Living on the Edge by LaVerne Thompson

Living On The Edge by LaVerne Thompson

My rating: 4.25 of 5 stars


This was easily a four star book, because I really liked it. Ms. Thompson is a very good writer. The story was interesting, and the characters likeable. The mystery/suspense was good. I liked the world she created with her Atrox shifters (extinct Cave lions). I think she was true to the cat nature in crafting her characters. I think it was interesting how many of the Atrox were in this story, even though they were supposedly rare (and Ms. Thompson even had a character make a comment about this). I liked that Ms. Thompson didn't have any loose ends or implausibility in her world-building. I have come to realize that although I am a huge cat-fancier, I love werewolf PNR more than cat paranormal. But a fan of cat shifters will be very happy with this book.



I found the characters to be well developed, although this is a shorter novel. I liked that Ethan was a good mix of alpha and beta, possessive and strong, vital and masculine; but he was cool with a strong woman, and he could handle her independent nature, and trust her to do what she did well, without taking it as an assult against his masculinity. Edge was a capable heroine, very intelligent, tough and confident, but not annoying in her kick-butt nature. It's not easy to bring an alpha heroine to life, and Ms. Thompson did it well.



The sensual parts were tres sexy, and the attraction between Edge and Ethan rich and natural. I liked that they didn't jump right into bed. Any sex breaks they took were appropriately timed. Although Edge wanted to look on their relationship as more casual than it was, Ethan definitely wanted to stake his claim. I could see Edge's reasons, but I don't like the casual sex thing, so I was bummed at her attitude about their relationship. But all that ends well.



One thing I must mention is there were some editing oopsies. I hate to harp on that, but I think it's important to state for anyone who has a serious issue with editing errors who might read this review. They were pretty minor, just a lack of commas were I felt there needed to be, and just a couple of homonym errors. I am no grammar expert, and I won't pretend to be. I can overlook minor editing problems very well, but I just wish the epublishers were better about not letting stories get by without fixing those things. Ms. Thompson is a very good writer, and her story has a polish that shines through, and I hate that poor editing might cause readers to look down on her work. In all fairness, I have seen major publishing houses and books by best-selling authors with errors, so I tend to try to shrug that off for the most part. (Danielle steps off her soapbox)



I must say, I am very picky about paranormal romance. It's one of my favorite genres, and I've read enough that I know what I like and I don't, and my standards are probably unfairly high, and I have found I am tougher about my rating of PNRs as I read more and more of them. I really need the zing factor with a paranormal romance to give it five stars. This one is up there for me, although not a five star read. Having said that, I want to thank Ms. Thompson for the opportunity to read her novel. It's clear she knows what PNR fans want, and she has a feel for writing a very good romance that shows in Living on the Edge. I will definitely read more of her books!



Overall rating: 4.25/5.0.



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