EE. UU. La parte de suspense, de ver cómo se va a atrapar a la asesina, me pareció muy logrado, con momentos en que no podía dejar de leer a ver cómo resolvían esto o aquello. Y la romántica, ¿qué os voy a decir? Aunque el formato breve obliga a enamoramiento-exprés, me pareció bastante creíble. Especialmente lo que es la tensión sexual no resuelta.
Si te apetece leer algo cortito pero con enjundia de suspense, esta es una novela que merece la pena.
Crítica más extensa, en mi blog.

[Saly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Love with a Proper Stranger though in the end I was shocked as to how easily the heroine forgave the lies, even if necessary.

Mariah has spent a lot of time re-building the company her father left her but now she is done, she is too stressed so she takes off to try different things and starts taking pictures, letting things go and using a different form of her name.

John Miller is an FBI agent, dubbed the Robot. He is too dedicated to his work and has no friends and he is also unable to sleep since he lost his only friend and partner. He has been following a case of the Black Widow, a woman who kills her husbands, when he gets a break. He decides to use himself as bait, a sick man who is recovering from cancer and is wealthy, so that Serena marries him.

But weirdly enough he is attracted to Mariah and can't seem to stay away from her even when he knows he should. Every time they kiss he stops them saying he wants to be friends. Mariah lets him be since she thinks he has cancer, she helps him sleep and even listens to him and his grief.

John feels terrible about lying to her but he does and he even has to make a move on Serena in front of her, knowing it will hurt her. But Mariah makes him feel and he tells her a lot of truth about himself, his childhood and his friend. He even goes as far as to marry Serena but of course he tells her he is impotent because at that point he is in love with Mariah and knows she is too.

I enjoyed the book but I found it unbelievable that Mariah could forgive him that easily in the end, even if it was his job after a day of lovemaking she finds him married and then finds out he is FBI and then that he didn't have cancer. I would have dunno wanted something different though he did cry so maybe that makes up for it.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

For days, off and on for weeks even, I've had the ending of a book I once read in my head and could not for the life of me remember which one it was. I knew it was a shorter Harlequin-size novel, but I have a shocking number of books in my library shelves and can't keep track of them all. Then on Amazon a Suzanne Brockmann popped up, and I thought idly, "I don't think I read that one. It doesn't look familiar." So out of mild curiosity, I clicked on it and read the blurb. I hadn't gone more than a sentence or two when I had the jolt of recognition. This was The One! The one I'd fully intended to scrounge through my multiple bookshelves to find!

That's the kind of book this is. One that gets in your head and haunts you. It's of course masterfully written, the plot crafted with meticulous care. An FBI man on the trail of a Black Widow. He's nearing a nervous breakdown after the death of his closest friend, a death he heard happen over the wiretap and was helpless to prevent. Even though the death happened years ago, he has never come to terms with it. It seems only this current case is keeping him from going over the deep end at long last. So when the Black Widow's trail goes hot, he goes undercover posing as her next potential victim.

The only problem is that the Black Widow's closest friend is the woman he really wants to get close to. For the first time in months, he feels alive, and quiet inside. And guilty about what he's going to have to do to her. He knows, they both know, the attraction between them is off the charts, but his goal is to marry the Black Widow and catch her in the act, hopefully without letting her kill him in the process. Mariah is not the kind of woman it's easy to lie to, and even his undercover persona is a lie that eats away at him. Which is a good way for an undercover agent to get himself killed.

I have made no secret about the fact that there is one plotline I despise, and that is when someone marries someone even though they are in love with someone else. That is the whole premise of this book. We know all along that he intends to 'marry' the Black Widow. So? In a lot of this type of book, we know the potential of the wrong marriage is looming. But while it might seem like I'm splitting hairs, I think this book is different. For one thing, John drops giant hints all along that things are not what they seem, to please, please trust him. He even promises Mariah he will not sleep with Serena. Granted - and I'm trying not to put in spoilers here - after a certain point, Mariah has no reason to believe him any longer.

