REVIEW: Edge of Truth by Brynn Kelly

In Edge of Truth by Brynn Kelly, TV journalist Tess Newell is known internationally, which in her line of work is both good and bad. Good, because her stories are far-reaching. Bad, because it makes her a target–which is why she is now being held hostage somewhere in an African dungeon. In Tess’s mind, it means the information she’s compiled against terrorist group al-Thawra is hitting too close to home. So when a new hostage is dropped into her holding cell, a big brute of a guy with his mind set on their escape, she agrees to help him. Planning to part ways once free doesn’t seem to work as Tess finds herself being saved time and again by Flynn. But as the terrorists close in, she’ll have to somehow find a way to break her story to the world, stop the bad guys, and not get her heart broken by the mysterious Legionnaire in the process.

“A one-off.” Something clunked in her chest. No. No regret. She was going to enjoy this.
“A one-off. Just sex. Just fun. Just an escape.”
“We’d better make it good, then.” It was meant to sound sexy, but it came out squeaky.
He released her wrist, returning his forearm to the bed. “We’d better make it awesome.”

With a childhood he’s still struggling to forget and a target forever on his back, Flynn joined the French Foreign Legion as a way to start over. And the past decade has proven to him that he’s in the right place, with a great group of guys, all of them working towards a common goal to rid the world of evil. But Flynn’s newest mission put him and his team directly in harm’s way, landing him in a dungeon with Tess. Journalists are admittedly not his favorite people, but he can’t leave her with al-Thawra planning to execute her and send a morbid message to the world. So one well-planned escape later–okay, a half thought out series of events–and Flynn finds himself fighting off the bad guys with Tess still by his side. Somehow knowing that he should let her go on her way so he can return to his team doesn’t keep him in line. Instead, he ends up risking his life and career to help his sexy new partner get her story and keep her as safe as possible with killers on their heels.

“I believe in you.” The words came out before he had time to think, but they were true. He’d ride shotgun on any crazy plan she hatched. He believed in her–in this–like he hadn’t believed in anything for a very long time.

Constant action and complicated pasts dominated this thrilling novel. Edge of Truth brought together a French Legionnaire and a TV journalist with strong personalities and enough courage between them to take on a terrorist group to avoid an all-out global war.

Trigger warning: Hostages held in a dungeon. Torture. Graphic fight scenes and war-type casualties.

Edge of Truth is Brynn Kelly’s second work of fiction, a romantic suspense–with emphasis on the suspense–that has ties to her first novel Deception Island. The action was just as intense this time around, although it took place in the African desert instead of a tropical locale. And like it did in her first book, I found that the storyline picked up speed as things progressed, especially towards the end where the fighting/action increased dramatically while everything unraveled around Tess and Flynn.

I actually had a lot of fun meeting Flynn and Tess and thought they made a solid, if not unlikely, pair. There was definitely a spark of attraction right away and a playful energy surrounding them which was cool, given that they were basically in the middle of a war zone. It added a bit of lightheartedness to a difficult situation where they were in mortal danger most of the time. I did have to question if it was really plausible that they would take time to have a make out session in the middle of the desert with terrorists after them, but, hey, I’ve never been in that situation so what do I know, right? 😉

It was interesting to see how internationally known journalist Tess handled being around Flynn, a Legionnaire who stayed mum about his secret past, knowing that she would be just itching to get his full story. My heart broke for Flynn with what he’d been through in his life but I thought it was incredible that he had become such an honorable guy. A hero, really. And Tess herself not only thought of him that way as well, but she turned out to be every bit as brave as Flynn. She truly wanted to get her story of corruption and evil political doings to the world to stop the parties involved and was willing to sacrifice her life for it. Tess wasn’t in it to get the story of a lifetime, she wanted to right an injustice. And I had to give her major credit for that.

If you’re looking for an exciting story with well-developed characters, filled with political intrigue and fight scenes as detailed as any blockbuster action movie, then Edge of Truth would be a great addition to your TBR.
 

Book Info:

Publication: May 30th 2017 | Harlequin Books |

Tensions sizzle in this electrifying novel guaranteed to capture your heart and take your breath away. Fans of Julie Garwood, Suzanne Brockmann and Jayne Ann Krentz will devour this action-packed, emotionally stunning tour de force, where every page reveals another damning secret and daring gamble.

Rotting in an African dungeon is the last place journalist Tess Newell expected to find herself. As she’s held hostage by the terrorist group she’s investigating, Tess’s salvation–and temptation–arrives in the form of another prisoner. A French Foreign Legionnaire with a sinful smile and too many secrets to be anything but dangerous. Yet she knows he’s her only hope of surviving.

The Legion is the only family Flynn has. His sanctuary and his purgatory, after years spent in hell. When a mission goes south and Flynn is captured, it’s not the enemy that worries him, but the brazen, alluring reporter whose prying questions threaten to bring down his world–and the walls he’s built around his heart.

Yet after a daring escape, Flynn must risk it all and go on the run with Tess to retrieve the evidence she needs. The chemistry between them threatens to detonate but, with the enemy fast closing in, time is running out to unravel the truth from the lies in this deadly conspiracy…