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Soap #3
Killing Kelly
A New York Times Bestselling Author Playing Marla Valentine, the malicious, man-hating advice diva on a popular daytime soap, actress Kelly Trent has garnered wealth, fame - and more than her fair share of hate mail. She doesn't believe anyone would confuse her with Marla, but when an accident on set hits too close for the producers' comfort, Kelly's character is unceremoniously put on hiatus.
523 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2005
About the author
Heather Graham
595 books7,169 followersAlso published as Heather Graham Pozzessere and Shannon Drake.
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.
Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.
She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.
Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.
Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.
She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.
Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
January 3, 2015
Entertaining romantic suspense. Kelly is a soap opera actress. She is put on indefinite leave from the show after she is almost killed on the set. It's uncertain as to whether this was an accident or if someone is trying to kill her. During her time off she agrees to appear in a music video for a hot up-and-coming rock group. Doug is the dancing instructor hired to teach Kelly the tango for the music video. He is a former cop who has taken on the role of Kelly's bodyguard, as well, until it is determined if she is in any actual danger.
This was a fun and enjoyable story with an appealing lead couple in entertaining professions, a memorable secondary cast of characters, and the scenic locales of Miami, the Florida Keys, and Los Angeles.
This was a fun and enjoyable story with an appealing lead couple in entertaining professions, a memorable secondary cast of characters, and the scenic locales of Miami, the Florida Keys, and Los Angeles.
December 4, 2013
It was a horrible book. I did not know or care who killed kelly. she came off as vain and selfish and the dancer was so- so, doug. I found kelly to be unrealistic and annoying. I wanted to like her. The only character I really liked was Joe. I thought it was ridiclous that doug suspected joe. Why make a big deal about the third murder if the econd one was a suicide. The characters lance was annoying. The only one I liked were the characters from dying to have to her.
The character jane that caused havoc. I did not care that she was killed and about all the affairs that she had with the characters in story. The killler could not distuinsh the actress from her character. Please. I will not be reading any more of her books.
The character jane that caused havoc. I did not care that she was killed and about all the affairs that she had with the characters in story. The killler could not distuinsh the actress from her character. Please. I will not be reading any more of her books.
July 10, 2024
I liked this book. Not enough to want tigress again but the storyline kept me interested. Soap actress/bodyguard?!? Cmon! Heather Graham does it again
June 27, 2022
This was a decent read. I do enjoy Heather Graham books, but the last one I attempted was a DNF. This one worried me at first because it started a little slow. But once it got going I did enjoy it. There was good suspense and action to keep my interest. The end was a little predictable, but overall it was pretty good.
2022 Reading Challenge
June Letter: K
2022 Reading Challenge
June Letter: K
May 3, 2022
The book was fine.
There were a few things that unintentionally made me lol, but that’s because I’m reading it so long past the publishing date- Nothing dates a book like mentioning literal fanmail. Then there’s ‘Who would want to threaten an actress about the role she played?’- laughs in Twitter
That said, the plot was kind of iffy for me. In the beginning the connections had too many dots where it doesn’t make sense to connect them. It’s very know where the plot is going so the characters just figure it out ASAP to get the ball rolling. Everyone seems way too paranoid way too quickly. Then there’s Kelly, who dismisses things way past the point it makes sense to do so. The characters just feel off that way. It was also kind of repetitive at points and that makes the pace wonky.
Th twist was good, but in general the red herrings she put in were super clumsy and obvious.
There were a few things that unintentionally made me lol, but that’s because I’m reading it so long past the publishing date- Nothing dates a book like mentioning literal fanmail. Then there’s ‘Who would want to threaten an actress about the role she played?’- laughs in Twitter
That said, the plot was kind of iffy for me. In the beginning the connections had too many dots where it doesn’t make sense to connect them. It’s very know where the plot is going so the characters just figure it out ASAP to get the ball rolling. Everyone seems way too paranoid way too quickly. Then there’s Kelly, who dismisses things way past the point it makes sense to do so. The characters just feel off that way. It was also kind of repetitive at points and that makes the pace wonky.
Th twist was good, but in general the red herrings she put in were super clumsy and obvious.
March 21, 2016
This was a little slow in the beginning but quickly turned into a thrilling read. I couldn't believe how naive Kelly was right up to the very end. She had a rude awakening though. Very good book and I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.
May 15, 2010
Heather Graham's mystery novels are great and this one is included in that list. It is hard to put down and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
August 9, 2015
Too many characters, making the story annoying to read at times.