It doesn't hurt that this has one of The Best endings of any book ever, the ending that has nagged at me for a long time trying to figure out which book it was. Amazing ending. Gripping, heart-pounding, nail-biting. So if you don't mind a bit, okay a lot, of unavoidable angst mingled with moments of heart-touching sweetness, give this a try!

[R E C · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took effort to finish this book especially because I’ve read Brockmann’s later books which are amazing. I had to take a break three quarters the way through.

The good - It has her writing style and characters types. Straightforward women characters and tough guy sorta emotionally stunted men characters.

The bad - Some parts were like a tv movie. The scenes were too obvious and the actors didn’t seem real. The plot changes were unbelievable. Really? They got married just like that? No way.

The meh - This was written like a suspense novel with a psycho bad guy who’s out to get them vs a war zone/terrorist novel like the Troubleshooters.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

**MINOR SPOILERS**
John Miller is an FBI agent that cannot get over the death of his partner and best friend. Tony, his partner, had died before John could rescue him. Two years later, he still has difficulty sleeping without nightmares and tries not to develop attachments to other people. He is immediately attracted to Mariah while trying to develop a relationship with a woman, Serena, who is a serial killer who kills her husbands. He is part of an investigation that is trying to trap Serena.
Mariah abruptly decides to quit her job to try to figure out what she wants to do with her life. She was the CEO of her family’s company and has money to do this. She heads out for an island off the Georgia coast where many rich people vacation and begins volunteering her time at an organization that builds houses for the needy. As you get to know her, Mariah comes across as friendly and open. It was a little hard to believe that she had the killer instinct needed for business but, at the beginning of the book, you find out she had just turned her family business around and kept them from failing.
Both Mariah and John are immediately attracted to each other. Because Mariah had tried to remove the stress from her life, she tries to coach John to do the same. Because John is investigating Serena, he fakes an attraction to her that causes Mariah pain. Mariah came across as a bit of a doormat as she kept accepting the back and forth behavior and the deception.
When Mariah arrives at the island, she becomes friends with Serena, the serial killer. This seemed odd to me as there seemed to be no motivation for Serena to become friends. Later in the story, Mariah tries to tell Serena to be careful with John, she lets it slip that he has nightmares about a friend of his dying and that the friend was a cop. At that point in the story, Mariah had not seen Serena for a while, and I was surprised that she told Serena this seemingly out of the blue and that she told John’s secrets. Some people would have kept it confidential. Serena, of course, realizes that there is a chance that law enforcement is on to her.
At the end of the book, John does not do something at a critical moment that did not make sense (trying not to give spoilers). There was no reason for him not act and the book lost one star for that.
What is a little strange is that Mariah decides to go on vacation using a fake name. She says to her aunt that she read the idea in a book as a way of creating a new you. It seemed unlikely. It might have been a little more believable if it had been related to trying to hide her name because she had money but, again, she was with people who had money to burn.
John’s new partner, Daniel, is a great person and I really liked him.
Most of the story is told from the perspective of John, Mariah, and Serena, the serial killer. Sometimes the point of view would change from one sentence to the next. There should have been a line between or a section break.
Suzanne Brockmann is generally an auto-buy for me but the book was not her best. The second star was lost because of the other points mentioned above.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cuando creo que te gustó, desapareces. Y cuando ya estoy convencida de que no te gusto, vuelves a mi."

Me gustan mucho las historias de asesinos seriales que incluyen a agentes del FBI bien sexys como lo que nos presentan Suzanne Brockman.

Amar a destiempo, nos ofrece eso. Un agente del FBI que se hace pasar por un hombre rico y al borde de la muerte para poder atraer a una asesina en serie que busca dinero, se casa y luego mata a sangre fría a sus esposos para poseer todos sus bienes.

John Miller quiere acabar con esta mujer y tiene todo para atraparla, sin embargo, no cuenta que para llegar a ella deberá pasar tiempo con una mujer que lo hechiza desde el primer momento en que la miro. Así que deberse luchar contra su corazón y su buen juicio para no dejarse llevar por sus mediciones y así seguir el plan y de una vez por todas atrapar a esa criminal.

