Smooth Talking Stranger (and First Person Narratives)

Novel - Smooth Talking Stranger
Author - Lisa Kleypas
ISBN-13: 9780312351663

I will begin by saying that I am not the greatest fan of contemporaries. And, while I did not think this novel was one of Ms. Kleypas' best works, I enjoyed it and I am looking forward to her next Travis novel. For now what I wanted to focus on was her use of the first person narrative. Admittedly, I have read fewer first person narratives than contemporaries and I must say that she is due some props for using this voice!

This book was the 3rd installment of the Travis family series. All of the books from this series have been written in the 1st person. I am not sure if Ms. Kleypas chose this view point because this is a contemporary novel or if it was just a challenge. Regardless, I found this view point to be appropriate to the period. So while this writing perspective was slightly jarring at first, I had little trouble understanding our hero's intention and felt the impact of Jack's emotions without actually having his perspective. For this reason alone, I commend her writing in this view point. I can imagine that writing in the first person one has to give more thought to the conveyance of feeling by showing through the first person view point while ensuring that they do not over-tell what the other person feels.

Yet, I never felt the book get too descriptive. There were times, however, when I wanted the story to be more evocative. Writing in the first person can be extremely powerful for the reader who has no buffer between herself and the character. I wanted my heart strings pulled a little bit more. I am Ella when I am reading in the first person - so why don't I have Ella's raw emotions? There should be times of cutting emotion - and it should not be muted. We should be drawn to laugh, cry and feel as our heroine did… nonetheless I never developed that connection.

Maybe the reason I found this tense distracting was because there was no alternative perspective. In most other romance novels I am familiar with, the reader has both the male and female perspective. Having both perspectives affords the reader insight into the thoughts of both characters and not just the female's. In 'Smooth Talking Stranger' we know that Jack Travis is in love with Ella because of what he says to the heroine, what others say about him to our heroine, and through his actions as told to us from Ella's vantage point. However, we don't get to be in his head as I am accustomed to do when we have multiple view points as in the other Regency novels that Lisa Kleypas has written. Of course, this makes the book a little one-sided…which is, after all, the point of writing in the first person.

Overall, I have enjoyed all of the Travis books. So while my jury is out still on the first person, I will certainly read the next installment. As I said, these books are not like her Regency novels. Nevertheless, they are entertaining (and quick) reads. If you like Lisa Kleypas, or the first person narratives, you should pick them up.

Happy Reading!
Finding Alpha