Penny is recovering from the loss of her father and busy working as a NICU nurse at the local hospital. She idolized her father as after her mother died when she was born; he was her whole world. Lately, Penny is being followed by a dark stranger and yet handsome, she yearns to know him. Logan has built his time stalking and learning everything he can about Penny's family, and since her father destroyed all the goodness in his world, he has planned to do the same to Penny and break and leave her with absolutely nothing. The first step is to take away her fund which of course he needs to be married to her. Now Penny has no choice but to marry her dark stalker. As the book goes along, we read as Logan's personality yet dark starts to change, and his heart slowly softens as Penny is nothing like her father or brother Blake. I have to admit this had a lighter feel to the book than what I would expect from a dark fiction. Logan did remind me of Twitch from Belle Aurora's RAW series and was more Romantic Suspense than Dark Romance.

Penny is twenty one and a NICU nurse who has problems with depression as her father had died a couple of months before yet they weren’t really close. Penny had an older brother Blake and others who are there to support her. Blake hated their father and didn’t understand why Penny cared that her father died. Penny hungers for a distraction from her grief. Her father was the only parent she had ever known. On her lunch break Penny seen a man staring at her and seen the same man after work. Finally after a week Penny confronts the man. Logan had hated Penny’s father and wants revenge. Logan plans on blackmailing Penny - at first- since her dad was dead now. Logan tries to tell Penny what her father did but penny walks away. But she does come back to listen. Penny doesn’t want to believe Logan but she does believe his threat to tell the media. Logan has been seeking vengeance for years. Logan plans on ruining Penny’s life like his got ruined because of her father. Logan’s world had come crashing down because of Penny’s dad. There is attraction that both Penny and Logan feel.. Logan’s father involved his sister and family to get Penny’s trust fund for the pain and suffering his sister had endured. . Penny agrees to marry Logan.
This book really wasn’t for me. I don’t believe Penny was acting intelligently when it came to Logan a complete stranger who was stalking her. Why didn’t she involve the cops? Also why was penny griefing so much to a father she wasn’t close to? This does go into a dark area in the sex and love part. This also dragged for me at times while reading this. Some of the Questions I had concerning this story were never really answered. Also why did Penny just believe Logan who was a complete stranger without any proof of any kind? I hate cliffhangers and that is how this ended as far as I am concerned. So this book just wasn’t for me.

My favorite kinda genre.. The stalking and the thriller but to be honest, throughout the journey with this book I am just dying for that sync moment.. I mean yeah there's a perfectly crazy and weird stalker and there's too much hype about his motives.

This was first dark romance i have encountered. It was different compare to other romance books.

Penny’s life seems lost after losing her beloved father. Her life as nurse was boring and mundane but one day she noticed there was a man looking straight at her. He has been stalking her for a week and she was slight intrigued by stranger. What she didn’t know was what would happen to her.
Logan had one thing on his mind to avenge his sister. He wanted destroy Penny’s life and take all her trust fund. He wanted her to suffer and he has been stalking her and was waiting for the right moment to approach her.
Nothing seems the way both wanted to go. But one thing for sure, they were trapped in their own lives and they both needed to get out of it. Logan threaten Penny with his father’s story and forced her to marry him to ensure her trust fund. Since losing his sister, Logan only had one goal in his life to destroy Penny’s life. He knows more about Penny’s family than Penny herself. Penny slowly realizes why her childhood was away from her family and why his father was way he was through Logan.
When everything should be working in Logan’s favor but his emotions gets involve and it is not easy to just see Penny as his prey. Both are slowly working on their grief in their own way. But Penny was learning to rely on Logan and he is slowly trusting her. What will happen to both when this ruse runs out??

It was first dark romance I have read and it was interesting enough to kept me up until I finished. I can’t wait to read about Penny’s brother.

4.5 "Mr. Devote-My-Life-to-Stalking-People"

This book was So Much Better than I expected! To my knowledge, it is a debut book by this author & she knocked it out of the park! The Blurb states that each book in this Dark Series can be read as a standalone. However, if you are going to read them all (which I surely will be doing!) you will need to read them in order. They are definitely interconnected standalones. During the epilogue of this 1st book, the author sets up Deceiver: A Dark Revenge Romance, which is Book #2. Now I don't know yet how or if Ms. Lovett will let you know everything that has taken place beforehand if you don't read this one 1st.

Now back to this book... Logan is out for revenge against a criminal injustice that was done to his family by Penny's family. He swears he is gonna make her pay. He knows the truth things that Penny has wanted to know about for a long time. However once he tells her what happened, she doesn't believe him. Or should I say, she doesn't want to believe him.

Logan scares Penny, but she loves it. They both thrive on her fear. And boy oh boy does he know how much he affects her. The fear Logan gives Penny makes her feel alive & strengthens her. Even Logan's presence pulls her from despair.

There is a force that pulls them closer together than either of them feel comfortable with. (I can hear my friends screaming @ me now that I shouldn't have said that.)

This book is categorized as Dark Romance. For me, it was a Lighter shade of Dark as I happen to read alot of Dark Romances. If you are not very familiar with Dark books, then this may be dark for you. This story definitely has Dark Themes to it, but they happen to be glossed over. Personally, I would have liked all the juicy details.

All in All, a Very Good Read. The sex was Scorching. the chemistry was Electrifying & the Suspense had you questioning & wanting all the answers. Well Done Ms. Lovett! 👏

I graciously received a free copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley & St. Martian's Publishing in exchange for posting an honest review.

Wowza! I just couldn't put this down. I mean, I TOTALLY knew the entire plot and guessed a few things here and there, but it didn't matter. I was so captivated with "how" it was going to happen that I kept turning those pages until I got what I wanted. And I still want more!!!

Penny's dad died a few months ago. She's having a hard time dealing with his death, but something still feels...off. The only thing that doesn't feel off is that fact that there is a really hot guy stalking her at work. The way he stares at her, the way his eyes seem to look right through her, all without saying a word. She's dying to speak with him. To find out what he wants. But shouldn't she be scared?

Logan sees nothing but red. The red that has vengeance written all over it. Vengeance he's been seeking for years. And now his time has finally come. Penny is in his grasp and he's about to ruin her life just like his life's been ruined. At least...that's the plan.

Dark? Eh...some parts of this can be considered dark, so I guess that's why it's in the title. I've read a LOT darker. Nothing sexual is ever forced on to Penny. But there are definite mind games being played. And not just by Logan. The way these two end up craving each other is electric and after reading the anticipation build up, we're not disappointed when we finally get to the good stuff (if you know what I mean).

Like I stated earlier, it's not that I didn't figure out how this was going to play out, but the way the author wrote the story, I couldn't help but be intrigued. In fact, I'm super glad that this is just the beginning. Because although I knew where it was going, it's not the end. And I need to find out just how serious Blake is.

reviewed by Xtina

https://thejeepdiva.com/review-stranger-a-dark-stalker-romance-a-dark-stalker-romance-by-robin-lovett/

Allow me to say, this book is a total mind warp. It is fast paced and sucks you in before you really even have a chance to learn the characters names. Penny was a mystery to me during the first few chapters, I could feel her pain she carried with her, but couldn’t really grasp her lack of care for her own life, but soon things became clear and all I can say is the author was brilliant with this plot.

Penny works at the hospital, caring for babies and their mothers. There is a reason she picked this field, but I will let you discover it as you read. Her father died a few weeks earlier and she can’t seem to stop the pain that tears at her every waking minute. While she had to live and look a certain way to get her father’s attention, she was willing to do that just to be with him. Her brother had other feelings about that man and wasn’t as torn up over his death as Penny was.

Logan wasn’t graced with money and power like Penny and her brother. He also lost someone precious to him and now his heart is full of revenge. The only way to work through his grief is to destroy Penny because of her father. When he tells Penny who her father really was, that was going to crumble her, make her never want to live again, but things don’t always work out like you planned.

I am so thankful this is a series because there is no way I can be done with the saga of Logan and Penny in one book. The author gives you plenty of information to make a prediction of what is going to happen but every time you realize you just wasted your precious minutes trying to figure those two out when you could have been absorbing their tainted lives and truths. I am not sure where we are heading in the next books but I know it is a ride I wouldn’t miss. If you love dark, twisted books, that will leave you speed reading, this is the one for you.

Stranger was a pretty unpleasant read. First off, I have to warn that if you are looking for a truly dark romance, don't read Stranger, because it's not dark by any means. It's sort of moody and bleak and kind of icky, but it's not dark.

Penny is a rich girl grieving for her father, who passed a few months prior. She's got a stalker, a stalker that she sees staring at her all the time. But, he never approaches her, just sits around and stares at her in a really creepy way. Penny is a naive, silly girl who is excited by her stalker. And that's what her stalker wants, he wants her to be excited, to come to him, then he'll wreck her, ruin her life with the truths he has carried with him for so long. Sounds like the setup of a great story, but the execution is severely lacking.

