4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: August 15th, 2019

Genre: Romance

Series: Door Country

Small-Town Secrets—Book 1 (review here)

Small-Town Family—Book 2 (review here)

Stranger in a Small Town—Book 3

Where you can find Stranger in a Small Town: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Seth Anderson arrives in Sturgeon Falls determined to prove two things — he never fathered a child, and Kat Macauley is a counterfeiter.

Fiercely protective, passionate and loving, Kat is not what he expected. Also unexpected are his growing feelings for her. To protect his investigation, he doesn’t tell Kat the whole truth. But as he unravels the crime, he has second thoughts about choosing a career over a family.

That won’t matter if Kat can’t forgive him for lying to her. Will his lies, and Kat’s doubts, make it impossible to create a new family?

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First Line:

The woman on the bed stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

Stranger in a Small Town by Margaret Watson

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My Review:

Stranger in a Small Town is the 3rd book in the Door County series. After reading the first two books, I knew that this book was going to be a good read. I wasn’t disappointed by what I read.

The plotline of Stranger in a Small Town was medium paced and well written. There were no dropped storylines or characters mysteriously disappearing, which added to my enjoyment of reading the book. There was a twist in the plotline that I should have seen coming.

While Stranger in a Small Town is book 3 in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. But, and I stress but, if you want to understand the different family dynamics and relationships, then I suggest reading the books in order.

The storyline involving Seth, Kat, and Regan was heartbreaking. I liked that the author showed all angles of the story. From Seth’s disbelief to Kat’s anger to Regan’s confusion, it was real. I also liked that the author let Seth process that he had a daughter before starting things off with Kat. After the DNA test came back positive, then it was full steam ahead for the romance.

The secondary storyline with the counterfeit money/the pregnancy (because they are interconnected) was well written. The build-up to who was putting money in the safe box was excellent, as was who was counterfeiting the money. I was surprised by who it was. I didn’t see it coming at all. Talk about a twist.

The pregnancy storyline, which went at the same time as the counterfeiting one, was heartbreaking. It left me in tears. How the author wrapped, that storyline up was heart-wrenching.

I do wish that more information about Seth’s Secret Service service. I was intrigued by it. The author gave the barest glimpse into what he did, and that left me wanting more. It also explained why he was so hard to find when Regan’s mother tried to tell him that she was pregnant.

The romance between Seth and Kat took some time to build up. Kat had trust issues, and she kept lashing out at Seth. But, once those trust issues were gotten over, the romance was on its A Game. That led to some hot and heavy sex scenes.

The end of Stranger in a Small Town was intense. I couldn’t put the book down. I needed to see how the counterfeiting/pregnancy storyline was going to end. While I knew that Kat and Seth were going to have a HEA, I wanted to know how it was going to come about. And the epilogue!! It was a perfect ending to the series.

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I would give Stranger in a Small Town an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I am on the fence if I would reread Stranger in a Small Town. I am also on the fence if I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**