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Rough Edges by Shannon K. Butcher – Dual Review & Giveaway

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Rough Edges by Shannon K. Butcher – Dual Review & Giveaway

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Rough Edges
Edge #5
by Shannon K. Butcher
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Genre: adult, contemporary, romantic suspense

 

Rough EdgesAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM / The Book Depository

Description
In the world of covert operations, Bella Bayne knows how to get the job done. And with her work coming first, her personal life is coming in a distant second. Even though Bella would like nothing more than to ravish the rugged, handsome Victor Temple, she’s his superior so it’s a strictly hands-off affair.

When Bella gets a solid lead on the location of Dr. Norma Stynger—the twisted mind behind Project Threshold—she must team up with Victor if they are to finally bring justice to the madwoman. But when Norma’s daughter risks her life to help the team, Bella is faced with the impossible task of deciding who will live and who will die…

Barb’s Review:

Rough Edges by Shannon K. Butcher is the 5th book in her wonderful romance suspense series, Edge. When the last book ended, I had thought the next book would be Gage’s story, and he does have a big part in Rough Edges. But Bella is our heroine, and we have waited a long time for her story. Victor Temple is our hero, and he was perfect for Bella, who is damaged goods, thanks to the evil Dr. Stynger.

A brief refresher of this series. Bella is the owner of the Edge agency, who has been since the start of the series trying to find evil doctors, Sage and Stynger, who experimented on young children by brainwashing them. Bella and her team have managed to take care of Sage, but Stynger is still loose.   Bella herself was one of those children, but she has been able to fight off the brainwashing, until Stynger tries to get some of her men to give Bella doses of medicine that will cause bouts of uncontrollable anger. Payton was Bella’s partner at one time, until it was discovered that he knew the truth of what was happening all these years, and now neither Bella nor the team want anything to do with Payton. But since he has connections, and some power, they are forced to still work with him, as he tries to right the wrongs.

Victor is one of the men assigned by Payton to help Bella find Stynger and the victims, as the doctor has created a group of soldiers that are controlled by her. While working with Bella, Victor knows she is desperately trying to find Gage, and her uncontrollable anger keeps popping up. Victor finds himself falling hard for Bella, though she is technically his boss during this assignment. He steps in to help her a few times, and to stop her from losing control.

Gage is now a captive of Stynger, as she is preparing to put an implant into his brain to control him. He meets Jordyn, who is Stynger’s daughter, but she has secretly been trying to help those her mother wants to control escape. It takes Gage a bit to begin to trust her, especially when he sees her put her own life on the line to help him and a young child escape.

What follows is an exciting adventure which follows Gage and Jordyn as they attempt to escape, as well as Victor trying to save Bella from attempts by Stynger’s men to hurt her or to kidnap her. But this is also a romance between Bella and Victor that grew rapidly, despite both trying to fight it. Their chemistry was very hot, and sensual. Rough Edges was an exciting, pulse pounding action filled adventure, as well as having a very sexy romance; the last 1/3 of the book was non-stop action that raced to the climatic ending. I suggest you read this series by Shannon K. Butcher, and you will need to start with the first book.

Sandy’s Review:

NOTE: Some information may be duplicated between reviews

BACKGROUND: The EDGE is a group of elite, military trained personnel who have all been ‘conditioned’ and ‘trained’ as killing machines, and are somehow linked to a 20 year old experimental operation known as The Threshold Project. The Threshold Project was a failure that left many children, who are now adults, on the brink of psychological collapse and physical destruction. The Edge is a private security company backed by Payton Bainbridge (a former member of The Threshold Project), and owner Bella Bayne who search for the victims of Dr. Stynger and Dr. Sage. With the inclusion of female victims of The Threshold Project the Edge series is similar to the premise behind Christine Feehan’s Ghostwalker series.

ROUGH EDGES is the fifth installment in Shannon K Butcher’s EDGE series. This is US government operative Victor Temple, and Edge owner Bella Bayne’s storyline.

Told from third person point of view ROUGH EDGES follows Victor and Bella as they search for Gage Brink-Adam’s brother (Edge of Betrayal #4) –a man who volunteered to return to Dr. Norma Stynger’s labs but is currently MIA and has not checked in with his new employer. What ensues is the hunt for Stynger’s location and the desperate attempts to avoid the assassins sent to take down Bella Bayne.

Bella’s prime directive is to destroy Norma Stynger for the abuse, torture and experiments she performed for close to twenty years in an experiment known as The Threshold Project. Bella is one of Stynger’s victims and she hopes to give assistance to all of Stynger’s former and current subjects. Victor Temple is a member of an elite group of trained personnel who has been contracted to both protect and aid Bella in her search for Gage and other victims of The Threshold Project.

The relationship between Bella and Victor is one of forbidden romance-Victor is on loan from the US government and Bella is technically Victor’s new employer. Their physical and sexual attraction to one another is palpable but Bella is a strong willed, independent and alpha heroine whose history with men is dark, damaged and heartbreaking. Bella refuses to submit to any man’s demands-both in and out of the bedroom. While Bella likes to be in control out in the field, Victor likes control in the bedroom. The $ex scenes are seductive and captivating.

There is a secondary storyline building as it focuses on Gage Brink. Gage has been imprisoned at Stynger’s compound but becomes enamored with Jordyn Stynger-Dr. Stynger’s daughter-and a victim of her mother’s torture and abuse. When Jordyn offers Gage an opportunity to escape it comes with one demand-Gage must take Jordyn with him.

The world building continues to focus on the men and women who have been victimized by Norma Stynger. As Bella searches for the people whose lives have been destroyed by the evil doctor, Bella herself becomes the target of betrayal and revenge. Her relationship with Payton Bainbridge is strained since the revelation of his involvement with the original Threshold Project and his presence continues to eat away at Bella’s calm and in control façade.

ROUGH EDGES is an intense, fast paced and action packed storyline focusing on an experimental project that all but destroyed the lives of everyone involved. The now adult victims must relive the nightmare time and time again but with Bella’s assistance there may be hope to stop the cycle of pain and torture. The premise is suspenseful and will keep you on the ‘edge’ of your seat. The characters are colorful, animated, impassioned and inspiring; the romance is emotional and dramatic. The intrigue and thrilling final scenes are tense and dramatic. Reserve your seat for the next installment of Shannon K. Butcher’s THE EDGE.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

 

orangeandbluegiveawayShannon’s publisher is offering a paper copy of ROUGH EDGES to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

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3. Please ‘friend request and follow’ Shannon K Butcher on Facebook

4. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

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8. Giveaway open to USA only

9. Giveaway runs from August 6 -9, 2015

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Steel’s Edge by Ilona Andrews – a Review

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Steel’s Edge by Ilona Andrews – a Review

Steel’s Edge by Ilona Andrews is the 4th book in their Edge series. For those of you who may not know, Ilona Andrews is the husband & wife team of Ilona and Gordon Andrews.  I am a big fan of Andrews’ Kate Daniels series, and when they started the Edge series, I continued with them.  I have not been disappointed, and this is a wonderful series.  I know that this book supposedly ends the series, which does disappoint me, but more on that at the end. 

Steel’s Edge continues with the premise of the world of the Edge, Weird, and Broken.  Richard Mar is our hero in this book, as we know him from earlier books, being the brother of Kaldar & Cerise’s cousin.  Richard is on a quest to put a stop to slavery, and find out who are the masterminds behind it, and when we meet Richard, he is being hunted by the slavers and is gravely injured. 

