From NY Times Bestselling Author, CD Reiss – a sexy and intense prequel to the Edge Series.
There’s a war going on.
You need to pay attention to your job, not the surgeon. Not his sky-blue eyes or the confidence in his hands. Not the smile under his mask or the way it fits on his jaw.
Eight days of casualties. Eight days of hell.
Then you are the casualty.
You are the one he’s standing over. … one he’s standing over. The one who can save you.
And as sure as the sky stretches from horizon to horizon, you love him.
But this is a war, and love doesn’t blossom in a war. Not without sacrifice.
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This is a Prequel to the Edge Series. It features the same couple. the same Alpha hero, the same rock-solid heroine.
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This was a great peak into how the main characters met and started their whirlwind relationship while overseas. I did read book 1 and 2 before I even knew there was this novella. In a way, I’m glad I didn’t read this first. I liked the mystery surrounding these two when I began the series. The author did state on her Facebook page that you will want to read this before you read book 3.
Good storyline and use of imagery. Descriptiveness is out of this world.
I was just getting ready to start reading an ARC of Rough Edge by C.D., the first book in her new Edge series, when she announced that she had a prequel available to read on iBooks. And being the OCD type of reader that I am, I immediately closed my Kindle and picked up my iPad and downloaded Cutting Edge. I know it isn’t necessary to read it before starting the series, but dammit my brain would just be niggling at me the entire time I was reading, whispering to me that there’s more story out there, that will possibly give us a little more insight to these two characters.
Not gonna lie, some parts of this short story were hard to read. War is ugly and bloody and messy and there are consequences and casualties and it just tears your heart apart. And amidst it all are Caden and Greyson, doing their best to keep the soldiers alive, both physically and mentally, while trying to get through their deployments.
The attraction is immediate, but can they even think about having anything more than a physical relationship? Guess you’ll have to read to find out. All I can say at this point is Caden St. John is sexy and delicious and yeah, I’d spend time with him.
Moving on to Rough Edge now!
I read this prequel within the pages of Rough Edge, as they were packaged together. I found the sequel difficult to read, not because it was bad, but because it was so good. This prequel, though, I had difficulty with it for other reasons. The writing seemed stilted, like the author was a ship breaking through ice. It didn’t seem to flow naturally, and I kept wondering what the point was; but still, it was compelling me to read, to find that purpose within its pages. I’m glad now that the 2 were together, as I might not have continued past the prequel, and that would have been a tragedy.
I am hooked! I MUST read the rest! I have to know how this ends! Binge-worthy and addicting. Don’t start this series until you’re ready to commit, but commit ASAP! This is one addiction that’ll be good for you.
This novella introduces Major Greyson Frazier and Captain Caden St. John, a psychiatrist and an army surgeon, who meet during the war in Iraq.
There is an immediate attraction, but day after day of war casualties keeps everything else at bay. Major Frazier’s duties are to watch the doctors and nurses and to aid in their fatigue. and he becomes very interested in Caden as there seems to be something dark in his past, something she hasn’t been able to get past.
Even though it sometimes feels as though the world is ending and the fatigue takes over everything, the two of them still find a little humor. Caden is flirty and extremely likeable… Greyson is less flirty, but she’s fighting against the attraction just as hard as she can.
Their relationship is hotter than an Arizona summer night . but even if love blooms during wartime, will it be enough to last when the war is over?
This is a Prequel to the Edge Series. It features the same couple. the same Alpha hero, the same rock-solid heroine. It is free on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
A great prelude to this series. So much is explained, yet not enough. A must read.
This is a short novella where we get to meet Greyson and Caden, how they meet and how their love starts..
I really recommend reading Cutting edge to give you a feel of how The Edge series begins and how their characters evolve..
you’re not going to be disappointed, this novella has so much to offer and so much to tell about this amazing story!!
Get ready to be blown away by this wonderful characters!!
Cutting Edge is the prequel to The Edge series. This short novella is how Greyson and Caden met while being stationed in Iraq. CD Reiss captures the war scene with a haunting authenticity especially how trauma and exhaustion affects the mind and body. That’s how Major Greyson comes in to the picture. As a psychiatrist she has to monitor the surgeons while operating on casualties. Captain Caden St. John who’s a surgeon makes an immediate impression on Greyson and vice versa.
I’ve already read book 1 – Rough Edge so it was a great addition to the series. Some puzzle pieces fell into place. Also their chemistry is undeniable. So much heat. Cutting Edge is not necessary to read but I highly recommend it.
