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Smithson Group Companion #1
The Perfect Stranger
Some like it hot. The men and women of Alison Kent's sizzling SG-5 series like it hotter. In this all new novel of steamy suspense, the jungle is the only place wild enough for a hotshot helicopter pilot and a renegade rich girl with one hell of an agenda. . . Bachelor parties are fun, as long as you're not the poor sap getting hitched. . .or slipped a Mickey and waking to discover you just became the poor sap. Not to mention that your "wife" is pregnant, and if you don't go along to her village to meet the in-laws, the nice police comandante will be muy unhappy. Just another day in the life of helicopter pilot J. Jackson Briggs? Not so much. His Smithson Group gig wasn't supposed to be dangerous, but the woman who drugs him, then knocks him out, then drugs him again certainly is. She also may or may not be a nun. She's definitely a lying, scheming, lethally gorgeous. . .American. Jack's light years from believing the story Jillian Endicott gives him about her noble cause in the sweltering wilds of San Torisco, but he knows one thing: he'll get the truth--and plenty more--from her, one way or another. . .
Being an Endicott of the Boston Endicotts taught Jillian plenty about the haves vs. the have-nots--and made it easy to choose sides. But there's nothing easy about her mission in San Torisco, and things only get harder when Jack Briggs is thrown into the mix. Six-foot-three of big Texas mouth and big. . .other things. . .Jack's pegged her as a bored little rich girl. Hey, he can think what he wants, as long as he does what she wants. Do unto others what needs to be done--that's Jillian's motto. Problem is, Jack knows how to push her buttons from minute one--and the closer he gets to pushing her over the edge, the more she wants him to. . .
Now under dark velvet cover of jungle nights, two rebels with a cause are going deep--and falling hard--for the perfect stranger. . .
Praise for the novels of Alison Kent
"Smart, funny, exciting, touching, and hot." --Cherry Adair
"Fast, dangerous, sexy." --Shannon McKenna
Being an Endicott of the Boston Endicotts taught Jillian plenty about the haves vs. the have-nots--and made it easy to choose sides. But there's nothing easy about her mission in San Torisco, and things only get harder when Jack Briggs is thrown into the mix. Six-foot-three of big Texas mouth and big. . .other things. . .Jack's pegged her as a bored little rich girl. Hey, he can think what he wants, as long as he does what she wants. Do unto others what needs to be done--that's Jillian's motto. Problem is, Jack knows how to push her buttons from minute one--and the closer he gets to pushing her over the edge, the more she wants him to. . .
Now under dark velvet cover of jungle nights, two rebels with a cause are going deep--and falling hard--for the perfect stranger. . .
Praise for the novels of Alison Kent
"Smart, funny, exciting, touching, and hot." --Cherry Adair
"Fast, dangerous, sexy." --Shannon McKenna
263 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
28 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
About the author
Alison Kent
129 books640 followersI often read of or hear about authors who knew they were meant to tell stories from the time they left the crib. Me? I didn't decide what I wanted to be when I grew up until I was thirty years old - and then sold my first book at thirty-four. Still, it was obvious that I always knew I was going places.
Like so many other authors, I was a voracious reader from day one, devouring everything from Nancy Drew to My Friend Flicka, which I remember sitting hovered over the heater vent in the kitchen floor to read while my father made his coffee.
I moved on to my mother's Phyllis Whitney, Dorothy Eden, and Mary Stewart gothics before discovering my first true romances written by Lucy Walker and set in the Australian Outback. And then, at last, when I was 18 I found 'The Flame and the Flower'. (My son almost spent his life as Brandon because of that, but I spared him and named him Casey instead!)
Why write romance? Because love stories have always been a major part of the books I've loved. Father Ralph and Meggie Cleary. (I did name my daughter Megan after reading The Thorn Birds! Do you see a trend here?) The aforementioned Brandon Birmingham and Heather Simmons. Wolf Mackenzie and Mary Potter.
Even more so, it's because I love writing romance heroes. The men who sweep both heroines and readers off their feet - not to mention their authors, too!
