Shannon K. Butcher returns with the electrifying fourth novel in her action-packed, romantic Edge series…
The covert organization known as the Edge is in full rescue mode, having been ordered to find the victims of the dreaded Threshold Project—and also to bring Adam Brink into the fold. Brink previously worked for Threshold, and may know how to stop the terror.
Mira Sage knows Adam’s dark past. She’s created a database of Threshold survivors whose lives were destroyed by the experiments of the twisted Dr. Stynger—and is driven to save them. If working with the duplicitous Adam will help her, she’ll play along.
Even as Mira secretly seeks to prove Adam is still a traitor, Adam has his own agenda that no one must discover. But when the two find their goals pointing in the same direction, Mira will be tested to believe in the one man she can’t trust. The one man she can’t resist…
Bestselling author Shannon K. Butcher, who now writes as Anna Argent, has written more than thirty titles since launching her career in 2007. She has three award-winning series, including the paranormal romance series The Sentinel Wars, the action-romance series The Edge, and the romantic suspense Delta Force Trilogy. Her alter ego Anna Argent also writes several series with a fresh and interesting spin on paranormal romance (The Lost Shards, The Taken and The Stone Men series) as well as a contemporary romance series set in a small town in the Ozarks. As a former engineer and current nerd, she frequently uses charts, graphs and tables to aid her in the mechanics of story design, world building and to keep track of all those colorful characters, magical powers and alternate worlds. An avid bead and glass artist, she spends her free time turning small sparkly bits into larger sparkly bits. She’s rarely on social media, so the best place to find out news about upcoming releases under either name is via her newsletter. You can sign up at AnnaArgent.com.
I had a hard time with this one. For much of the book I was bored with this one and it was very easy to put it down. I felt for Adam and the situation that he was in, but I had a hard time buying into what he felt for Mira. I also had a hard time buying that Mira would forgive Adam and his role in her past, let alone the secret that Peyton kept from her.
I'm really hoping the next book will overcome my issues with this book.
Mira is working to prove that Adam is a traitor and Adam has a secret agenda but when they find out they have the same goals, Mira will be tested to believe in the one man she can’t trust – or resist in this thrilling romantic suspense.
A fast pace and smooth flowing plot keeps readers on their toes with lots of action, suspense and romance. The author brings the story to life with well written scenes and details that inspire vivid images and capture the imagination while the well orchestrated action suspense draws the reader deeper into the story and keeps readers on the edge. The characters are strong and compelling and along with the fascinating world ensure that the readers want to know everything.
Mira and Adam’s attraction burns hot but with the conflicts between them the relationship will take a lot of hard work. The reader can’t help but get caught up in their romance as Adam works toward proving to Mira that she can trust him and Mira’s determination to prove he is a traitor. Their ongoing battle of wills is very entertaining as they struggle to reach their goals among all the danger of their job and while fighting their white hot desires. Both characters are captivating but together they are combustible and flies off the pages and their heartbreaking past capture the heart and has the reader cheering for their forever after.
The author’s fascinating world is full of thrills, intrigue, surprising twists, interesting elements and engaging characters to keep readers on their toes and I for one was completely engrossed in this story from beginning to end and of course I am looking forward to the next Edge story. While you could read this as a stand-alone book, I recommend reading the series in order to get the full impact and understanding of the continuing plot revolving around these characters. - Eva
I might call this a 3.5. The action was good, but we had not only one case of insta-love this time, but two. (and no, I do not consider either of the couples' past interactions sufficient to justify the "love" time frame) Other than that, I liked the couples. I really thought Mira was hung up on Clay, so I guess I misremembered things from the last book, but regardless, I was glad to see the computer geek get paired up. Adam had the stoic thing down pat, but his sincerity was sweet. I wasn't really sure what to think of the secondary Riley-Sophie pairing. Even given their Columbian past, it still felt like they were given short shrift for this to be a "complete" story--I kept expecting it to terminate in a separation as the set-up for the next book.
Ugh. I don't even know why I tried to finish it. This is an example of why some kinds of urban sci fi make me shiver. Some 'intense chemistry', mildly pornographic scenes with brooding and stoic male leads and confused and emotional female leads; thinly disguised in some kind of pseudo-scientific background where evil people are totally evil and the good people keep chasing each other's skirts - sorry, I mean tails. Oh well at least there were no werewolves or sparkly vampires.
The covert organization known as the Edge is in full rescue mode, having been ordered to find the victims of the dreaded Threshold Project—and also to bring Adam Brink into the fold. Brink previously worked for Threshold, and may know how to stop the terror.
Mira Sage knows Adam’s dark past. She’s created a database of Threshold survivors whose lives were destroyed by the experiments of the twisted Dr. Stynger—and is driven to save them. If working with the duplicitous Adam will help her, she’ll play along.
Even as Mira secretly seeks to prove Adam is still a traitor, Adam has his own agenda that no one must discover. But when the two find their goals pointing in the same direction, Mira will be tested to believe in the one man she can’t trust. The one man she can’t resist…
REVIEW: 4.5 stars--EDGE OF BETRAYAL is the fourth book in Shannon K Butcher’s contemporary, adult EDGE slightly paranormal romance series.
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 eerily similar to the premise behind Christine Feehan’s Ghostwalker series.
Told from third person point of view, the focus of EDGE OF BETRAYAL is former Threshold Project member and new EDGE agent Adam Brink and Mira Sage-the daughter of Dr. Richard Sage-the man who controls the Threshold experiments. The premise follows Mira as she is partnered with Adam, a man she believes has betrayed her fellow EDGE members and the victims of the Threshold project, and the man she once thought could be ‘the one.’ Following orders from the very people who ‘created’ him, Adam (in the hopes of finding the identity of his missing brother) returned an unwilling and frightened Mira to her father. Fast forward and Mira has not forgiven Adam for his betrayal. Dr. Richard Sage used, abused and experimented with Mira, and Adam’s connection to her father has fueled Mira’s need for revenge and escape.
The relationship between Mira and Adam is complicated. One-time lovers, Adam’s betrayal has destroyed Mira’s confidence in herself. Partnered together with Adam will force Mira to take a hard look at the man who is currently on everyone’s radar knowing that at any moment his training and the psychological control of The Threshold Project could leave another trail of destruction and pain. Mira is a woman unsure of her future; her emotional state has been affected by the experiments and abuse by her father; and her current status is literally unknown.
The secondary characters include some of the previous storyline agents, as well as agents Riley, Sophie and Gage. Sophie and Riley’s relationship is a secondary storyline of romance and love. The world building continues such that the co-administrators of The Edge, Payton Bainbridge and Bella Bayne maintain their search for more victims of The Threshold Project but with each discovery, something new and more discouraging destroys their hope of retrieval and recovery.
EDGE OF BETRAYAL (and the EDGE SERIES) is a fast paced, imaginative and compelling storyline about power and control; where building the ultimate soldier results in destroyed lives and destroyed minds; broken hearts and broken promises. Shannon K Butcher will capture your imagination as she weaves a fascinating tale of intense pain and idealistic goals.
Shannon K. Butcher delivers with the fourth book in her romantic suspense Edge series, Edge of Betrayal. Readers looking for an action packed novel with plenty of sexual tension and a swoon worthy hero, need look no further. Butcher has created a series that is raw, gritty and that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish. A great addition to a complex and entertaining series!
What I liked:
I have read several of Butcher's Sentinel Wars books and have enjoyed them very much, but I had never read any of her romantic suspense work before reading Edge of Betrayal. I had a feeling Butcher would excel at this type of writing as well. She always has such a good tone and grasp of what the reader is looking for no matter what genre she is writing. She has a way of weaving a complex storyline that is believable and heart pounding.
Edge of Betrayal is the fourth book in the Edge series and focuses on a covert group called Edge that is trying to help victims of what is called The Threshold Project. Human experimentation that went drastically wrong. Mira is the heroine and she is consumed with helping those she can and bringing about some resolution to what has happened. Adam is former member of The Threshold Project but has seen the error of his ways and is now helping Edge and more importantly, Mira.
It did not take me long to catch on to what was going on and who the key players were in the story and what had gone on in previous books. Adam and Mira have a sorted past. Apparently, he turned her over to her father who proceeded to try to kill her. Adam has saved Mira's life on more than one occasion but she does not trust him. He is an excellent operative and she has to admit that he is an asset to Edge, but she has issues with her attraction to him. I loved the interplay between them and how he was so long suffering with Mira. He knew that he had information that would make her see him differently but he wanted to change her mind with adding that fuel to the fire. The sexual tension between them was palpable but certainly not the only heart stopping part of this novel.
Butcher has a way with writing action. She knows when to ramp it up and when to crank it down. She doesn't go overboard but she certainly will keep the reader biting a few nails and sitting on the edge of their seats. Every action that happened was carefully planned. I could just see the author in my mind's eye with charts and graphs and tons of yarn and thumbtacks, LOL. It was very intricate and totally engaging. There was rawness to it that I really enjoyed. Butcher's style was no nonsense and straightforward which I appreciated.
Bottom Line:
If you are a romantic suspense fan, I suggest you try this series. I was so impressed with this particular addition to the series, I went back and read the rest of the books almost immediately. It can be read as a stand alone, but why would you want to?LOL It's that good!
Edge of Betrayal by Shannon K. Butcher is the 4th book in her Edge series. In this book, Mira is our heroine. Mira is Clay’s (previous book hero) best friend, and her father is the evil scientist, Dr. Sage, who was killed in the last book.
Adam is our hero, but until the very end, he was thought to be an enemy, who used Mira to help Dr. Sage. But what Mira didn’t know was that Adam was doing what he did to find his long lost brother. Bella, who owns the Edge agency, hires Adam to help them continue to work at finding all the victims of Dr. Sage. Mira hates Adam, and she doesn’t believe he is now good. But she is forced to team up with Adam, as Bella has assigned them to find a victim. They all still have to worry about Dr. Stynger, who was Sage’s protégé, and she is just as bad as he was.