4 BadAssDirtyMajorAndCaptainStars
Wanted to read this before I moved on to book 3. Eek, it’s the beginning of them. Man what a set up. So far this series has got me all crazy. I love it!
I always like the writing style of CD Reiss. This of course was written very well, the characters are well-developed, and it had a great plot line. Worth getting into but it’s very realistic when it comes to war. Not for the squeamish.
Okay, I just gotta be clear about a couple of things. I’m not a war genre reader, and short prequels are just a waste of time for me, I need the meat of the book front and center so I can dig into a full length book and just get lost in it when it’s just that good. Well CD Reiss just shot that all to hell when I picked up a free copy of Cutting Edge to read, had no intention to continue with the series, might not have even finished the short prequel, but I did, and I freaking loved it! Caden is a drop dead gorgeous surgeon that any of the surgical nurses in that Army Base wouldn’t have minded to loved to have a little fun with, but when Dr. Greyson ends up being dumped in the middle of the compound, nothing is what either one of them expected, and it went on from there. Your heart broke when it came to these broken soldiers coming in from the war zone, either too far gone to save or patched back up and sent back out, only to have them back again except worse. The chemistry between Greyson and Caden was nothing short of hot, steamy, erotic and emotional sex. I loved every damn word in this book! And now the decision for me is get the next installment right now on my ereader, or order them all in paperback so I can have them for my library, because you know there are going to be some narly twist and turns with this series! All I need to join the party is to get my hands on the books, like now. Great book, very well written, very well worth the read!
I am glad I waited and read this first. Because it gave me the back story on how Greyson and Caden met. And how it all started and what led up to the first book.
Greyson and Caden’s history is related in this prequel. The first chinks in his mental armor are revealed. Ronin’s role in Greyson’s life is detailed.
5 “outside the wire” stars
“One man against the US Army and the woman who won’t leave it.”
Prequels are always fillers, to take you back to the start,to lay the groundwork for How’s & Where’s. This book explains how Greyson met Caden in stressful backdrop of Iraq war. Overworked surgeons, nonstop wounded and dead on a conveyor belt and the psychological effect of living in a mortar shells shadow, is taking a toll on them all.
“I keep seeing their faces. Then their wounds. And the screaming. I keep hearing the screams.”
Greyson Frazier steps in the base where she’s deployed as a psychiatrist and meets one of the surgeons, Caden st.john.
One look at his Sky blue eyes and a bolt of lightning strikes as a Cupid’s arrow straight in both of their hearts. Their encounter, their easy banter, their attraction is a setting of scene to lead you to the main story.
I loved reading this fast and furious story, though most if it I had read in Rough Edge and On the Edge as a flashback. So nothing new there. Sex scenes were hot !! Caden, I saw in a pre-incident light, and he’s/was a romantic !!!
“If I knew you were coming, I would have covered the bed in rose petals.”
Greyson is an army brat so she knows what she’s walking into, what’s expected of her and she has her goals in line. But she falls for the seemingly normal surgeon and …..
“We made something messy, uncomfortable, distorted beyond recognition. It was the sinking feeling you got when you feared you’d made a mistake.
After that, everything went sideways.”
A must read prequel in my opinion. I read Cutting Edge after I read book one Rough Edge and it gave me deeper insight into Caden and Greyson’s lives when they met at war. It concentrates solely on that time, the circumstances driving them together and the implicit need they feel for one another. The stress and complete tragic chaos of their time spent there was defined so precisely that you can almost feel how their lives are beginning to unravel as a result of their meeting and falling. It’s written in C.D. Reiss’s signature, enthralling style leaving with you more questions and breathless waiting for the answers. I think this prequel novella was great insight after reading the first book but could also be read fluidly before you start book one as well. Whichever you preference you don’t want to skip it.
Wow! Short but to the point! I loved reading this after reading the first book because it gave a lot of interesting insight to the two characters we already know and helps understand things a little more in-depth! It was crazy seeing how they first met and got together under such dire circumstances! There was definitely some kinda pull between them that I liked seeing play out!
