Stranger Passing By

Stranger Passing By is a contemporary romance by the British writer Lilian Peake, published in 1992. It was issued in the Harlequin Presents line.

Brent Akerman is a powerful businessman who has decided to close his chain of fashion accessory shops, and Crystal is chosen by the people who work there to ask him to think again. He listens, and he does not pull any punches in what he says to her, but it becomes apparent that he likes her, respects her talents and would like to employ her on other projects of his own. It is equally apparent that he would not object to mixing business with pleasure. Crystal's feelings for a man she no longer regards as a stranger run deep, and the difficulty she faces is whether she can use the attraction between them as part of her negotiating position without giving up something she is not willing to lose. The novel sets a business decision and a courtship against each other and lets the two of them interfere.

Peake wrote a number of category romances for Harlequin, and this is one of her later books. It appeared in the Harlequin Presents line, which published short, dramatic contemporary romances.