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Kissing The Key Witness
A dying man's last words threatened to reveal the identity of a powerful crime boss, and after hearing them, Dr. Maya Santiago knew her life was in danger.
As a killer stalked her, only one man could help…
Homicide lieutenant Stephen Talbot had always wanted Maya. Even though he didn't feel worthy of the compassionate doctor, he was determined to protect her at all costs—especially from himself.
But as he and Maya grew closer…and the killer drew nearer…could she convince him to put his heart on the line as well?
As a killer stalked her, only one man could help…
Homicide lieutenant Stephen Talbot had always wanted Maya. Even though he didn't feel worthy of the compassionate doctor, he was determined to protect her at all costs—especially from himself.
But as he and Maya grew closer…and the killer drew nearer…could she convince him to put his heart on the line as well?
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Jenna Ryan
105 books129 followersJenna Ryan was born in Victoria, British Columbia. After long stints in different cities across Canada, she returned home to Vancouver Island where she has lived ever since. She has had thirty-one books published in the Harlequin Intrigue series. Her ideas come from real life, and she is helped in her writing by her sister Kathy.
She enjoys reading and is a big fan of women's fiction, psychological suspense and mystery novels. She also enjoys watching classic suspense movies. She loves strong heroines, heroes with character, romance stories and a good whodunit by the fire on a rainy night.
Her heritage is a blend of English and Irish — which is probably where the gift of blarney comes from. She is unmarried, but involved with a wonderful man. She also has a little white cat named Sheena.
Whenever she is not writing, she travels as much as time and finances will allow. After North America, Europe is her favorite continent to explore, because it was in those countries that many of the myths and legends she drew upon in her early years of writing were born.
Growing up, she considered various careers and dabbled in several of them, including, after university, the travel industry, tourism, sales and modeling. Work in the fashion industry in Toronto and Montreal gave her an interesting peek into various aspects of that world. She learned that where money, power and people come together, there will always be unpredictability — an element she feels is essential to a strong mystery. Add a healthy measure of personal conflict, an intriguing setting and a spicy romance into the mix, and you have the ingredients for what she believes to be the best of all possible stories — a great romantic suspense.
She enjoys reading and is a big fan of women's fiction, psychological suspense and mystery novels. She also enjoys watching classic suspense movies. She loves strong heroines, heroes with character, romance stories and a good whodunit by the fire on a rainy night.
Her heritage is a blend of English and Irish — which is probably where the gift of blarney comes from. She is unmarried, but involved with a wonderful man. She also has a little white cat named Sheena.
Whenever she is not writing, she travels as much as time and finances will allow. After North America, Europe is her favorite continent to explore, because it was in those countries that many of the myths and legends she drew upon in her early years of writing were born.
Growing up, she considered various careers and dabbled in several of them, including, after university, the travel industry, tourism, sales and modeling. Work in the fashion industry in Toronto and Montreal gave her an interesting peek into various aspects of that world. She learned that where money, power and people come together, there will always be unpredictability — an element she feels is essential to a strong mystery. Add a healthy measure of personal conflict, an intriguing setting and a spicy romance into the mix, and you have the ingredients for what she believes to be the best of all possible stories — a great romantic suspense.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 10, 2009
Her ex-husband’s dying words throw E.R. doctor Maya Santino in a maelstrom of politics, corruption, and murder. With a killer stalking her, only one man can keep her safe. Stephen Talbot, her ex-husband’s friend, and the man Adam sent her to, to get the job that got him killed done.
Yep, this was another winner, and though I loved the suspense, the tension, and danger swirling in the stormy mists of a Miami summer, what made this story great was the romance between Maya and Tal.
They’ve met seven years ago when she, as a resident, treated him for a knife wound. There was immediate sparkage, but unfortunately she was engaged to his best friend. The second time they met was at her wedding reception, and there were more sparkage, but since she was married to his best friend she was off limits. And Adam’s possessive attitude only enforced that belief.
Now, after four years of absence, Tal’s back to find his friend’s murderer and protect Maya – even from himself. Yeah, the guy had a heap of emotional baggage thanks to a childhood spent with a mother that used every opportunity to tell her only son he had the genes of his abusive father.
Lucky for the two of them, Maya pooh-poohed the story and badgered him, and took swings at his emotional wall with a huge sledgehammer, until the poor guy had no other option than just go with the flow. Don’t you just love it when that (finally) happens?
Okay, now that I’m done gushing over the romance part, let’s return to the suspense part. Boy, what a ride that was. This story was almost overflowing with shady characters – an informant that wants the info he sold back, a business mogul under the watchful eye of the fraud department, a taciturn homeless guy who only wants to be treated by Maya, a freight-train full of possibly corrupt cops, and a killer tying up loose ends.
Bullets were flying, blood was gushing…And I just didn’t see the ending coming. What a whopper of a surprise and yet another reason why I love Ms. Ryan’s stories so much.
Yep, this was another winner, and though I loved the suspense, the tension, and danger swirling in the stormy mists of a Miami summer, what made this story great was the romance between Maya and Tal.
They’ve met seven years ago when she, as a resident, treated him for a knife wound. There was immediate sparkage, but unfortunately she was engaged to his best friend. The second time they met was at her wedding reception, and there were more sparkage, but since she was married to his best friend she was off limits. And Adam’s possessive attitude only enforced that belief.
Now, after four years of absence, Tal’s back to find his friend’s murderer and protect Maya – even from himself. Yeah, the guy had a heap of emotional baggage thanks to a childhood spent with a mother that used every opportunity to tell her only son he had the genes of his abusive father.
Lucky for the two of them, Maya pooh-poohed the story and badgered him, and took swings at his emotional wall with a huge sledgehammer, until the poor guy had no other option than just go with the flow. Don’t you just love it when that (finally) happens?
Okay, now that I’m done gushing over the romance part, let’s return to the suspense part. Boy, what a ride that was. This story was almost overflowing with shady characters – an informant that wants the info he sold back, a business mogul under the watchful eye of the fraud department, a taciturn homeless guy who only wants to be treated by Maya, a freight-train full of possibly corrupt cops, and a killer tying up loose ends.
Bullets were flying, blood was gushing…And I just didn’t see the ending coming. What a whopper of a surprise and yet another reason why I love Ms. Ryan’s stories so much.
August 21, 2015
This one was just ok, nothing special. I would have dnf'ed it, but I needed a book set in Miami for a challenge and had already dnf'ed 3 others. I did like the twist of who the bad guy was, didn't really see that one coming.
February 19, 2016
Very similar to Mistletoe And Murder which is not a bad thing. Maya is a Dr and working in the ER when her ex-husband is brought in after being shot. Once he dies she's then wanted by the local mob boss because of evidence hubby had. "Tal" her ex's friend and fellow cop is protecting her as they try to find the evidence, the guy who snitched, and of course arrest the crime lord. Add in a whole bunch o' potentially crooked cops and you have a great suspense plot. The romance worked well too. Both Maya and Tal have been attracted to each other for years - except they only met after Maya was engaged, so no nooky until after she and her husband divorced. And even then Tal kept his distance because he grew up with an abusive father and didn't want to turn out that way. I liked that while they kissed in public, and didn't really hide their attraction, they were smart about weren't conducting a hot and heavy affair right in the middle of an investigation.
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March 15, 2017I enjoyed reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews