Close to the Edge

Close to the Edge by Kylie Brant February 10, 2005 Courtesy of WWW.Loveromances.com Kylie Brant's CLOSE TO THE EDGE is a romance written with humor, danger, intrigue, and sexy love scenes that will steam up the windows, helping to bring in the New Year with a Bang! Jacey (Jacinda) Wheeler grew up among the high society of New Orleans, but when she decided a few years ago to open up a private investigation business, her mother considered it only a "hobby". Jacey, however, was very excited about this venture, and as soon as she hired Luc "Lucky" Boucher, her business took off. His background did not turn up any police records, but Jacey knew his previous life was not even close to the life she was used to leading with the rich and beautiful. Lucky was sexy and dangerous, with street smarts and the ability to turn a woman's head. Jacey knew not to get too involved with him, except in a business relationship. Until now, that is. The book opens with a scene in a pool hall, and it immediately grabs the reader's attention with the feel of something "going down". A beautiful blonde is sitting innocently at the bar, while Lucky is playing a game of pool and keeping an eye on her. While she is innocently attracting men at the bar, Lucky is busy with his friend Remy and a shady character that is trying to cheat him at pool. An altercation arises, but Lucky has it under control. Surprisingly, the blonde, Jacey, knows how to handle men in rough situations. Although Lucky comes to her rescue while two men are fighting over her, she gets out of the bar untouched after she rams her knee into the groin of one of the men. Next scene: It's a few hours later, and Jacey is contemplating what to wear to a fancy dinner being held that evening by the Sisters of the South Auxiliary, an affair that her mother is expecting her to attend, and Jacey is already running behind. It is the stark contrast between her two worlds that this reviewer found of most interest and feels that it is what helped make the story line move. Jacey's business life with Lucky does not mix with her family life, which was comprised of fancy dinners and mingling with the upper crust. The life of the rich is not what Jacey wanted, however; yet she was able to fit in both worlds when she had to. Lucky, on the other hand, stood out at fancy dinner parties. The reader sees this when Lucky invites himself as Jacey's date when she is asked to attend her ex-fiancé's engagement party to his new fiancée. Not only does Lucky's presence invite stares by the other partygoers, but also his dark and sexy looks have all the women swooning. And he does his best to pretend that he and Jacey are an item, which causes more than one set of eyebrows to lift, and irritates Jacey to no end. At the same time, she feels an attraction to him, which she fights with everything she's got. The rapport between Jacey and Lucky will have the reader chuckling. The two of them go at it in nearly every scene, giving this book m

Jacinda "Jacey" Wheeler has given up her boring life as a debutante and is now the brains behind a successful P.I. firm. Jacey has two employees. Joan is her secretary. Lucky helps with the cases. Luc "Lucky" Boucher (Boo-shin) worked as one of Vinny's street thugs until a few years ago. Once Lucky was hired by Jacey he began using his street smarts and connections to help complete their cases.They are both attracted to each other. To Jacey, Lucky's bayou charm and dark aura is striking. To Lucky, Jacey is too high class for someone like himself. Yet he admires her wit, dedication to her job, and she is drop dead gorgeous. Therefore, they are only business associates. Yet during their three years together they have become very good friends. Now that is all about to change. A local shipping magnate, J. Walter Garvey is dying. The strong willed man refuses to tell his family and is close to none of them. He hires Jacey to investigate all his family members so he may decide which of them, if any, he will leave the running of his empire to. To make things complicated, word has somehow leaked out about Garvey hiring Jacey and why. None of the family members look great, but one of them is connected to Vinny. The simple research case has just become deadly. ***** There are two sub-plots running underneath the main one to keep things lively in this story. Jacey has a problem with an ex-boyfriend and Lucky has a dark secret he would rather Jacey never found out about. It all comes together to make a spectacular tale that will highly entertain readers and deserves the full five stars! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.