Charlotte de Ney is our heroine, and we meet her at the start.  She is a top healer, who is married to Elvei, and though she can heal almost anything, Charlotte cannot heal herself.  She confirms her worst suspicion, that she is barren and cannot have any children.  To her dismay, her husband annuls their marriage, as he proves he did not love her, only wanted children by someone with her title.  Charlotte accidentally loses her cool, and harms Elvei briefly when she discovers the truth of his betrayal.  Charlotte knows she can never lose control of her healing powers, as the dark side of healing is seductive and difficult to control. As her adopted mother would say, losing control will make her an Abomination, with the power to push diseases, such as leprosy, plague on unsuspecting people, a dangerous and destructive power.  She then runs away, in fear of allowing the dark side of healing to come forth, and goes to the Edge, where her powers are weakened.

Charlotte finds herself not accepted in the Edge, until she meets Eleonore Drayton, the grandmother of Rose, George and Jack, whom started it all in the first book, On the Edge. Three years later, Charlotte is now an important part of the Edge, and Eleonore has become her closest friend & ally.  It is here that Charlotte meets Richard, who as we noted earlier is gravely injured.  Charlotte manages to start his healing process, but then when Charlotte goes for supplies, the slavers come upon the Drayton house and they want Richard, who is called The Hunter.  When Charlotte returns, Eleonore is dead, as well as a young girl who was visiting, and Richard was taken by the slavers.  Charlotte finds out about these slavers, and how they terrorize young children, sell them to slavery in the Weird, or just torture and kill them.  Something in Charlotte snaps, and she leaves the Edge to try and find the slavers, and enact revenge on losing her dear friend.

As she enters the Weird, Charlotte feels all of her powers return fully. She finds the camp, sees Richard in a cage locked up. As the slavers look at her, and rejoice on their good luck at seeing a pretty woman come to them, Charlotte pulls her dark side of healing into her and slowly sends out a disease (one of many she stores) to the unsuspecting slavers. One by one they start coughing, bleeding, and start dying.  Richard watches from the cage, amazed at what he sees.  When it is over, and all the slavers lie dead, Richard convinces Charlotte to let him out of the cage and to trust him.  He tries to convince her to go back to the Edge, but Charlotte refuses to listen to him, and is determined to help destroy all the slavers, and the masterminds behind it.  Together they go on a journey that will reveal so many horrors that will emotionally affect Charlotte, as well as the reader.  But it also brings Richard and Charlotte together. 

This is a very nice romance that develops, especially during their difficult travels and adventure.  Charlotte becomes a strong woman, who will stand up to evil, but it is Richard who will become her savior. Richard, who thought he would never find a woman that would understand him, and in Charlotte’s case, not look down at him as an original Edger, as she is more royalty.

One of the best things about the book, besides Richard and Charlotte, was seeing George and Jack again.  I have loved them from the first book, and though they are still teenagers, they are both awesome.  Sophie (formerly Lark in earlier book) has also turned into a wonderful strong character.  The three of them work with Richard and Charlotte to reveal the mastermind, and bring him down. 

It was a an exciting story from start to finish, with a nice romance, lots of adventure, evil villains, favorites appearing from earlier books, but it is also a very emotional ride with all the horrors they will face along the way.  The ending was an emotional turmoil, as Richard must rise up to find a way to save his love, who risked everything to save those she loved.

Ilona Andrews has done a wonderful job in creating this fabulous series, and Steel’s Edge was a great read.  Especially after reading this book, I am not a happy camper that the series ends.  There is so much more they can do to continue the series, especially with great characters still to come like, George, Jack and Sophie; as well as major characters from the earlier books to help.  I have read though that even with the end of the Edge series, Andrews is considering another possible arc with the three names I mentioned.  Let’s hope.

Reviewed by Barb

 

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Edge of Sanity by Shannon K Butcher – a Review

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Edge of Sanity by Shannon K Butcher – a Review

 

Edge of Sanity by Shannon K. Butcher is her third book in her Edge series.  This was a terrific non stop action filled book. Edge of Sanity will be released on December 4th.

