"Seduced by a Stranger" (a.k.a., "Ring of Deception") raises one essential question: Will the reformed Martin Hale be any different from the old version of Evan Grable?

This mystery man shows up in the life of art dealer Julie Stevens and sweeps the lonely widow off her feet. In one early scene set in Julie's home, Martin excuses himself to go to the lavatory, but makes a beeline for Julie's study to photograph her financial records. When Julie walks in and nearly catches him in the act, he smothers her in kisses and the couple goes at it with their two high school children downstairs.

The plot thickens when Sloane, the girlfriend whom "Evan Grable" robbed and jilted, shows up for revenge and seeks to recover her precious bracelet. In the meantime, the progeny of Julie and Martin, young Charlie and Dana are falling in love!

A weakness of the screenplay was in the relationship of the two kids with their single parents. In the way that young Dana speaks to her father, it is clear that this high school student is fully aware of his past indiscretions and the details about how he seduced and jilted "dozens" of women. Dana berates her father for bad conduct to such a degree that it is difficult to believe that she is not his nagging wife! Young Charlie Stevens similarly micromanages his mother's life by giving her encouragement in getting back to the dating scene. These were two kids who required the nurturing support of their parents, not vice versa!

The strength of the film was in the excellent performance of the actress playing Julie. She was clearly lonely and perceived something that she believed was decent in Martin. For his part, he vows that he is going to be "turning over a new leaf." By the end, the filmmakers work overtime in suggesting that Martin Hale is a reformed man. Individual viewers will have to make up their own minds.

What I thought was just too silly here was how easily and quickly they all fell for each other ! Like, a couple of days ! , Mom and son falling for a Dad and daughter , oh ya , that happens all the time right ?

Also , Mom asking sons opinion on what she wears , I found that relationship a little unbalanced , she is supposed to be the mother , not him advising her all the time .

Maybe it would have worked a little better if Mom had the daughter and conman Dad had the son .

Anyway , the whole movie just did'nt work , too far fetched with too many unbelievable scenarios.

And of course , a completely ridiculous end , Mom is'nt really that fussy at all is she ? Any old con will do !

My take is different from the other reviewers which tells me that this is worth watching because it strays enough from the LFM formula to allow alternate interpretations. I was irritated by the LFN wrap up because I sympathized with the villain more than the heroes. The LFM writers were going for the 'lovable rogue' meme with the villains target and the other reviewers and I agree that he was not so innocent. He ends up bothering me quite a bit.

Full disclosure, I pretty much fell in love with Lucie Guest when she stepped out in black attire as the villain, perhaps that shaded my judgment. But by LFM standards she was a mild a villain as you can get, ooh, she ran over a bicycle. Okay, she should have gone to the police instead of seek revenge but then you wouldn't get to see her where black leather gloves to hide her finger prints.