Usually in truly dark romances, the passion between the two MCs is undeniable, blazing hot, even if one of them doesn't want to want the other. Here in Stranger, though, I never felt the connection between Penny and her stalker to be that strong. Their passion was rather cold and kinda meh. And in the end when they exchange their ILYs, I didn't believe it, I didn't feel the love or the passion between them. I think had Robin Lovett taken Stranger to that next stage and made this a truly dark romance, the connection between Penny and Logan would have been strengthened. As it is, though, it felt like a teenager's view of what dark should be, kind of like a kid playing at dark and twisted and coming across as juvenile and silly.

And then there's the fact that I couldn't stand either Penny or Logan. Penny, because she's ridiculously stupid and naive and a total doormat. Logan, because he's really obnoxious and cold. Yes, I get the driven by revenge thing, but in him it didn't manifest in an exciting way. Rather, it just made him unlikable, but not in a passionate, interesting way.

So, if you're looking for DARK, this is not the story for you. Some of the best dark authors I've read include A. Zavarelli, Tillie Cole and JM Walker, these women have dark and twisted down cold. However, if you want dark lite, or just bleak with no redeeming qualities, Stranger just might be your thing.

Penny's POV really stayed with me. Her agency and her sense of self sets this Stalker Dark Romance apart from others in its category. Lovett has crafted the first in a series that will stay with readers for a long time.

I loved this book this is a fantastic start to a new series.A dark sexy intense read it pulled me in and did not let me go,Logan and Penny were great characters just can't wait to read the next book.

3.5 stars

Genre: Erotica
POVs: Dual, first-person

What a pleasant surprise this story turned out to be!

Penelope Elizabeth Vandershal is a twenty-one year-old NICU nurse whose fighting off depression after her father's recent death. She feels abandoned and isolated in life, despite having an older brother and supportive girl friends. This emotionally black period makes her feel rebellious and needy, and she hungers for anything that will distract her from grieving for the only parent she's ever known. Logan Kane quickly becomes that distraction.

◆ This book had the potential to be something great! I loved the synopsis and the idea of this story, but some areas of this book fell a bit short for me.

Issues?
It took me up until the 38% percent mark to warm up to the main characters and I had to suspend reality for that portion because almost all of the issues I had with this book occurred within that time frame. Some of Penny's doormat-ish behavior and naive decisions made her appear more unintelligent than emotionally unstable, thereby making her more susceptible to being taken advantage of in a sinister way. Also, Logan's inner monologue focused on him being "bad" and having "dark" ways, but there was more telling than showing of any of that. He was just a desperate man who wanted his claims validated by one important person: Penny. Penny was also inconsistent: she felt passionate enough to attack Logan whenever he insulted her father, but she wasn't half as fearful when Logan made flimsy accusations to blackmail her at the start of this story.

◆ This book was NOT dark, but worked very well in a dark fantasy kind of way: a stranger stalks a girl and assumes he can scare her to pieces--anticipates and thrives off that expectation, only to find out that she loves being scared. Despite the issues I had with this story, I still enjoyed it and definitely look forward to reading more from this author!

*ARC provided by St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this romance but I'm a fan of a tortured hero and Stranger's hero Logan was a perfect fit. I loved the story and felt for both Logan and Penny as they made their way through a labyrinth of the past and present. Excellent plot, steamy action and a HEA that was as realistic as the pain they both felt. Can't wait for the next in rhe series.

So this book was rather intense. Was this the first of its kind for me? No, definitely not. I think I’ve read many books in this theme by now, but this certainly held a certain charm to it. I was captivated, but at the same time, the characters got on my nerves. I think the only proof to that is how long it took me to read it. It took me over 3 days to finish it, and it wasn’t exactly one of those longer books. So yeah.. there were some problems. But I did enjoy it nonetheless.

I received Stranger by Robin Lovett in an ARC in exchanged for a honest review. I am giving this book 5 stars because I loved how the author created this world where it starts off with hate but ends with passion and love. Penny thought her life couldn't get any worse after her father died. Even though she was not close to her dad she still feels horrible that his dead, but her brother on the other hand can't understand why his sister even sad and mourns their father. But Penny about to find out what a monster her dad was and why her brother hates him so much. Because of her father she about to become collateral damage. Penny thinks her new stalker is someone who wants in a good way, but when she confronts her stalker she finds out that he out for revenge, and if he can't get it from her dead daddy he's going to take it out on her. Logan world has been torn apart because of one man who is now dead. So the only option is to go after his innocent daughter, but what started off as blackmail and revenge is now turning into something more that Penny and Logan never seen coming. They are both starting to become invested in one another the only problem is can they look past what brought them together in the first place. They both have a lot to work through but can love in the end be enough you will have to read the book to find out. What I love is this journey has just began there is still two more books to see how these people lives ends, and how one man could have created this domino effect that will change lives forever. If you love books like this then this is the book for you.

