CLOSE TO THE EDGE (Unbroken Heroes #5) by Dawn Ryder-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 27, 2018

The Unbroken Heroes are back! Agent Dare Servant is aghast at this fellow Ops members settling down. He knows without doubt that the domestic life will never be for him – the thrill of the chase and the high of danger to strong to ever give up. But when a quirky and charming caterer ends up smack dab in the middle of a criminal mastermind’s plot, Dare will uphold his honor and protect her. Even though she pushes all his buttons. Even though her beauty drives him to distraction. Even though he’s in danger of losing his heart to her and hanging up his Shadow Ops life for good…

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REVIEW: CLOSE TO THE EDGE is the fifth instalment in Dawn Ryder’s contemporary, adult UNBROKEN HEROES romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for an elite Special Ops Team made up of ex-SEALs and other special forces warriors. This is Agent Dare Servant, and combustion expert for the space program, Jenna Henson’s story line. CLOSE TO THE EDGE should not be read as a stand alone; I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion as there is an on-going premise throughout the series.

Told from several third person perspectives including Dare and Jenna, CLOSE TO THE EDGE follows the building relationship between Special Agent Dare Servant, and combustion expert Jenna Henson. Trying to help her neighbor’s out of a bind Jenna Henson offers to help cater a party at pop-music sensation Kirkland Grog’s mansion only to find herself detained and in custody by a covert government Special Ops Team. Enter Agent Dare Servant, the man with whom Jenna will fall in love. What ensues is the tempestuous relationship between Dare and Jenna, and the potential fall-out as our leading couple have been targeted by the leaders of a human trafficking ring; and the man vying to be the office of president of the United States.

Jenna was only trying to help out her friends Sam and Paul whose ‘Joyful Occasions’ was hired to cater the pop-star’s high end party, only to find herself in witness protection, on the run, with no place to go. Falling in love with her captor aka handler was never her intention but too many mixed signals from Agent Dare Servant found our heroine unable to trust the man with whom she was about to spend a good amount of time.

The relationship between Dare and Jenna begins acrimoniously. Dare must take Jenna into custody unaware of what she knows or how she came to be at a suspect’s party. Dare doesn’t do relationships because of the demands of the job but something about Jenna calls to his heart. Jenna knows that to fall in love with Dare means losing her heart to a man who claims he doesn’t’ have time for love. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including, Scottish Agent Greer McRae; Team leader Kagan; agents Thais Sinclair and Zane Bowan: Colonel Bryan Magnus, Vitus Hale and his wife Damascus Ryland, as well as Damscus’ mother Miranda Delacroix. The requisite evil has many faces with close connections to Washington DC including Kirkland Grog, Mack, and Carl Davis, who has plans to dismantle the Special Ops Team.

Once again, similar to the previous story lines, the back and forth between numerous points of view is manic; the whip-lash affect may be too erratic for some readers as the story line relentlessly jumps between characters without so much as a break or introduction. It can be confusing and unsettling from paragraph to paragraph, several times throughout each each chapter, such that the reader may have to re-read the previous passages to follow the jump in perspectives.

CLOSE TO THE EDGE is a fast paced, action packed story of suspense and intrigue. The premise is engaging and complex; the characters are colorful, charismatic and dynamic ; the romance is edgy, provocative and intense. If you can get past the constant change in perspectives, I know you will enjoy the latest instalment in the author’s UNBROKEN HEROES.

Reading order and Previous Reviews
Dangerous To Know
Dare You To Run
Deep Into Trouble
Take to the Limit
Close to the Edge

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy