Over the Edge
Grade : B

Over the Edge is a book I left sitting in the TBR pile for a while after I bought it, having been burned by a few too many recent weak Harlequin Blazes. I wish I'd picked it up sooner. An excellent combination of strong character, plot, and sensuality, it's definitely one of the best in the line I've come across for some time.

Mallory Hunt and Jake Trinity met one night on opposite sides of the law. Mallory was with her father, a professional thief infiltrating the engineering company where Jake worked. When Jake caught her, she did the first thing she could to distract him from pulling the alarm: she stole a passionate kiss that caught them both off guard. The ploy didn't work, as Mallory and her father were both caught, but it did provide a memory for both she and Jake that lasted for years.

Ten years later, they meet again. Mallory is a security consultant with the firm her father opened after leaving prison and going straight. Jake owns his own security firm. He wants to hire her to infiltrate one of his client's properties to test the fallibility of his system. But he has personal reasons for hiring her, and she has her own motives for taking the job.

Jake was fired from the engineering firm he worked for after his liplock with Mallory was caught on tape and everyone learned how easily he was distracted from pulling the alarm. The following ten years were a long struggle as he worked to rebuild his career. He wants payback - so does Mallory. She believes he did sound the alarm, the act that resulted in sending her father to prison. They're both playing with each other to see who can one-up the other, a game which quickly moves back into the bedroom.

It's a good premise that helps to make the speed with which they fall into bed more believable than usual. Their chemistry is established from the start. Mallory is a strong, independent heroine. Jake is a smart, resourceful hero. It's clear from the beginning that they're evenly matched. Once they meet again, they immediately begin toying with each other, playing off the attraction they both know is there, quickly raising the stakes until it's clear what has to happen.

What's especially nice is that the misunderstanding is not maintained through the entire book. It comes out at a reasonable point, and the characters deal with the change in their perceptions like mature adults, which allows the story, and their relationship, to move on and develop further from there. There's a very definite sense of their relationship revolving into something more, even with the short period of time it takes place in.

Even better, this is not just a series of sexual escapades connected with a thin plot. It's actually a real, complex story with an actual romance, a cast of quirky supporting characters, a secondary romance and a subplot, which still manages to fit in several long sexual interludes that are both effective and work perfectly with the story. The sex is as advertised, but what makes it more interesting is everything that's happening around it. The author creates a tight-knit group of people who surround the hero and heroine and play a role in the romance, and makes them interesting in their own right, while still keeping a heavy focus on the main couple. I liked the way she portrayed the mixed morality of the group of thieves run by Mallory's father, their fierce sense of loyalty and family, and how even they have standards when it comes to stealing. Meanwhile, there are crises to be dealt with, truths to be revealed, and loves to be found. If it's a little much for a short book, London still manages to pull it off for the most part. Occasionally she has to engage in some long narrative passages to cover everything, which slows the story down at times. It's still a real accomplishment that it works very well overall.

Over the Edge is certainly a stand-out among the Blazes I've read lately. It uses the sexual aspect to help tell a fully-developed story about interesting people who are worth getting to know. Whether as romantica or as simply a good story, it's a book I can easily recommend.

Reviewed by Leigh Thomas
Grade : B
Book Type: Series Romance

Sensuality: Hot

Review Date : January 19, 2004

Publication Date: 2003/11

Recent Comments …

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Leigh Thomas

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