All Keyed Up

By Mary Stella

At home in the Florida Keys on medical leave, undercover agent Jack Benton is on a mission to save his beloved aunt’s failing dolphin facility. He’s sure he can close a seven-figure deal, until his sassy Aunt Ruby accepts the proposal of a world renowned marine mammal scientist, Dr. Vic Sheffield. Against his better judgment, Jack must cooperate with the project, or break Ruby’s heart. More than the temperature in the Florida Keys heats up when Dr. Victoria Sheffield finesses her way into the facility under the guise of her famous father’s name, hoping to finally establish herself as a top notch researcher. A lifetime of behavioral observation hasn’t prepared her, however, for a suspicious, sexy homosapien like Jack Benton. She’ll need every last point of her elevated IQ to outwit this wily alpha male. He knows she’s hiding something, and sooner or later he’ll figure it out. And to complicate matters, it’s not only his suspicions Victoria is arousing. When things begin to heat up between the scientist and the undercover agent, a Category Five attraction may cause the biggest storm of the season.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932815082
• ISBN13: 9781932815085
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Medallion Press
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.8" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

A Delightful Read

All Keyed Up is a book that is set in the Florida Keys. Jack Benton is an DEA undercover agent who is on medical leave for an injury. Where better to recuperate than to go home to his Aunt Ruby Maguire who raised him and Dolphin Land which she owns. Jack intends tosell the dilapidated facility to a land developer, but his Aunt has other ideas. The arrival of Dr. Vic (Victoria) Sheffield, who his Aunt has agreed to let conduct a research, derails all his plans. In order not to hurt his Aunt, Jack must co-operate with Victoria, who has falsely presented herself as her famous father, as far as Jack is concerned and he is sure that she has alterative motives and harbouring a secret. Who better to get to the bottom of it all than an undercover agent. It is fun to see these two, who are attracted to one another fall in love and how Jack does his best for her in exposing her ex-fiancée for what he is. In the end love changes Jack and Victoria's thoughts about what is really important. Something Aunt Ruby has known all along. This books characters, storyline and setting all work to make this a delightful read and shows that Mary Stellar is an talented writer, who leaves you looking forward to hearing more from her.

fun contemporary romance

Severely injured on the job, DEA Undercover Agent Jack Benton is on medical leave recuperating at Dolphin Land in the Florida Keys. His beloved Aunt Ruby Maguire, a widow of six months, owns the dilapidated facility that Jack wants to sell to developers so the woman who raised him could live a pampered life. Ruby refuses to sell because the six dolphins who reside in the lagoon are family to her. Instead she agrees to allow Delphind Prize winner Dr. Vic Sheffield to conduct research here. Vic is actually Victoria as she uses her ailing father's name to research the cooperative communication between Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Victoria and Jack are attracted to one another, but he remains suspicious of her motives though he finds her energy quite exhilarating. As her research takes focus and she falls in love with Jack, his aunt, and the sextet of dolphins, Victoria has money problems and worse her ex is trying to blackmail his way onto her study; he stole her work on their so-called collaborative efforts. Jack will do anything including give up undercover work and stop a sleazy rat when it comes to his Vic. Though the ex has no redeeming qualities and one must wonder about academic ethics with what he got away with, fans will feel ALL KEYED UP for more works by this author after reading this stellar tale. The contemporary romantic story line contains a fine lead couple and his nice aunt (think Mayberry's Bee), but the audience will treasure the moments when Scarlett, Rhett, Melly, Ashley, Robin Hood, and Marian co-star with the human trio. Harriet Klausner

Delightful Debut

In ALL KEYED UP, Mary Stella debuts with a delightful, sexy story that has characters you won't want to leave when the story ends. Jack is the perfect hero; a gorgeous, bare-chested, "He-Man" who is fiercely protective of those he loves. It's fun to watch Victoria grow into a self-assured heroine who gives Jack a run for all he's worth. There are fun secondary characters in Aunt Ruby and the dolphins. A truly enjoyable read.

Get All Keyed Up...You Won't Be Sorry!

Ms. Stella has penned a fun and light hearted read, which was a pure pleasure to read. Fun characters, and storyline made this a quick "Perfect for Anytime" read. Dr. Victoria Sheffield is ready to put the past behind her and put her own mark of the study of bottle-nosed dolphins after her ex steals her last project. She decides her best bet will be an unkown dolphin facility located in the Florida Keys. Armed with her strength and conviction, not to mention her own personal trust fund she sets out to prove her dreams. What she doesn't count on is her very real and human reaction to Aunt Ruby's nephew Jack. He's the cause of more heat then the hot Florida sun and perhaps more trouble then Victoria can handle. Jack is recovering from a very serious injury he received while working undercover for the DEA. He can't believe that his sweet Aunt Ruby has excepted a proposal of a marine mammal scientist as a way of fixing their dolphin facility. He promises that he's going to keep a close eye on Victoria the doctor. He can tell that the pretty Victoria is hiding something and he plans on finding out what exactly. What he dosen't count on is how the pretty little doctor makes him feel. It's not long before Jack finds out what Victoria is hiding and in turns finds himself working hard to foil the person that is hard at work trying to de-rail her project. Togther they find that what they thought was important may not be so important after all. Perhaps love can change the way they look at things. This was a fun read. The setting, topic, and characters all worked well together. The secondary characters such as Aunt Ruby, and lets not forget the dolphin "gang" are just as important to the storyline as Jack and Victoria. Ms. Stella is a very talented author and one that I look forward to reading again soon. I highly recommend this read! Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com