[Sue Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author, but this was not my favourite book. A particular bug bear was how quickly the heroine got over the situation she found herself in and all the lies she’d been told. I would have liked to see her make the hero put some effort into getting her after the big reveal, but he didn’t at all.

The marriage proposal was dreadful - along the lines of “my work is too important to me , I’m too driven, I’ll make a rubbish husband, I’ve been lying to you for weeks, have caused you nothing but pain and you only found out my real name 5 minutes ago, want to marry me?”

I’d have run for the hills. Think I’d have preferred something more realistic there, but up until the quickly tidied up ending I had enjoyed the book.

[Alma Tuano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lame.

I wanted to read an alpha FBI agent romance. What the book is a has been agent who doesn't think, no instinct, probably gay agent. I hate this book and am returning it. Waste of my day. Gave it 3 stars because I don't know what's wrong with my phone or Amazon. I was trying to punch one star and it's taking me to 3.

[Petie McCarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this as an unabridged audio. Brockmann didn't disappoint, never does. Story was riveting, but the delivery was spectacular! Just wish I could have Patrick Lawlor do ALL my audiobooks. He does such a wonderful job he should get an academy award every time.

[Tiny Shen 沈帝妮 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kena zonk deh.. Kirain bakalan sebagus Alpha Squad, tapi ternyata tidak ada sepertiganya Alpha Squad..

Kasus di sini sebenarnya oke. Hanya saja kebanyakan kurang digali dan diceritakan malah lebih banyak Perdebatan Hati John.. 😑😑😑

[Marta Carvajal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es interesante, quieres saber lo que va a pasar, pero los protagonistas, sobre todo él, me ha caído más mal que bien, por lo que no tenía muchas ganas de seguir leyendo porque sentía que quería poner los ojos en blanco todo el rato. Aún así, se lee bastante rápido.

[Sandra Patiño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia sencilla, bonita y entretenida.

[Katrina McFadden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

[Barbara Gard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

[Juli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and 1/2 stars

[Alice Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

It has been a few years since I read a Brockmann novel. I enjoyed this story line. Obvious good guys. Obvious bad guys. And an innocent bystander. Thank you

[buchverliebt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nachdem ich die "Operation Heartbreaker"-Reihe der Autorin, Suzanne Brockmann, gelesen hatte musste ich natürlich auch dieses Buch von ihr in die Finger bekommen. Zugegeben, es war für mich anfangs ein bisschen schwierig den Gedanken an die Navy Seals aus dieser anderen Reihe auszublenden und sie nicht mit den Charakteren und der Geschichte mit "Im Netz der schwarzen Witwe" zu vergleichen, aber nach den ersten Kapiteln wird schnell klar, dass zwar der Schreibstil der Autorin, und auch ihre Art eine Geschichte aufzubauen, absolut eindeutig ist, es sich hierbei aber um eine ganz andere Konstellation handelt.

Die Kontrolle verlieren. Überwältigende Leidenschaft.
Die Art von Leidenschaft, die Kriege auslöst und Weltreiche zum Einsturz bringt. Die Art von Leidenschaft, die es selbst einem abgebrühten Profi wie John schwer machte, seinen Job zu erledigen. (S. 139)


Was die Figuren in dieser Geschichte alle gemeinsam haben? Sie agieren alle unter einem Decknamen. Zwar hat jeder seine ganz eigenen Gründe, aber trotzdem legt sich jeder der drei Hauptpersonen seine eigene, neue Identität zu.
So versucht nicht nur die "schwarze Witwe" - als Selean Weaver - unter einem Decknamen unterzutauchen und sich ein neues Opfer zu suchen. Auch Marie Carver legt sich einen anderen Namen zu, aber aus ganz anderen Gründen: Und zwar versucht sie ihrem stressigen Arbeitsalltag komplett zu entkommen, indem sie unter einem anderen Namen weit weg von zu hause einige Monate ausspannen will und nennt sich fortan Mariah Robinson - wobei "Mariah" schon als Kind ihr Kosename war. Die Verbindung zu Selena scheint einfach ... die beiden sind in ihrer jeweiligen neuen Identität Freundinnen, wobei Selena wohl mehr auf Tarnung aus ist als auf Freundschaft und schlicht ihr markaberes Spiel treibt. Neben den beiden tritt der FBI-Agent John Miller als Jonathan Mills auf und ermittelt verdeckt gegen die "schwarze Witwe".

Wirklich interessant wird es als Mariah und John das erste Mal aufeinander treffen und Johns Plan/Ermittlung schlagartig in's Wanken gerät, denn er kann sich der Anziehungskraft dieser Frau nicht entziehen und auch Mariah ist hin und weg. Johns Ermittlungen legen ihm Steine in den Weg und auch seine Vergangenheit und die damit verbundenen emotionalen Brücken machen es ihm und Mariah nicht einfach. Nicht, dass Mariah von all dem wüsste. Und mehr als einmal wollte ich John zurufen, die Frau seines Herzens endlich in's Vertrauen zu ziehen, denn dieses hin und her ist wirklich nervenaufreibend und frustrierend!

Die hinterhältige, gerissene Art und Weise von Selena ist beinahe bemerkenswert. Es ist schon interessant auch einmal im Kopf einer solchen "kranken" Person zu stecken und zu Lesen was in ihr vorgeht. Wobei schnell klar wird wie brandgefährlich diese Frau ist.

Die Geschichte ist mitreißend, super spannend und es sieht am Ende absolut nicht gut aus für unsere beiden Helden, Mariah und John. Außerdem stehen genau genommen so viele Geheimnisse zwischen den beiden. Angetrieben von Neugierde habe ich das Buch in einem durchgelesen und kann "Im Netz der schwarzen Witwe" als spannungsgeladenen Roman mit einer interessanten Liebesgeschichte nur empfehlen

4,5/5 Sternen.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow this book was seriously demented. And not in a good suspense thriller kind of way, but in a disturbing uncomfortable way.

John Miller is an FBI agent who has taken the undercover case to trap a serial killer. His mission is to go undercover and attract the attention of the black widow killer named Serena. A woman who marries men and then kills them soon after the wedding. A woman who I couldn't help picture looking like the Debbie from Addams Family Values. Anyway, Johns mission is to marry Debbie... I mean Serena and then expose her when she goes in for the kill. Conflicts arise however when he starts falling for Mariah, the woman Serena has manipulated into thinking she's her BFF.

When I say this book is demented I mean that the characters were all seriously unlikable and the hero's actions throughout the entire book are extremely reprehensible. Mariah is such a flat character. She is a pure victim with nothing about her personality that gives her depth. She's portrayed also a complete angel. She swoops in and fixes all of John's personal problems, builds homes for the poor, and rescues children from trees. In between her acts of saintly-ness she bemoans the fact that she's divorced and is too tall. All this made her not only a dull character, but also pretty annoying to read about. For his part, John isn't likable either. His whole role in the book to complain about how he better not do such in such because it'll hurt Mariah and then he goes and does it anyway. Yes, he's undercover but seriously... He sleeps with Mariah and then a couple hours later marries Serena. Yick, whats worse is that he suffers no real consequences from Mariah for his actions. She instantly forgives him for everything and they essentially confess their undying love for each other.

At the end of this book I was just left squicked out. I had the feeling that Mariah was only with John because she saw someone she could try to fix. And John was just a sad sack who put Mariah on some kind of pedestal. This book has made me leery about picking up a full length novel by Brockmann.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

FBI Agent John Miller has been tracking the Black Widow for over two years. This serial killer targets and marries wealthy men, cleans out their bank accounts, and kills them. Now they believe she has changed her name to Serena Wakefield and is living on an island on the coast of Georgia. John decides to pose as "Jonathan Mills", a rich businessman on the island recovering from cancer. As soon as he arrives on the island, he meets Serena's friend, Mariah Robinson. His plan is to use Mariah to get close to Serena. But as he gets to know Mariah better, he starts falling in love with her. Trying to keep his distance from Mariah is getting hard. And trying to keep Mariah from getting hurt while he is romancing Serena is even harder.