The experiments done by Sage and Stynger were brainwashing done on many children, and they need to find these children now grown up, to save them from unknown danger. What follows is a very exciting action packed storyline with Mira’s life in danger, as there are some unexpected surprises in store. I cannot tell you more without giving spoilers.
The romance between Adam and Mira is slow to build, as Mira is afraid to trust him. Adam cares very much for Mira, but he understands that he hurt her before. It was very nicely done, though I thought that Mira was too quick to misjudge Adam, especially once she realized she loved him.
Shannon Butcher continues to give us a wonderful exciting, on the edge story that flows so well into the next book. Once again, I could not put the book down until I reached the end. Mira and Adam were a great couple, with all their flaws. There was a secondary romance with Riley and Sophie. Edge of Betrayal is another wonderful edition to this series. I look forward to the next book, which belongs to Gage.
The 4th book to the Edge series, I was elated with the release of this book. I was looking forward to the interaction between Adam & Mira right after reading the 3rd book.
Adam the male lead of this series was an intriguing character, being able to compartmentalize but can't do much when it comes to Mira was a sweet and ironic way of expressing on how he feels about her.
Mira the female lead of this series was yet nerdy but charming on another hand. The conflicting feelings that she had for Adam; like & hate was making me frustrated. Will she ever finally admit that she has feelings for Adam? There was a moment when there was a display of family ties between Mira & her father but was later destroyed due to his obsession of the project. Riley and Sophie was another supposedly couple which I was looking for, it was finally a happy ending for them.
I admire how Shannon Butcher brings up a notch in this series which keeps you wanting to read and being able to empathize or dislike with the characters in the book.
I would give this book a 5 star read. A worth it book to read.
I received a digital and print copy in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley and Berkley.
I really love reading Shannon Butcher, I love reading the Edge books even more because to me they're like a the romantic version of the Jason Bourne series. They're full of action, suspense, mystery and sexy interaction that a reader like myself dies to find in one combo. The Edge Of Betrayal is so intense and full of those *did that just happen* moments. Shannon knows how to crate a perfect storm that keeps you twisted up and caught within it until the very last page. I do have to admit I didn't see the end coming so I was tickled pink by all the lip biting intense scenes Shannon brought to life. I nearly cried during the helicopter scene. I won't spoil it but man do I love an epic heroine that women can envy. I wanted to leap out of my seat and scream, I was ready to jump out of my skin, I absolutely loved it! Thank you Shannon for the action packed thrill ride!
Mira is working to prove that Adam is a traitor and Adam has a secret agenda but when they find out they have the same goals, Mira will be tested to believe in the one man she can’t trust – or resist in this thrilling romantic suspense. The author’s fascinating world is full of thrills, intrigue, surprising twists, interesting elements and engaging characters to keep readers on their toes and I for one was completely engrossed in this story from beginning to end and of course I am looking forward to the next Edge story. While you could read this as a stand-alone book, I recommend reading the series in order to get the full impact and understanding of the continuing plot revolving around these characters.
I love this series and this did not disappoint. I give the book 5 stars, but am frustrated because we have to wait a year for the next book. That length of time makes you forget and have to re read. I have to decide to either stop reading the series and never find out what happens or wait until all the books are published and read it then, that is if I even remember the series at that point. I found this series when the first 3 books were out and unfortunately thought it was a trilogy. If you are not a fan of delayed gratification like me, I would wait to read this series because of the length of time between books.
The overall story moves closer to this resolution in this installment. But it's Adam and Mira that take center stage in this book, building upon everything that led up to this. Adam may have seemed like the bad guy, but he might just be a good guy forced into doing bad things for the right reasons. And Mira desperately wants to fight back against her father, to try and save everyone he's hurt. But trust is fragile and once broken can be hard to rebuild. An absolute must read series!
I am really loving the story arc throughout this series so far. It's full of interesting twists, 3 dimensions characters and characters you actually care about. Mira and Adam were a great match for each other. Can't wait to read the next one :) just the right amount of lusty sex filled pages with lots of story and action. Perfect brain-candy for anyone interested in a quick read.
The story is full of action with a romance mixed in. The story is so intriguing you can't put it down until you're done. Great characters and a very well written story. I absolutely loved it and definitely recommend it to read.
I was given a copy by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
So good. Lots of action (guns, bombs, car chases...) Trust issues, secrets, lies, betrayals (but not by who you'd think). So much going on. Kind-of wish I'd re-read the others of this series again so that I knew all the players again, oh well, I'll do that before the next book :)
Great story! 2 happy endings in one book. Yay for certain people dying!
But still enough danger to worry about for the next volume, including the sample at the end. Argh! LOL. My only wish is that it didn't take a year between releases, but I'm just an eager reader.
I really wanted to like this book, I loved Mira and I loved Adam as individuals. Their conflict story was so repetitive, became so very boring. Badass Adam started looking like needy wimp.
Good series. I love her paranormal series, the Sentinels I believe. I sure hope she puts out another couple in that series to tie up all the loose ends..