~REVIEW of Cindy Gerard's TO THE EDGE~

To the Edge (Bodyguard, #1)
 

Opening Line: "Even among the masses populating West Palm Beach, Florida, Nolan Garrett found hundreds of places to be alone."

Jillian Kincaid is a TV anchor and the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Because of her father she grew up in the continual presence of bodyguards and hated it. Now when she begins to receive death threats Jillian is more then a little hesitant to except the bodyguard/hired thug that her father has secured for her.

Recently retired special Ops soldier Nolan Garrett has only been out for three months when his brothers and sister (of E.D.E.N security Inc) grow tired of his continuous drinking and depression and force him to take on one of their clients. He doesn't want the case and Jillian sure as hell doesn't want him in her apartment and shadowing her every move.

However Jillian soon proves not to be the spoiled princess Nolan was expecting and despite himself he starts to care even if she is super frustrating. Why won't she just leave him alone, why do they have to talk about...stuff? And how is it that she's not repelled by his back off, tough guy (I am an island) image? As Jillian's stalker gets closer and events turn deadly Nolan is willing to lay his life on the line and now possibly his heart too. Gah I just love these tortured heroes.

After 5-star-ing every book in Cindy Gerard's Black Ops series I was very excited to go back and read her Bodyguard series which I'd somehow missed before. However in saying that I think my love for her BOI's may have caused me to go into this with (unrealistically) high expectations because while this was good it never quite hit the great mark that I'd been expecting.

TO THE EDGE is definitely a slow burning romance And while I appreciated tough guy, bodyguard Nolan's "don't get involved with a client" ethics and especially his "you don't want to get involved with someone as damaged as me" (love those tortured heroes) I reached the point with them where I was like, enough, get it on already. Stop with the meaningful looks and double talk and just get it out of your systems.

That said once the sex (finally) got thrown in the mix and the stalker upped their game things really took off. Gerard managed to keep me guessing about the stalkers identity with several well placed suspects and Nolan and Jillian's chemistry was smoking hot. I also loved the fact that Jillian wasn't your typical spoiled damsel in distress and let's face it she had potential to go that way. Instead she fought for her man and managed to keep her head above, TSTL. Then we have Nathan's adorable (I don't need anyone but really I do) guilt complex, PTSD issues and that fantabulous ending on the boat, sigh. I really don't have anything to complain about here and I'll definitely be returning for the rest of this series and a croquet game or two from the looks of things.