Review - Deadly Lies by Cynthia Eden

Publisher: Hachette
Publish Date: 2/22/11
How I got this book: Pima County Library

She wants to hide the past…

FBI Special Agent Samantha Kennedy is haunted by memories of the serial killer who abducted her. To keep the darkness at bay, she pretends to be a different, more confident woman. This Samantha doesn’t fear every unknown face. So she throws caution to the wind and shares a night of unbridled passion with a handsome stranger.

He needs to uncover the truth…

One night isn’t enough for successful entrepreneur Max Ridgeway. He wants more of the sexy, smart, mysterious woman who slipped away before dawn. When they meet again, their attraction is undeniable—until his stepbrother goes missing, and Max realizes that Samantha isn’t who she seems. But they must trust each other to trap a ring of blood-thirsty kidnappers before the nightmares that terrorize Sam become irrevocably real.
*Blurb from author’s site*

Cynthia Eden has quickly cemented herself as one of my new favorite authors. I’ve recently gobbled up her paranormal series, Night Watch, and her Deadly suspense series within the past few months. In just a few books, she has become an auto buy for me, and a guaranteed great read.

The third book in the Deadly Series (and I HOPE not the last!) focuses on Agent Samantha Kennedy, one of my favorites from Deadly Fear. Samantha is still plagued with nightmares and fears from the killer who kidnapped and tortured her. Looking for any chance to hold onto life and the present she shares one very steamy night with Max, a sexy stranger she met in a bar.

But when Max and Samantha meet again, and let their passion spark yet another fire, Samantha’s work and private life catch up to one another. Max’s brother gets abducted by a serial kidnapper and murderer, the same one who has been alluding Sam’s elite FBI team. She worms her way into Max’s everyday life, pretending to be his girlfriend, so that she can remain close to the family, and have insider information that may finally crack open their case.

In the entire Deadly Series, Eden has created some of the creepiest and craziest villains I’ve ever read, and this story is no exception. I was completely stumped as to who the kidnapper could be up until the very end. Eden is very, very sneaky like that. And, in my opinion, it just makes for a better and stronger story. I was amazed at who it turned out to be, and have to say blown away by whole it changed so much of the story for me. Fabulous!

Samantha went through a horrific even in the first book, and I was glad to see that Eden didn’t have her instantly fixed. The struggle that Sam and Max went through to really face her fears, come to grips with the assault from Deadly Fear, it was a great journey. Both difficult and sweet to watch. When Sam was once again thrust back into the water, my heart almost stopped along with hers. Very emotional and well done.

I loved Max. It was easy to tell that he honestly cared for Samantha, regardless of her fears and flaws. He was this total caring and sensitive bad boy who could go from loving and sweet one moment to a savvy and dirty business man the next. I love that he wanted to be able to help and protect Sam with the investigation, especially once his brother went missing. I melted into a puddle of goo when he took care of Sam after the water incident, and took care of all her fears and needs. Their romance was quick to flame, and their love scenes were smokin’ hot. But at the same time they also had an awkward and beautiful courtship, dealing with so many things at once, and realizing they wanted to deal with it all by each other’s side.

All in all, I give Deadly Lies 5 out of 5 kidnapping psychos!