Book Review: Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews

Steel's Edge
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: The Edge (Book 4)
Publication: Ace (November 27, 2012)

Description: The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...

My Thoughts: This is the story of Charlotte de Ney and Richard Mar. Charlotte is a blueblood from the Weird who has a remarkable gift for healing. Richard is from the Edge and is a remarkable swordsman. Charlotte flees to the Edge after she learns that she is barren and her husband annuls their marriage. The gift of healing has an opposite counterpart. As strong as her healing is, she is equally able to kill with her gift. It was her strong desire to kill her fair-weather husband that sent her running.

With the help of Éléanore Drayton, who is the grandmother of Rose, George and Jack, she manages to make a new life for herself in the Edge. Things change drastically when Richard is brought to her in immediate need of healing after his encounter with slavers. The slavers are hot on his heels and recapture him, killing Éléanore and another young girl who happens to be there. Charlotte sets off to rescue Richard but has to resort to her dark side to do it.

Together, she and Richard are determined to bring down the slave trade and are even more determined when they discover who is behind it. Along the way, and despite each one feeling that they are unworthy of being loved, the two fall deeply in love.

This was a fast-paced, engaging story. I also liked getting to catch up with a couple of my favorite characters from earlier Edge books - George and Jack. I feel that this book could stand alone but it gains richness and depth if you read the rest of the Edge series first.

I highly recommend this one for fantasy fans.

Favorite Quote:

Charlotte faced him. Her wet tunic molded to her figure, and her hair, which she'd put up into a neat knot, had come undone and hung over her face. That air of detachment and civility had been washed away, as if someone had taken an elegant cat, groomed to within an inch of its life, and dumped a bucket of water on it. Her expression had the same shock, outrage, and promise of violence.

If he laughed, she'd probably kill him. Quite literally.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.