“Awake you that sleep” – Ephesians 5:14
“ ‘I don’t believe in the Universe with a capital U, and I don’t believe in God. I believe in brain signals and blood. But now? I’m willing to think maybe I’m wrong about everything. This is what it comes down to. You expanded my view of the universe. I don’t know what to do with that. I’m not saying I believe in fate or karma or ‘meant to be’ now, but my thinking got bigger because of you. I feel woken up… I feel ignorant and ordinary but awake.’” – Caden
Oh…the intricacy and depth of this Prequel which sets the stage for the epic to come!!! I had the distinct pleasure of reading Rough Edge first which left me breathless almost clinging to life it is that good. Now this (short in comparison) Prequel, Cutting Edge sucked me back into a story which is a love story that has tensions pulling it from the inside with the deep seated psychological wounds and issues of both lovers…Caden and Greyson, as well as, pushing up against it with dark motives from shady characters and (I’ll say it) perhaps the twisted evil agendas of the powerful in our society. Don’t let me forget to tell you that it is “F-hot”!!! Seriously dripping, melting, turning “sand into glass” hot!!!
You could sit back, read and enjoy the unfolding of a great, erotic romantic suspense epic that “The Edge” is shaping up to be…or…you could wake up and listen to the subtle touches this master author writes into her story.
“The sky was crystalline blue, heavy and thick, the only pure thing in a messy world. It connected all of us equally under its sapphire bowl.”
“…his fucking eyes were the color of the bowl that connected all of us.”
“The eternal sky was captured in his eyes, deadly and comforting, alive with purpose.”
“I could never forget the love in them.”
Each of the above quotes was taken from different passages of Cutting Edge. When you read actively and attuned to the words… you begin to see the beauty, intelligence, heart and perhaps a glimpse of the author’s soul.
Cutting Edge takes place entirely in a forward Combat Support Hospital in Iraq. Greyson a true soldier at heart…a lifer… is a US Army Psychiatrist tasked to keep the surgeons and medical staff functioning at their maximum capacity to handle the crush of incoming wounded from a forward area offensive action. Caden is the volunteer US Army trauma surgeon who gave up a lucrative civilian practice to do his part after 911. He is exceedingly capable and almost demonic in his drive to stay scrubbed up and in surgery days upon end, dealing with devastating injury after injury. The initial meeting and chemistry between these two is mesmerizing!!!
I also hear a love letter in Cutting Edge to those who have borne the battle and the inescapable scars it leaves on their psyche. Compounding these wounds is the difficulty for a strong battle-tested soldier to admit their unseen wounds…to admit to any weakness. I hear acknowledgement of the unique struggle of woman to earn the equal privilege to sacrifice their blood and soul for that which a soldier is commanded to do? I hear the whispered questions in the heart of those who lost a leg, an arm, a buddy, their mind … “Why?” I hear the soldier who believed that the military was the way to educate their mind earning the access to advanced education still hoping they will still have a mind to educate after the battle is done. I hear the burden the military family bears and the unique damage(?) to the psyche of a child when their warrior parent(s) speak of the carnage they witnessed on the battlefield. I hear an ode to the bravery and self-sacrifice of the poor and middle class who always have been asked in large majority to serve or who volunteer to serve. Their sacrifice never truly or fully appreciated by those who would wage war without reservation for less than noble reasons and not for the ideals we hold true.
I also hear in the very name Caden St. John that this is going to be one “hell” of a love story…pun intended. Cutting Edge sets the stage, gives you a delicious nibble and cuts close to the heart of what’s to come on the edge as Caden had to precisely wield his scalpel in surgery. It’s an invitation and by God right now, it’s free! “Awake” my friends!!! How can you resist? How can anyone resist?
CD Reiss’ new Edge series wrestles with the question how does a marriage forged on the battlefield find a way to survive the peace. Its prequel, “Cutting Edge” (which I read in the order written/released-after Book 1) tells the story of Caden and Greyson’s life in Fallujah. An Army trauma surgeon and psychiatrist on the eve of a vicious battle – they definitely didn’t meet “cute”. Caden was every bit the sexy beast – raw, aggressive, sexual and dismissive all at once. Greyson was all business – assessing her charge’s mental fortifications for the battle ahead. But their souls locked on one another like heat seeking missiles, and what followed is a passionate, electrifying fatalistic courtship the likes of which I’ve never experienced either on the page and, most definitely, not in real life. A masterpiece of love at its most brutal is unfolding before our very eyes,
And the reason it all works is Ms. Reiss’ deft hand when it comes to emotional manipulation. The inevitability of their love is a living, breathing thing. and a respite from the brutality of the war that surrounds them. It was the calm in the eye of the storm – both for Greyson and Caden, and for me as a reader, after the tempest Ms. Reiss created in my heart with Rough Edge.
Ms. Reiss is a virtuoso at delving into the darkest, basest parts of our heart and showing us the way to love. The Edge series is her master work.
This novella is everything a CD Reiss fan could hope for. I can’t wait to read the entire series.