I've spent several years happily writing action adventure romance for Kensington Brava along with hot and sexy series romances for Harlequin Blaze. Now I'm thrilled to be a launch author for Vows.
Like so many other authors, I was a voracious reader from day one, devouring everything from Nancy Drew to My Friend Flicka, which I remember sitting hovered over the heater vent in the kitchen floor to read while my father made his coffee.
I moved on to my mother's Phyllis Whitney, Dorothy Eden, and Mary Stewart gothics before discovering my first true romances written by Lucy Walker and set in the Australian Outback. And then, at last, when I was 18 I found 'The Flame and the Flower'. (My son almost spent his life as Brandon because of that, but I spared him and named him Casey instead!)
Why write romance? Because love stories have always been a major part of the books I've loved. Father Ralph and Meggie Cleary. (I did name my daughter Megan after reading The Thorn Birds! Do you see a trend here?) The aforementioned Brandon Birmingham and Heather Simmons. Wolf Mackenzie and Mary Potter.
Even more so, it's because I love writing romance heroes. The men who sweep both heroines and readers off their feet - not to mention their authors, too!
I've spent several years happily writing action adventure romance for Kensington Brava along with hot and sexy series romances for Harlequin Blaze. Now I'm thrilled to be a launch author for Vows.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 11, 2017
I really liked the first 8 books in the series, but this one left a bad taste In my mouth. For some reason I could not connect with the female protagonist and I just couldn't get more than half way through the books. Hopefully the others are back up to par.
August 19, 2017
A great story about life, love and healing.
September 5, 2017
Too much graphic sex
I have enjoyed this series. But this book had way way too much graphic sex. It took away from the story and the characters. Not enjoyable.
I have enjoyed this series. But this book had way way too much graphic sex. It took away from the story and the characters. Not enjoyable.
September 11, 2017
Jungle adventure
Wonderful story. Full of twists and turns and tons of surprises. A great series I still haven't had enough of.
Wonderful story. Full of twists and turns and tons of surprises. A great series I still haven't had enough of.
June 10, 2018
I liked this book, it was a little slow moving at times. In my opinion it was good. I read a review that stated reader did not understated why certain things were in the book. For me everything made sense. This is an instant love story, so if you're not into that, then not for you. I did have a hard time with the relationship between Jack and Jillian, yet I had fun with it. In my opinion the suspense was there, but Alison Kent did not elaborate what happened to everyone, she left it up to the reader's imagination, I was okay with that. If you like story endings to be all tied up in a neat package, then I don't think this is for you.
July 7, 2008
The Perfect Stranger is the best SG-5 book I've read so far even though it started the usual way - confusing the hell out of me. This is one thing I find with Ms Kent's writing - at the start, I don't know who is doing what and I keep having to re-read the pages.
Once I got past Kent's typical convoluting style (reminds me of Fetzer though the latter's worse), I found myself thinking TPS isn't so bad after all. For example, the first couple of pages read like the person who brought Jack down with a whip was the local girl, supposedly his wife. Then in the next page it read like it was someone else but there was only Jack and his 'wife' so who was the whip-wielding person? It took me a few more pages to conclude that it was Jack's 'wife' after all and it reminded me of all the other times I got confused in a SG-5 book because of the way Kent wrote.
But...I love tall heroes and Jack is six-three. Yum. I also love no-holds-barred sex and TPS gave me that, even though I am not a fan of sex in the jungle full of creepy crawlies. There were some suspenseful moments involving the voodoo rites though I, like Jack, didn't understand why he and Jill got to keep their clothes on when everyone else were forced to be nekkid and Doing It. I always feel short-changed when this happens and the author has no plausible explanation for it. If she hasn't got the guts to go for it for fear of offending her readers (this isn't in the erotic romance category, after all.) then don't even include it.
Action-wise, this book did not disappoint as the previous SG-5 ones did though I felt Jack got rid of his villains a little too easily, especially the dictator. I expected at least some kind of face-off between the man who had raped Jill (and was trying to rape her again) and the man who had come to save her. I suppose this served to hurry the story along so that Jack and Jill could get to a proper bed and shower.
If I thought TPF started off confusing for me, it was even more perplexing at the end. After they get out of San Torisco and are safely ensconced in their luxury hotel suite, courtesy of Hank Smithson, Jack turns up at the hotel room to take Jillian to dinner. He tells her he has a surprise for her but I never got to find out what that surprise is. Jill asks him, of course, but as far as I know, Jack never told her. I read the chapter a few times trying to figure out what I missed but nada, the answer is not given. All Jack tells Jill, as he lifts her up on the bathroom counter for sex, is that loving her is not the surprise. The book ends there. So what was the surprise?
Oh, btw, Ms Kent described Jack and Jill as eating a delicious meal of prawns "that melted in the mouth". If my order of prawns melted in my mouth, I would have sent it back because fresh prawns have a crunchy bite to them. Prawns that melt in your mouth are already rotting. Eww.
Once I got past Kent's typical convoluting style (reminds me of Fetzer though the latter's worse), I found myself thinking TPS isn't so bad after all. For example, the first couple of pages read like the person who brought Jack down with a whip was the local girl, supposedly his wife. Then in the next page it read like it was someone else but there was only Jack and his 'wife' so who was the whip-wielding person? It took me a few more pages to conclude that it was Jack's 'wife' after all and it reminded me of all the other times I got confused in a SG-5 book because of the way Kent wrote.
But...I love tall heroes and Jack is six-three. Yum. I also love no-holds-barred sex and TPS gave me that, even though I am not a fan of sex in the jungle full of creepy crawlies. There were some suspenseful moments involving the voodoo rites though I, like Jack, didn't understand why he and Jill got to keep their clothes on when everyone else were forced to be nekkid and Doing It. I always feel short-changed when this happens and the author has no plausible explanation for it. If she hasn't got the guts to go for it for fear of offending her readers (this isn't in the erotic romance category, after all.) then don't even include it.
Action-wise, this book did not disappoint as the previous SG-5 ones did though I felt Jack got rid of his villains a little too easily, especially the dictator. I expected at least some kind of face-off between the man who had raped Jill (and was trying to rape her again) and the man who had come to save her. I suppose this served to hurry the story along so that Jack and Jill could get to a proper bed and shower.
If I thought TPF started off confusing for me, it was even more perplexing at the end. After they get out of San Torisco and are safely ensconced in their luxury hotel suite, courtesy of Hank Smithson, Jack turns up at the hotel room to take Jillian to dinner. He tells her he has a surprise for her but I never got to find out what that surprise is. Jill asks him, of course, but as far as I know, Jack never told her. I read the chapter a few times trying to figure out what I missed but nada, the answer is not given. All Jack tells Jill, as he lifts her up on the bathroom counter for sex, is that loving her is not the surprise. The book ends there. So what was the surprise?
Oh, btw, Ms Kent described Jack and Jill as eating a delicious meal of prawns "that melted in the mouth". If my order of prawns melted in my mouth, I would have sent it back because fresh prawns have a crunchy bite to them. Prawns that melt in your mouth are already rotting. Eww.
October 19, 2015
I like SG-5. this story was pretty good. i didn't think much of Marco or of Jillian's putting so many things ahead of her child. the ending was the biggest problem: what happened to Marco? what happened to Gabriel? who was the traitor? there should have been a denoument - like a newspaper headline about the Smithson group pulling out of the project because they were attacked; like an on-going search for the country's missing dictator, etc. also, a tux? really? that's so over the top. and his idea of a "surprise" is a bath? many authors have a problem with how to end a story. it's simple: give us a whole chapter of how everthing ended up; give us a chance to enjoy the ending of the story instead of just stopping the story.
May 29, 2013
It was a pretty good story. Very confusing at first but if you get through that you will be pleasantly surprised. Good story, not predictable, but the end could have been wrapped up a different way. Different easy read, would recommend.
August 28, 2016
Unfortunately I couldn't connect with either the hero or the heroine and found this book to be just okay. The whole dictator thing was a huge turnoff too.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews