Intimate Strangers

43 Light Street #26

by Rebecca York

SHE WAS HIS FANTASY...

The nightly dreams of making love to Molly Dumont had been Mike Randall's lifeline during the five long years of his wrongful imprisonment for murdering his wife. But released now on an overturned conviction, he changed his name -- and his face -- and the new Mark Ramsey wanted only revenge.

Everything about Perry's Cove, N.C., was the same as Mark remembered, including the good-ol'-boy sheriff who'd put him away. And Molly Dumont. In the flesh, she was better than in his fantasies -- and harder to resist. But as Mark closed in on the real killer, he faced the question that burned in his gut: Was Molly the enticing innocent he remembered -- or was she part of the conspiracy?

Genres: Harlequin, Romance

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

Ruth Glick (born 1942) is a best-selling author of healthy cookbooks and has also written dozens of romantic suspense romance novels under the pen name Rebecca York.

Ruth earned a B.A. in American Thought and Civilization from George Washington University and an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Maryland. Although she always wanted to become a writer, Glick was convinced that her lack of spelling skills meant that her goal was unattainable. As a stay-at-home mother, she took a community college course to help her choose a career. The course made it very clear that writing was her primary interest. Glick began writing articles for newspapers and magazines, but after several years decided to try writing fiction. Her first book, a kids' science fiction book, was finally purchased by Scholastic Inc..

Since then, Glick has become a highly successful author of over 50 romantic suspense and paranormal novels. Many of her novels are published under the Harlequin Intrigue line, and in June 2003, she became one of the first authors published under Berkley's new Sensation imprint. Before 1997, she often collaborated with Eileen Buckholtz and Kathryn Jenson.

Glick also is a highly regarded author of cookbooks focusing on healthy eating. She sometimes hires trained chefs to test the recipes that she creates, and makes sure that every recipe is tested at least three times before it appears in one of her cookbooks.

Glick is the head of the Columbia Writers Workshop. She and her husband, Norman Glick, live in Columbia, Maryland, where Ruth collects rocks, and enjoys cooking, walking, reading, gardening, travel, and Mozart operas. They have two grown children, Elissa and Ethan, and two grandsons (Jesse and Leo).

Reviews

[Deanie Nelder · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Intimate Strangers is technically the 26th book in the 43 Light Street series, characters from the rest of the series only show up in a few scenes, so this is essentially a stand-alone. After being framed for his wife's murder, Mike Randall spends time in jail, until a lawyer from the Light Street Foundation takes a look at the evidence and gets his conviction overturned. Now Mike is back (after plastic surgery, which left him unrecognizable) in his small North Carolina town, trying to figure out who framed him and killed his wife.

This is a fairly standard series romantic suspense. It's well written, but the characters lack significant depth, and the plot is basic, at best, and never explains why these bad guys are doing what they do. So, this book had a lot of potential, but ended up only ok.

[Gemma]

The hero's obsession with the heroine was just a bit too creepy for me. DNF.

[Jacquie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good suspense book finished. This one once again had a good mystery to it that had me wondering up to almost to the end on who did what.

[S Miller]

Used - Good (Light spine crease; Light shelf wear)