This is one of Suzanne Brockmann's category romances written in the 1990's. John is a tortured hero, blaming himself for his partner's assassination by terrorists. Mariah is just a normal woman, taking time off from a stressful job to unwind. She has some body issues, being six feet tall and curvy. She loves the attention that John pays to her, but is hurt when he turns his attention to Serena. The romance is fun and well balanced with the suspense portions of the book. My rating: 4 Stars.

[PepsiGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Miller is a police detective going undercover to catch a black widow who has killed 6 husbands. While pretending to be a rich man recovering from Hodgkin's he meets her friend Mariah, who he is instantly smitten with. Even though his job is to ensnare Sierra, he has fallen for Mariah. But he still has a job to do, and it isn't something he looks forward too. He can't stop his attraction for Mariah and continues to spend time with her even though Sierra is his target, Sierra has her sights on him and doesn't even care that he is Mariah's date. Sierra is ruthless and will stop at nothing to get her man.

[Lhenry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hallmark of this one was a nice tortured hero. Even in this short book, there is a nice unveiling of just why John is so hurt by the death of his partner, even though we see it in the 1st chapter, there's a little more to why the impact was so hard on John. There was less information on Mariah and why she had the sudden need to transform from a workalohic to a beach bum, but she and John were a nice couple and I always like it where there's a pretty equal relationship between the two. I liked the action packed ending and the nasty evil villain.

[Rene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a crazy romance reader and this is the best romance book I have ever read. I love the strong female lead and I found the plot interesting enough to carry the romance. This book got my started on everything Suzanne Brockmann. She doesn't write small books like this anymore but I still read everything she puts out. I think I pull this off of my bookshelf at least 3 times a year without fail! I love John Mills.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is hard to classify. I like that Brockmann kind of takes chances with the adventure formula. The heroine isn't blonde and perfect; the love affair goes awfully awry at times; the villain is a very smart woman; the hero doesn't always save himself (ok, mostly he does, which was sort of disappointing near the end but I won't spoil it). I like that she gave him peace, though I'm not super sure what he gave her. Anyway, it was a fun read.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viva la Suzanne Brockmann! Since I am all about Suzanne Brockmann, finding this book on the shelf at my local resale shop had me doing a happy dance right there in the store. I read it in one sitting. I didn't give it 5 stars only because I could've used about 100 more pages of it!

I'm SO GLAD she writes longer books now. So very, very glad.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story. I loved that Suzanne Brockmann made the heroine taller than most women & not the petite blonde women that you usually get in these books. And that the hero thought she looked beautiful because of her strength and her personality rather than her looks.

A fun read with a lovely message about helping others.

[Emily Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

FBI agent John Miller and his partner are trying to catch a female serial killer who kills her rich husbands for their money. John did not count on meeting Mariah Carver. For the first time in his career, he has trouble maintaining his undercover persona. This story starts slowly, but gets better toward the end.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

FBI agent John Miller was undercover as Jonathan Mills to catch a notorious female serial killer. He gets close to the serial killers friend Mariah in order to meet this Black Widow who marries rich men and then kills them. Unfortunately he falls for Mariah but can't expose his plan to wed and then capture the killer.

[Tukang Kueh Keren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kelamaan di rak buku :D

Kenapa pas baca buku ini jadi teringat honeymoonya James Patterson ya?

Penjahatnya udah keburu ketauan duluan, jadi berasa kurang asik bacanya...lebih suka sama serial navy sealnya :)) masih kurang 2 buku lagi yang blom diterjemahkan

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Brockmann and like to read everything she's written, even if the early ones aren't as good as her later works. Love with the Proper Stranger was interesting and I thought the characters were well-developed - I liked both main characters and was really rooting for them.