Description:
“I NEED TO KNOW IF ANYONE WAS KILLED LAST NIGHT.”

In his years working for the private security firm The Edge, Clay Marshall has seen it all. But the recent blackouts he’s been having are new. So is waking up with blood on his hands and clothes, with no memory of where the blood came from—or who he might have killed. He hates to admit it, but he needs help.
 
Dr. Leigh Vaughn has treated other Edge employees before, but from the moment she sees him for the first time, Clay strikes her as a special breed of man. She knows he’s dangerous, and distrustful of doctors, but she finds herself drawn to him even as his own steely exterior gives way to his growing desire for her.

Neither knows, however, that Clay is being used as a pawn in a larger experiment, and that his blackouts are only the first step toward a terrifying goal. And both Leigh and Clay will put themselves in harm’s way to stop an unseen enemy—and to save one another

Review

Edge of Sanity starts immediately into a tense action filled story of Clay Marshall, our hero in this book.  Clay works for The Edge, a private security firm, which is the background of this series.  Clay has recently been having blackouts, waking up covered with blood.  He cannot remember anything.  He doesn’t know where to turn, and decides to tell his best friend, Mira.  She is concerned for Clay, knowing he is not telling her the whole story, but knowing something is terribly wrong.  Mira goes to Payton Bainbridge, her boss at The Edge.  Payton, knows immediately what is wrong, once he listens to Mira, but he doesn’t tell her anything, other then he will help Clay, and to keep this private.  Payton goes to Clay, tells him to go away to his secluded vacation home, and bring no technical items. No phone, no computer, nothing.  He is to lock himself in the house, and only let in one person, whom he will send to help him.  Clay, seeing how serious and troubled Payton is, becomes concerned, but he knows he must follow Payton’s orders.

We now meet our heroine, Dr. Leigh Vaughn.  Leigh is a doctor, who helps Payton on occasion, to secretly fix up injuries to members or clients of The Edge.  It is Leigh, whom Payton sends to watch over Clay.  She accepts the assignment, with the promise that Payton will allow her to see her brother, who is locked away in a private facility.  Clay is immediately attracted to Leigh, but forces himself to be distant, as he isn’t sure what is happening to him, and he fears he is dangerous to anyone near him. 

We learn early on, that Clay has been brainwashed as a child, and just recently someone has triggered his activation.  Whoever is behind this has had him unknowingly going on missions to kill.  Clay doesn’t believe this at first, but learns from both Leigh, whose brother was also brainwashed, and from Payton, who confessed about his own involvement many years ago, and he was now trying to stop it and find out who is behind those early experiments, and the recent activation. 

This was a tremendous storyline, extremely exciting, and non stop action.  The race was on with Clay and Leigh being threatened at every step, as they were constantly hounded by the enemy, who was able to track them down.  Once Clay and Leigh realized how deep Payton was in this mess, they weren’t sure they could trust him, even though Payton told them he has been trying to stop this for a long time, and rectify his past mistakes.  What made this story great, was the developing romance between Clay and Leigh.  Clay knows he has fallen for Leigh, but he wants her far away from him, as he knows he has no control if someone pulls his trigger, and in that case anyone within reach of him is in terrible danger.  Leigh wants to help Clay, and she also knows she has fallen hard for Clay, but Leigh needs to help save her brother, and feels Clay must learn to trust her.  Despite their love, and great sex, the danger facing both of them, keeps them from any type of commitment.

The last 1/3 of the book was totally filled with non stop excitement, bringing in some other players into this dangerous game.  There were a number of twists and surprises that endanger their own lives, as well as those close to them.  Shannon Butcher outdid herself in this fantastic exciting story, as I could not stop reading.  Not to mention having a wonderful couple made it even better, as I loved Clay and Leigh together.  Edge of Sanity was an emotional roller coaster ride, and it had a sensational ending.   

Edge of Sanity Pre-Order Links:Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author

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