Edge of Midnight

I think I found my new favorite in Shannon Mckenna's McCloud series. I loved this book and I loved Sean. He's the ultimate bad boy and a consummate man slut. He's also the proverbial class clown as well as an idiot savant. He was complicated and hysterical and I couldn't stop smiling or laughing over his antics. He's described as nearly out of control with his boundless energy and what better way to work off all that energy than engaging in sweaty, all night sex fests?! Most of my enjoyment came about because of Sean and I loved his sense of humor. I'd much rather laugh than cry and it's nice to read about a romance hero who embraces the same ideals. Sean is definitely carrying a lot of inner turmoil and baggage though, but it was all nicely balanced out with the humor. Normally I find an author I like and I just inhale their backlist....until I find a stinker and then I get real gun shy and drop the author like a diet. I read Shannon McKenna's Out of Control and I didn't like it, so I wandered away from her work, taking a break. Then I saw Edge of Midnight at the library and I thought, well, what could it hurt? I am so glad I picked this book up because it was freakin awesome. The plot is seriously over the top and you can either go with it or you can roll your eyes and forget it. This Joseph Mengele styled storyline allows the possibility of mind control and poor Kevin McCloud is sacrificed in the pursuit of science. (or is he?) As is the blossoming love affair between Sean and Liv. Sean sent Liv away in order to protect her and now almost a decade later, she comes back home and is again targeted by the psychos who want to know what Kevin might have told her. Sean steps back into her life to act as her bodyguard, her servant, her sex slave and her own personal clown. He endearingly throws himself at her feet and it was really amusing. He's almost slavish in his adoration of Liv and I just ate it up. This is not to say that he was a doormat for Liv to walk all over. Oh, no. That wouldn't make this a Shannon McKenna book. Sean is as alpha as they come and as obsessed in his need and desire for her as any of his brothers about their wives. The sex is as gritty and raw as this fabulous author can write and their first sex romp was in Liv's childhood bedroom and there's something about using a girlhood room as the location for a no holds barred sex fest that is so naughty. *grin* We gets lots of fun cameos with all the McCloud brothers and Seth and of course, Tamara. I love Tamara. Her wit nearly matches Sean in this one and I love her razor sharp tongue. I really, really recommend this intense and exciting story by Shannon McKenna. If you can handle a hugely aggressive alpha male who would happily lay his life down on the line for you while making you laugh your a** off, then this is the book for you. Enjoy!

Shannon McKenna has never let me down. The highest compliment I can give an author is to buy their books without reading the back cover or looking at reviews. After the first two books of McKenna's, I have never again bothered to read the back. She's like early Linda Howard on steroids. L.H.'s last several (or 5) books have been serious let downs. I won't even buy her books anymore. Not so with Shannon McKenna. I hardly even mind the higher price of the trade paperbacks. McKenna has a way of bringing out a woman's most secret alpha male desires and creating the perfect heroes. Too many authors have to tell the reader their heroes are "alphas" but there's not one iota of proof in the book. Again, not so with McKenna. Her men are not politically correct just to be PC. They are unabashedly alpha males who meet women who do not play "submissive" to the dominant male. Instead, fireworks go off during most encounters...and oh, what fireworks they are. I've read the whole gamut of romances from silly romantic adventures, romantic suspense/thriller, to hardcore erotica and not one other author can get the ratio of erotica to romance quite right (for me anyhow)--except McKenna. Be warned: her erotic scenes are graphic, no Harlequin-like allusions to "mounds" or "turgid lengths" (actually, that might be too graphic for Harlequin). Okay, there might be a couple allusions but the rest is raw unadulterated, uncensored, un-politically correct sex. What do I mean by un-politically correct? Well, the characters of some authors spend so much time asking permission and trying not to offend each other (or the readers I suspect) that the fireworks sort of fizzle and the action seems staged. McKenna's characters are human with darker passions and they act on them. Her character's seem more human and NOT like poster-people for the Commission on Political Correctness and Insipid, Vacuous Dorks (Jane Austen she's not--and thank you for that!). Her character's have flaws and they recognize them in each other and overcome them or simply revel in them. Buy all of her books because you will want to read them multiple times. While you don't have to read them in order, there are recurring characters in several of the books and it's kind of nice know who the secondary characters are and what happened in their stories. All of that being said, I will add that Sean McCloud is not my favorite of McKenna's heroes. He's perfectly alpha and adores Liv and keeps pursuing her even though he knows it's probably a bad idea. I suspect some dormant Puritan in me doesn't like that, until he hooks up with Liv, he's a dog on the prowl. Once I got beyond that, and it wasn't all that difficult to get beyond, he's a hottie in love. If there was anything else that annoyed me during the reading, it must not have been that bad since it's been about 2 weeks since I finished the book and I don't remember anything overwhelmingly irksome.

