Living on the Edge

3 ½ stars – Romantic Suspense<br /><br />I’m a romantic suspense fan and I enjoyed this author’s <b> <i>Delta Force</i> </b> trilogy and <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/6453332.Love_You_to_Death" title="Love You to Death by Shannon K. Butcher" rel="noopener">Love You to Death</a>, so I was really excited about her new <b> <i>Edge</i> </b> series. Unfortunately, the first book, <b>Living on the Edge</b>, didn’t fully meet my expectations. <br /><br />It’s an intense military romantic suspense read, but it seemed a bit chaotic and disjointed with too many characters and multiple, unresolved plots that resulted in confusion, frustration, and worst of all...boredom. There’s a heavy dose of action sequences, gunfights, and explosions as the H/H and their mercenary friends take on the bad guys in the jungles of Columbia, but for some reason instead of being thrilling, the scenes dragged a bit for me. I actually found myself skimming a little to move things along.<br /><br />I really liked sweet, protective ex-Army Ranger hero Lucas, but heroine Sloane’s “I’m a tough, kick-ass mercenary chick who can take care of herself and doesn’t need any help from anyone” routine got annoying and old really quick. And she has some serious “my father is a big, bad, controlling, and uncaring general” daddy issues. I kept expecting her to bust out with the “Daddy Wasn’t There” song from <i>Austin Powers in Goldmember</i>. There were moments that I wished Lucas would just say to hell with it and leave her spoiled, selfish, ungrateful ass in the jungle! Things get hot and heavy between Lucas and Sloane, but there are too many distractions that impede the romance.<br /><br />Overall it’s a decent, but not <i>great</i> military romantic suspense read. There was a lot left unanswered for several characters, so I’m curious to see what’s in store next for the series and how things will come together. But the snippet from the second book, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/10764825.Razor_s_Edge_An_Edge_Novel" title="Razor's Edge An Edge Novel by Shannon K. Butcher" rel="noopener">Razor's Edge: An Edge Novel</a>, introduced two new Edge team members who appear to be the main H/H rather than expand on secondary characters and storylines from this like I’d assumed, so I’m not sure if that bodes well or not. Still, I’m giving it a bit of a break and granting an extra half star since some of the disorganized elements could be attributed to the first book in a series syndrome and because the <b> <i>Edge</i> </b> does have potential. 3 ½ stars.<br /><br />

I believe it’s safe to say Ms. Butcher is an expert in creating bitchy heroines that can overshadow a plot in the blink of an eye. Not that there was a very interesting plot in this one. Coupled with a bitchy heroine (headstrong and proud is good until that fine line toward annoying bitch-land is crossed), a hero that had tall, dark and brooding in the jungle down to a T (despite some pretty deep insight he didn’t have much going on, if you ask me), jumping from place to place and POV to POV, a convoluted “mystery”, and some daddy issues that could’ve been resolved years ago if the heroine wasn’t such a bitch.<br /><br />This first in the series will also be the last one for me.

Kind of disappointed. Having enjoyed all her RS books, I just couldn't get into it. First of there were way too many characters and their back info and honestly I couldn't connect or care about any of the characters. We never really get to know the hero much. I guess she wanted to build the "Edge world" as it is the first book but it was fundamentally lacking. I felt I just continued with the book because I started it. I like strong heroines but I don't like stubbornness being shoved down my throat.<br />I couldn't like Sloan, I found her too abrasive and not at all like a woman if that makes sense. The whole premise of the book is Sloan, a bodyguard rescuing her ditsy friend Gina(who always gets into some stupid crap)from some Colombian drug-lord that she hooked up with. If I were her I would get fed up with such a friend and in the end Gina was like I can't leave because of "blah, blah". Okay, where was I? So her father who is a General and supposedly has some shady past, they is some "list" with some voodo medical experiments being conducted on people when there were kids, sends one of his ex-soldiers to make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble as everything leads back to that "list". Then, we met a Bella who runs Edge and loads of Edge operatives most of them have old childhood friends working there and again connect to that list.<br />So, I guess we will be hearing all about in the next books. I will give the next book a shot because I enjoy this author but as much as I enjoy secondary story-lines I don't like them to be way to much.

