Vanessa Estev Estev itibaren Royal Palm Estates, FL, Birleşik Devletler itibaren Royal Palm Estates, FL, Birleşik Devletler

Warning: inevitable spoiler for Edge of Midnight. If you’ve read this book’s summary, you already know it. Whew, this was a trip. Kevin McCloud, brother of Davy, Connor and Sean, was long dead when their stories began. Though being a mystery reader, I knew from page 8 of Edge of Midnight, when we read that “Kev’s body had been charred beyond recognition,” that he wasn’t really dead. And sure enough, by the end of that book, the McCloud brothers know it too. Though fairly inexplicably, when this story begins three years later, they have yet to do anything about it. The first feeling I had reading this was... well, perhaps “disappointment” isn’t the right word, because it was a disappointment I pretty much expected. Kev sounded like such an interesting, different character in the previous book -- though naturally he never actually appeared -- but here, sure enough, he’s pretty much just another incredibly skilled, hard-fighting, hard-lovin’ uxorious McCloud brother. He’s super-smart but we’re mostly told about that, we never really see how it affected him as a person. I also found myself reluctant to keep reading. All of McKenna’s romantic suspense books are dark, but there’s usually a bit of distance to keep the reader from getting overwhelemed. Here, many horrible things had already happened to Kev and his love-interest Edie, and I strongly suspected more horrible things were going to happen. (I wasn't wrong.) But I kept on and in the second half, things got... good? Well, they got something. There’s a lot going on with the Kev’s brothers as they slowly discover what’s been going on, a lot of feelings for them, and for Kev. That was powerful. And there’s some poignant sacrifice and redemption in the ending, especially for a character who had made some dubious decisions. There was still a lot I didn’t much like. Edie’s family and everyone associated with them are just over-the-top awful. They’re not the super-villains of the piece, but they don’t seem to have a speck of humanity towards her. And we don't see enough of what happens between Kev and his brothers, after all the action is finished. That is so big, where did it go? And saddest of all... this is Shannon McKenna and I didn’t like the sex scenes. That's like ordering a banana split and getting bad ice cream. They seemed out of place and out of character, especially Edie’s persistence and aggression. I was kind of relieved when the couple were mostly separated for the last half of the book. Ultimately I guess I was glad to have read it and finished up the series. But it's well named, because the McClouds sort of fade away... not with a bang, but a whimper.

A great first novel. Engaging and funny with memorable characters, though the plot twist at the end is a reach.