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Publisher:
Avon
Release Date:
May 29, 2007
Genres:
Paranormal Romance
ISBN:
eBook
No
ISBN
Print
9780061140501
Kindle
No
ISBN
Bookmark Rating:
Reviewed by
Jennifer Ray
Review Posted:
June 2008
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Three sisters, triplets, are born with a powerful heritage and amazing
paranormal abilities. Each has her own gift, and each struggles with that gift
daily in attempts to live ‘normal’ lives.
Claire’s empathic powers have driven her to live like a hermit in a remote
area. Her neighbor is one of her only friends, and when the kindly old woman
dies, Claire reaches out to the nephew who mourns her passing. As Neil moves
into his aunt’s home, his presence disrupts Claire’s peace and her life, not
altogether for the worst…
Having read the synopsis for Cait London’s AT THE EDGE, I expected
to love it. It has all the components that make up some of my favorite stories
– paranormal abilities set in a contemporary story with an exciting little
romance to round it off nicely. Yes, those components were there, and I enjoyed
the plot and the characters, but the execution of this story was disappointing.
The facts were delivered so repetitiously, it felt as if the author believed her
readers to be somewhat thick-skulled. It seemed we were reminded on every one of
the first 30 pages that the hero had lost a child to kidnapping and the heroine
had lost a child to miscarriage. OK, it may not have been every page, but it
was so often that I became inured to their loss and somewhat annoyed.
There were many instances where the prose seemed disjointed, causing this
reviewer to scratch her head more than once. For instance, in one scene, Claire
and Neil are taking a short trip, and Neil packed Claire’s things for her, even
remembering to pack a few of her handbag-making supplies so she could keep
working while on the trip. Quote: “Claire thought of the paper sack crammed
with buttons, feathers, and handles; nothing would match and Neil hadn't
included any scissors, needles, or thread. But he had put an apple on top of
it--a nice afterthought.” I’ve read that part over and over again and still
can’t figure out how the apple fits in. Perhaps it was meant to cast the hero
or heroine as quirky? If so, there should have been some reaction to the apple
being on top of the crafting supplies. The way it was written leads the reader
to believe this is supposed to fit together logically and throws you out of the
story trying to reason it.
I also found some continuity issues in the story. In the last paragraph on page
152, for example, Claire is in Neil’s home and notices the changes he has made
in his aunt’s kitchen: “Eunice’s apple-shaped cookie jar was all that
remained of her…” In the last sentence of the very same paragraph,
continued on page 153, she then notes “his aunt’s delicate collection of
‘kitty’ knickknacks running across the windowsill behind him.”
I could have enjoyed this story much better if these issues had not been so
prevalent. As it was, I was never able to really immerse myself in the plot and
enjoy the story. I won’t say that this was a terrible book, because it wasn’t.
Cait London definitely has a wonderful imagination and skill in creating
stories. If she can work out these technicalities, then she will be an author
worth re-trying.
Note: This review was originally
written by Jennifer Ray for another review site. It is being reposted at
Wild on Books. |
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