I really liked this book even though it involved drug lords in South America. Sloan was really stubborn and had to do things for herself though I understand why and Lucas was just as stubborn but able to yield when necessary. These two really were "made" for each other. I look forward to continuing the series and seeing where / when and how the secondary characters find the HEA.

This is the first book I've read by this author but it was a good book. The action and suspense kept me flipping pages and seeing the relationship develop between Sloane and Lucas was sweet. I'm now on to next book in this series.

Sloane Gideon is a mercenary who works for a company that handles everything from private guards to government work. After a message from her old high school friend Gina, says she is in trouble, Sloane heads to Colombia to rescue her friend. She is helped by Lucas Ramsay, ex-army, who is doing one last favor for Sloane’s father, General Norwood. The General has charged Lucas with finding Sloane and bringing her home, even if that means knocking her out and dragging her back.<br /> <br />The book starts off at a party. Sloane is protecting a rich client, and Lucas is determined to stop her from getting on a plane. The problem is that Sloane believes he is out to kill the client, but he is only protecting her from the real shooter. Our heroes are at once attracted to one another, yet Sloane wants to hate Lucas, who she sees as just like her father. There is a great deal of banter between the two that off set me. The romance between the two characters is not what kept me reading, but the shoot outs and explosions set in the jungle. The story shifts from Lucas and Sloane, to Sloane’s co-workers and boss, until the co-workers come to Colombia. During the shifts between Colombia and the side characters there are hints of a dark past that connects them altogether. It also ties into the real reason a drug lord kidnapped Gina. Not all of the dark secrets of the past are revealed, leading to set up more stories in the series. <br /> <br />Sloane is an easy to like character. She is kick ass with some serious daddy issues. Lucas on the other hand I found too likeable. He is hot with a moral code that drives him to help Sloane, or anyone in trouble. The only thing wrong with him is an old knee injury that hurts on occasion. He was too much of a ‘good’ guy for me, but did seem to be the perfect man.<br /><br />Though a little predictable at times the story was engrossing. Butcher did a nice job of writing exciting gun fights, and close calls that had me flipping a page back. There was a lot of information that came too easy to the characters. The romance was not all that impressive, and the moments between Sloane and Lucas have been done before. The action was well paced throughout the story. When a bad guy is shot, I felt satisfied that justice was done. Living on the Edge was a quick paced action-romance that was enjoyable, but a little light, with a story that held together well.<br /> <br />

Story was okay, and it moved fairly well, although I did find myself skimming several times. Our hero was a smidgen short of heroic, a little too much self pity to off set the nobility the author tried to infuse him with. Our heroine starts out strong and all kick-ass but she only demonstrated her advertised amazing ability once in the beginning and then she can't stand the heat in the kitchen. Characters too inconsistent for my liking but the author shows potential. The whole thing while not a terrible read was just superficial and my mental view was choppy and limited. All and all just average at best. My search to find an author who can really write a sexy and compelling special ops novel with actual depth continues.

Good start to her new series. The book went to fast. There is that much action through out the whole book before I knew it I was at the end.. Now one thing with Shannon's books are she likes to have <br />overarching stories that span several books in addition to the single story that is wrapped up at the end of that novel. She also has alot of characters that you get their POV from in the book (these are all characters you will see again in future books). For some that may be hard to keep up with the constant changing of POV but that has never bothered me as a reader and the way Shannon writes it easy to keep up. <br />Looking forward to the next book in this series..

This was a really great read. Had some unique twist and turns and some reversal in roles. Not that I mind that, it was refreshing and different. In the past I felt that SKB's comtemporaries weren't as good as they could have been. But with this book, she has stepped up her game and ready to go head to head with Cindy Gerard and others.

The first book in Shannon K. Butcher's <i>Edge</i> series. Not as good as her previous books I've read of hers but I'll keep reading the series anyway. Sloane Gideon is a mercenary working for Edge. Her friend is in trouble in Columbia and needs her and she is determined to help. Lucas Ramsay is doing a favor for Sloane's father and doing everything he can to keep her from going to Columbia.