March 6, 2025
Kelly Trent plays a not so nice advice guru on a popular soap opera until she almost dies playing a scene. She is immediately put on hiatus so her agent talks her into doing a video on the East Coast. She has to dance in the video so dance instructor Doug O’Casey is hired. He has been a police officer so he has skills that help when attempts are again made to kill Kelly.
Kelly is in denial that anyone is trying to hurt her so she almost got the title To Stupid To Live from me. However, she finally comes to the realization that she may be in danger while also she and Doug become involved.
A good book but not great.
Kelly is in denial that anyone is trying to hurt her so she almost got the title To Stupid To Live from me. However, she finally comes to the realization that she may be in danger while also she and Doug become involved.
A good book but not great.
October 22, 2017
To enjoy this you've just got to get your head around a tough (& hunky of course!) cop becoming a dance instructor (not very credible IMHO but hey, what do I know? There could be whole squads of dancing ex-cops out there) & go with the flow & just enjoy this romantic suspense tale. It's not great literature but it does just what you'd expect from this genre. A hunky hero (a dancing ex-cop don't forget) who's protecting a beautiful (was there any doubt?) heroine who's getting death threats. And of course love is in the air....oops, sorry hope that hasn't spoilt the surprise ;o)
April 22, 2018
Heather Graham is one of my favorite writers but i found this book hard to stay with. i found it didn't move as fast as some of her other books and i found myself getting bored to the point of flipping pages. The story line was great and the last third of the story was quick and exciting but the first part i found quite slow in leading to the plot.
Someone is trying to kill a movie soap star and a dancer body guard is hired to protect her from someone that is so powerful but hateful.
Someone is trying to kill a movie soap star and a dancer body guard is hired to protect her from someone that is so powerful but hateful.
September 7, 2018
This was a good read with lots of excitement. Apparently someone wanted to kill Kelly Trent just because she was on a soap opera and her character was hated by all. A former Miami cop who had traded his gun for dancing shoes, Doug O'Casey, was hired to teach Kelly the tango and also to be her bodyguard. Excellent book
March 24, 2026
Killing Kelly by Heather Graham has an interesting premise and solid characters. The book starts out very well but the plot seems to slow down to a crawl midway through. Killing Kelly becomes a romance novel in the center of the story line until it once again heats up for the spectacular ending. Heather Graham once again wrote a solid murder mystery.
November 2, 2017
Too many characters, couldnt keep up with all of them. The writing style was a bit stilted. I thought the story could have been so much better but for the writing style. The main character Kelly was pretty preposterous. This was my first book by this author But i am going to try this author again.
September 1, 2020
It is a pleasure to go back and read some of Ms. Graham's earlier work. She is quite talented and her past books are just as good and have a surprise ending just like her current ones. There is never a dull moment. This book was very entertaining and a nice light read.
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December 12, 2021Great read!!!!
This book was totally awesome!!! I loved the characters and how they interacted with each other. Lots of twists and turns throughout the book. Kept me guessing until the end. Would highly recommend this book.
This book was totally awesome!!! I loved the characters and how they interacted with each other. Lots of twists and turns throughout the book. Kept me guessing until the end. Would highly recommend this book.
March 17, 2023
I liked the storyline itself but was confused with all of the characters thrown in at the beginning. I was halfway through the book and still had to keep going back to the beginning to figure out who was who.
January 31, 2018
Good psycho mystery. Of course some romance too.
June 18, 2018
I like the title
February 5, 2019
Cheap. Boring. Horrible.
May 21, 2019
More like 2.5 stars because I really couldn't buy into all the situations and circumstances in this story.
January 1, 2020
Heather Graham certainly knows how to spin a tale and keep her readers at the edge of their seat. This story is no different. She is such a talented writer.
May 30, 2020
Great book! So glad I read this series. Each story was different but all revolved around a TV soap opera so there were similarities.
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October 29, 2020Intrigued
Enjoy her stories . She makes it interesting from the start. Trying to figure who it may be and the reason
Enjoy her stories . She makes it interesting from the start. Trying to figure who it may be and the reason
October 26, 2022
Good book and good plot. But if I had to hear one more description about how perfect the heroine was in looks and temperament, I was going to start skipping pages.
December 21, 2022
My TikTok review: https://www.tiktok.com/@kellyhitchcoc...
April 21, 2023
Heather Graham never disappoints
February 4, 2024
wild ride reading this one! Great Book.
January 13, 2025
I always enjoy a nice romance mystery on a cold winter's day! Heather Graham never seems to disappoint me! If you want to just relax and read a good book, I would highly recommend it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews