Series: On the Edge #1
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Release Date: September 20th, 2022
Add to Goodreads | Amazon.in (Available on KU)
CW: mentions of stalking, kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual battery, gun use
After a young woman is brutally attacked on a popular hiking trail, the evidence points to the notorious Black Cat Stalker. The town of Skull Hollow enlists Dr. Mia Frost to provide a psychological profile and assist in the investigation.
When another person goes missing, Mia partners with Easton Crew, former marine and current CEO of a tactical tracking company. Both Mia and Easton are stubborn, strong-willed, and independent, but neither can deny the smoldering attraction between them.
As professional lines blur, Easton starts to question Mia’s motives and worries she’s getting too close to the investigation. The mystery begins to unravel, but so does Mia’s mental health as the clues dredge up her own haunted past.
It soon becomes evident that things aren’t as they seem … and people aren’t always who they say they are.
I love a good romantic suspense like anybody else, but I didn’t know the kind of suspense I was getting myself into with this book. I loved the blurb and I wanted to read it and let me just tell you that I had to force myself to turn off my Kindle and start work today because that’s how desperately I wanted to keep reading this book. While there is romance, I feel like it’s important to point out that it’s secondary to the suspense, because that plotline is intense and requires all of the attention.
Instead of breaking it down like I do with most of my reviews, I’m just going to get straight into it. Mia Frost has had a traumatic past and she’s picked herself up and moved forward the best she can. She’s now a well-known psychologist and she started a clinic in a small town in the middle of nowhere Texas to help people who might have suffered like she has. Easton Crew is a former marine, who has set up a search and rescue company in the same small town, but he’s also got a great team of friends working with him as they train other special force-like people to be better at what they do.
Mia and Easton shouldn’t have anything to do with each other, but when a young girl is kidnapped and assaulted, and left in a swamp, the two of them are forced together in uncomfortable situations to figure out who is behind it.
The story hits the ground running. I love how much detail we get of both Mia and Easton’s jobs, I loved meeting the people they work with (their found families, as it were). I am blown away by how much we see of Easton’s working method and it felt good to see these two characters outside of a strenuous situation. And this book is super stressful because of all the high-octane chaos. But it keeps you at the edge of your seat and once you start reading, it’ll be really hard to stop.
While I liked the romance and the tension built between these two, I think the story would have worked just fine even without that. Easton is protective and possessive, Mia is stubborn and possessive as well, so they’re nicely matched. I liked that not once did she back down, but did what she believed was right. I liked that she followed her instincts, but also listened to Easton when necessary.
I am definitely curious to see who comes next, because there are so many characters on either side and so much room for excitement. So I’m looking forward to more of the Dragonfly Clinic and LYNX teaming up to take down the bad guys!
Thanks to Montlake & NetGalley for generously providing me with an advance copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
anna reads here 