Stranger is the fourth book in Archer's Blades of the Rose series. I haven't read the first books three books (this book was given to me by a friend) so I'm in a good position to say that Stranger functions perfectly well as a standalone book. Blades of the Rose is a paranormal romance series and how romance series work (at least in my albeit somewhat limited experience) is that while there is an overarching storyline, it is very much in the background and each book focuses on a different couple (one person from the couple having been a secondary character in the previous installment).Gemma Murphy and Catallus Graves are the stars of Stranger. Gemma is a petite and fiery American reporter trying to make her mark in a man's profession. Catallus is the quiet genius in the ranks of the Blades of the Rose, a secret organization committed to protecting the world's powerful magical objects from those who would misuse them.
I found the frequent references to how connected Astrid and Lesperance were a bit distracting (I presume Astrid and Lesperance were the focus of the third Blades of the Rose books), but I'm sure that if I'd read the series from the beginning I'm sure that I would have been less bothered by it.
The only other thing that I wasn't crazy about was Gemma and Catallus being distracted by love/lust at the most unbelievable times, but that kind of thing is par for the course with romance novels.
All in all, I liked Stranger quite a bit and I'm definitely interested in reading the other books in the series.
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