The premise sounded interesting but the story was too disjointed. And I couldn't connect with either the H/h. I didn't even like the side characters. I realize her brother was afraid that he would be like his father and hurt people but he was not likable at all. And since the next book will be about him, I probably won't be reading that one. Logan the hero has been stalking Penny in order to get his revenge on her......because her father hurt his sister. He has such an intense hatred of her yet he can't resist her and falls for her too easily. Penny is depicted as weak and flip flopping in her emotions. She starts off grieving for her father and yet all her hurt goes out the window when Logan shows up. There are plenty of sex scenes between the H/h but because I couldn't connect with the characters, the scenes fell flat.

When I started reading the book I thought it would be a dark stalker novel, and were quite pleased with that. It kept me on my toes, and I just wanted to read more.

But after a while the story stopped progressing. It became all about the couple in the book and their dark relationship. It was still exciting to read, but it was not why I would like to read this book. I would more have the scary book of a stalker and the fantasy of that type of relationship.

I had a feeling while reading this book that it tried hard to be three different stories in too short of a space. You have the beginning with one story, the middle with an other and the end with the last. Reminding me a lot about the 50 shades series, only that that series too its space to write three stories.

The story it self is predictable, and as I said, it did not progress a lot. In the beginning the flow was good, then it stopped and the end made me feel that the author remembered the main story and hurried to wrap it up. The characters are one sided, and do not evolve much. It seems they are there to make a point and not much more.

In conclusion, it was a nice read, but not for the story it self. It fits perfectly for lazy summer days or evenings where you are too tired to do a lot.

Fast-paced, dark and sexy - I really enjoyed this book! I'm a sucker for a good anti-hero and Logan was great. I'm excited for the next book in this series!

Stranger

This story opens with Penny our main character being watched by this blonde haired Adonis (Logan) who stalks her at the hospital she works at. Penny is curious and a bit leary but intrigued by him. Poor Penny is young and heartbroken by the death of her father. Shes just numb to her life. Til logan begins his revenge on her for her father's sins.
Logan is consumed in hate for the things Penny's father did to his sister and family. Hes made up a plan since Pennys father is dead to ruin Penny's world instead.
He blackmails Penny into marrying him to get her trust fund for the pain and suffering of his sister. But very quickly everything gets much more complicated because he pretty much instantly starts falling for Penny. So will he get his revenge? Will he give it up for Penny? Or will he ruin her just to atone for sins that belong to her father?

Id give this 2 stars the character development didn't really work for me. I didn't feel really anything for the characters, the plot was pretty predictable and honestly very over used. I did enjoy seeing Logan become more then a villain and watch while Penny grows into her own though and stands up for herself

Stranger was an exhilarating and psychological read that kept me on my toes. I wasn't sure what would happen next but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I highly enjoyed the chemistry between Logan and Penny and despite the sad and horrible reasons for initially "stalking" her, I felt their chemistry was HOT and combustible with a great story. I can't wait for the next book in this series!

After feeling dead inside after the sudden and recent death of her father, heiress Penny Vandershall suddenly feels exhilarated and excited by the sudden and menacing attention from Logan Kane. His incessant stalking begs the question of WHY and also evokes a deep-seeded need in her to remain in his cross hairs. What follows however is a deeply engrossing, sexy and emotional story of two people who are both victims in their own right but who must deal with the repercussions of a horrible crime and its long standing effects.

All in all I really enjoyed STRANGER and look forward to the two remaining (standalone) books in this series. I would like to thank Netgalley and the SMP Romance team for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Bravo! 4 Stars ~ Ratula

Stranger has a scary beginning as Penny notices a stranger staring at her from afar. Logan despises Penny and her family, the rage he feels is burning him up and he needs revenge, and Penny is going to pay. The plan he devises has no faults, or so he thought until he meets the lady and a sexual attraction takes over...and he finds himself fighting his changing feelings for her.
A rollercoaster of suspense and angst with hot, steamy love scenes that are full of passion. Looking forward to book #2.