Tabs’ Duckies Do Series review of The Edge Series by Megan Crane
Post-Apocalyptic Romance published by Swerve Jan – Apr 2016
This series is set in a harsh post-apocalyptic world where the seas have risen and dry land is scarce. If you sometimes find yourself craving old-school viking romances but wishing that the women had more agency and the sex was erotic, then this series may be right up your alley. The heroes are straight-up domineering assholes. The sex is suuuuuuper dirty. The women have inner lives and their own agendas. The incredibly misogynistic world they inhabit doesn’t often let them have many choices, so they’re fierce about getting to choose what they can.
Edge of Obsession, Book 1
05 Jan 16
Helena is stuck between a rock and a hard place when she decides to bait a vicious raider and ends up as his captive prize. The raider war chief, Tyr, knows perfectly well that his captive is keeping secrets and isn’t what she appears to be and he’ll stop at nothing to get the truth out of her.
The world building setup here is really interesting. Powerful men control strongholds in the mountains. People congregate in smaller settlements when they can, bundle down for the winter, and try to keep the population up as much as possible. The raiders are straight-up post-apocalyptic vikings. They have a secret east coast base and swoop in on their boats to raid for goods (and people). They’re also pretty motorcylce-club-esque in that they stick together, have a bro code, and travel with a bunch of willing ladies to service them sexually.
This romance is a bit thin. Helena is easily the more interesting character. She’s got a mission, is trying to stay alive through whatever means necessary, and doesn’t trust the raiders farther than she can throw them because she knows they’ll do whatever is in their best interests first and foremost. Tyr’s a complete ass. He’s a hardass who uses sex as a weapon, struggles against his feelings for Helena, and wants her to trust him without giving her any reason to do so. It’s hard to root for him. Helena seems to care about his stubborn ass anyway, though I’m not sure why.
I enjoyed this first book because it definitely embraced the crazy. The writing engaged me, even if I wanted to smack the hero. The sex was smoking hot.
Grade: B-
Summary:
Tyr, a powerful man in a destroyed world, needs only three things to survive: his weapons, basic resources and a rotation of women to serve his voracious sexual needs. But when a beautiful prisoner grabs his attention during a mission to restock his clan’s supplies, Tyr’s alpha instincts give way to something much darker–strong, unquenchable lust that cannot be ignored…or denied.
After two years on the run, Helena is snared by this dominant group of men who roam the land unchallenged. Strong to her core and with a mission of her own, Helena knows she doesn’t have to be their captive for long. But despite all the terrible things she’s heard about these brutal beasts, Helena is overcome by intense desire for the ruthless man who has taken her. As their scorching passion escalates, Helena will have to trust in Tyr in order to save both what’s left of this desolate, torn-up world…and herself.
Edge of Temptation, Book 2
05 Apr 16
I kind of want to put a stamp on this book declaring it “the most dead-ex-iest book to ever dead-ex.” The basic plot centers upon Raider tech genus Gunnar’s quest to resurrect his dead mate by capturing and sacrificing a virgin in a crazy blood ritual. It’s the craziest plot I’ve seen in a while.
Gunnar stumbles upon novice nun Maud outside of a church compound and whisks her away. He’s pretty upfront that he plans to murder her. Maud’s not real concerned. She’s not happy about it, but she’s been raised in the incredibly abusive church since she was a young girl and her future was already looking bleak, so it’s not that big a change really. The reality of being raised in the “church” in this world slowly unfolds as the story progresses, and I have to say that these parts were seriously appalling and sometimes difficult to read. Just when you think things could get even more perverted and effed up, they totally do.
Maud makes this book for me. Her quiet strength is awesome. I love how she prefers to be submissive but can cut Gunnar to pieces with a single line when he deserves it. And whoo boy does he deserve it. He’s such a crazy asshole. It’s fun that everyone tells him he’s a dumbass to his face, though. I quite enjoyed that.
I enjoyed this book more than the first one because of MAUD. She’s that great. Also, I didn’t think this second book could be dirtier than the first, but, wow, was I wrong. **fans self**
Grade: B
Summary:
Gunnar is a ruined man in a desolate world. He might not believe in black magic, but if there’s the chance it might bring back his lost mate from her early death, he’ll try it. All he needs is to capture a virgin – a rare thing in his torn world – to make the doomed spell work. He does not expect the passion he feels for his beautiful captive to wreck him every time he looks at her. But sometimes temptation is just too much…
Maud was promised to the church a long time ago. Yet when she encounters brooding, ruthless Gunnar, the desire that flares between them obliterates any sense of duty. She’s managed to avoid surrender all these holy years—her very soul has depended on it. But Gunnar’s iron control makes her want nothing more than to bare her heart, and submit to him completely…
These post-apocalyptic viking books are totally effed up and erotically charged. I was appalled at times, but I damn well couldn’t stop reading either book. If the next one is about who I think it’s about, I’ll be one superbly happy camper. Bring on more of the crazysauce, please!
Overall Grade: B