Sean McCloud has loved Liv Endicott for years. Fifteen years ago, though, he sent her away because he didn't want to endanger her life. Now she's back. Someone is threatening her and Sean doesn't like it. He will do anything he can to make sure the woman that he still loves is safe. When a stalker burns down Liv's bookstore, she's devastated. Then, out of the blue, Sean McCloud appears. Liv has never forgiven him for the hurtful way he sent her away from him years ago. Yet, she can't deny that she's still attracted to him, and still cares for him, too. Despite protests from her parents, security specialist Sean decides that Liv needs his help to stay safe. After he rescues her from her stalker, she decides that he is right. Sean soon figures out that Liv's problems are connected with the death of his brother, Kevin, fifteen years ago, and to the mysterious Midnight Project. Edge of Midnight is the fourth romantic suspense book featuring the McCloud Brothers but the first one I've read. All I can ask myself is -- what took me so long to find these books? Jammed packed with adventure, suspense and hot sex, Edge of Midnight is a twisting-turning roller coaster ride of a novel. And I loved each word. Ms. McKenna has packed her novel full of strong characters, both male and female, that jump off the page and pull you into the novel alongside them. I felt the characters' pain, sorrow, joy and laughter right along with them. I love a book that grabs hold and doesn't let go, and this one definitely does. As a testament to how much I enjoyed it, and the glimpses of not only of Sean and Liv, but of his brothers and their friends, I will be hunting up each and every one of Ms. McKenna's other novels. If you like your romantic suspense full of action, with characters who are not afraid to tell it like it is and live very large, then Edge of Midnight is for you. I know it is a Joyfully Reviewed Recommended Read for me. Amelia Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Having read all the books this author has written I still remain in awe of her ability to multi-task so brilliantly. Her male characters are not only wonderfully masculine, but struggle in a reasonable, typically male manner with emotional anguish. Her male characters are excellently written. The only down side is she does equally well with her villians in creating skin-crawling creeps. Although the story of lost love is not one of my particular faves--it's done so very well here, exquisite sensuality scenes and recognition that healing can only be accomnplished through forgiveness and reconciliation. Just terrific--so grab it up now!

This book tells the story of Sean McCloud, youngest of the four McCloud brothers, whose stories were told previously in "Standing in the Shadows" and "Out of Control". Sean and his brothers were raised by their paranoid and delusional widowed father in the backwoods of Washington state. Older brothers Davy and Connor and friend Seth Mackey ("Behind Closed Doors") have all settled down with wives and are starting families of their own. But Sean's life seems to be on hold. He has never gotten over the supposed suicide death of his identical twin brother Kevin 15 years ago. Nothing seems to hold his interest for long; not his various jobs or any one woman. His brothers refer to him as a "man slut" due to his prolific and shallow love life. They want him to find the kind of happiness they now enjoy with their own wives and to stop drifting thru life. But the only woman that meant anything to Sean was his teenaged girlfriend Liv, who he cruelly dumped in order to save her life. Sean has kept tabs on Liv for all these years, and surprisingly comes in contact with her again. He discovers that she is back in Washington and owns a bookstore that is torched by a crazed stalker who Liv refers to as "T-Rex". Although she doesn't want to trust him, Sean convinces Liv that she needs protection until the stalker is captured, and she reluctantly lets him help her when her parents seem less than interested in believing or helping her. Sean and Liv are on the run after the stalker makes an attempt on her life and Sean saves her. This attempt is tied into Kevin's death. Before Kevin died, he gave a note and a sketchbook to Liv to deliver to Sean. The note gives clues about a person that Kevin thought was trying to kill him. Kevin was participating in a neurological research project called the "Midnight Project" led by a diabolical doctor named Chris Osterman. The people conducting the project knew that Liv had the notebook, and want it back and her dead because they think she knows too much. While on the run, Sean and Liv's love re-ignites with a passion, with numerous steamy encounters. But both Sean and Liv have some insecurities about themselves. Sean can't believe that a person of his background is good enough for a rich refined woman like Liv, while Liv can't believe what a charismatic and experienced man like Sean would want with a less than svelte, boring book store owner like herself. All the characters from the previous McCloud books are back, including Seth & Raine, Margot & Davy, Erin & Connor, Miles & Cindy (Who have major roles), Tamara, and even Nick Ward has a cameo. Sean reminded me a lot of his brother Connor: witty, sometimes arrogant or overbearing, but also sweet and vulnerable, and Liv knew just how to handle him--they were great together! This book was fantastic, kept me on the edge, and the last 30 pages had some truly gruesome moments. But the ending was worth it, and I had tears in my eyes. Of all the McCl