Brett Rocha retired from pro-hockey while still at the top of his game. Co-owner of a chain of restaurants and an inherited ice skating academy, he seems to have it all. Despite his fame, wealth, and good fortune, though, Brett suddenly finds himself painfully alone.Ex-Olympic figure skating star Rylan Hennessy transitioned to professional ice dancing with Celia, Brett’s sister and Rylan’s … lifelong partner on the ice. Then tragedy strikes, and Rylan’s world is turned upside down, too.With the unexpected death of Celia, Brett and Rylan are drawn together through their mutual grief. Their bond strengthens when Brett introduces Rylan to BDSM, a lifestyle Rylan has never experienced before. While the mystery of Celia’s murder still needs to be solved, a second tragedy threatens to tear them apart.Will their relationship survive, or will love be enough to see them through this life altering, harrowing change?
more
Edge Jump is my first experience with the writing of Elizabeth Noble and I’ve got to say I’m impressed. She’s won me over with her soothing and elegant style, her creative characters, and the intriguing way she tells a story. There’s a nice little mystery here, but it is the lusciously dirty love affair that kept me on the “edge” of my seat.
There’s a unique plot in Edge Jump and I enjoyed the way it all plays out… despite being centered around the murder of a professional ice dancer and her fiancé, we are spared most of the gory details. The focus of the story is on the way the romantic relationship develops between the two main characters.
Brett Rocha, a retired pro hockey player, is called to Vancouver following the murder of his sister Celia. While there, Brett is reunited with his sister’s long time performing partner, Rylan Hennessy, and the attraction is immediate and compelling.
It turns out Rylan has held a torch for Brett for ages, and Brett is extremely interested in the man Rylan is today. Between comforting each other over the traumatic murders, and assisting in the investigation, these two spend enough time together that a romantic relationship is inevitable. (Lucky us!) The sparks really start to fly when Brett discovers Rylan’s interest in BDSM. If you enjoy mildly kinky BDSM stories, where the older, experienced Dom instructs the younger, inexperienced sub, then you will be in heaven!
While the murder mystery part of Edge Jump is interesting and well done, overall it is a small part of the story. Honestly, I would have been fine with a few more details, but I understand why the author built the story the way she did. This part of the book moves quickly, and once the murders are solved an entirely different set of problems crops up. That’s all I’m saying because I don’t want to spoil it for you.
Elizabeth Noble chooses instead to dive into how aspects of BDSM help Brett and Rylan cope with some intense issues that develop. The power play between the two men helps them explore their relationship and provides them with the tools they need to come through the tragedies they’re facing. BDSM helps them in more ways than one.
One thing I found very interesting in Edge Jump is the behind the scenes stories of professional skaters. Both men have to deal with changing their careers as they age. Brett seems happy to have retired from pro hockey, and has found real enjoyment running the training camp his parents established. Rylan has a harder time facing the twilight of his career, having competed in the Olympics and other competitions at that level, moving down to ice dancing is an adjustment. Either way, both men have to face the wear and tear being professional athletes has taken on their bodies, and it is a fascinating part of the story.
After a few nights of curling up with Edge Jump I was really sorry to see this story end. I’m really looking forward to delving into Elizabeth Noble’s extensive backlog of work and seeing what else she’s written that will appeal to me.
Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted my copy of this book direct from the author, that I write a review was not required.
Brett retired from professional ice hokey and now runs the centre his parents set up, to teach. His sister, Celia and her partner, Rylan, has moved onto ice dancing. But a senseless crime takes Celia away from both Brett and Rylan, and brings them both together at their darkest time. Then Rylan is hit with a far worse tragedy. Can they get through this, together?
You know, sometimes, you read a blurb, and your brain plots away, and that’s what you expect from the book?? Then the book actually goes off in a way you did not see coming?? And you loved it for it??
This book, right here!
I have NO idea what I thought would happen here, but I was very surprised with it! It really did kinda-creep-up-on-me!!
Brett and Rylan have chemistry, right from the start. But Brett keeps himself back a bit, and it pulls at you, the way Rylan reacts to that. There is a lot of pulling on the heart strings here! I loved the way Brett gradually introduced Rylan to BDSM, and that Rylan took to it, like a duck to water. I didn’t think it overly explicit though and I LIKED that here, but that might just be me!
I did not get how Celia and her fiance’s deaths would play out. Did NOT see that one coming at me, not at all!
Rylan’s recovery from what happened is long and painful, but you feel it **taps chest* right here. Every time his brain threw self doubt at him. Every time Brett pulled him out of it, and you cheer, when he finally is able to get back on the ice. And when Rylan listens to Brett when he says “I’m not going anywhere!”
I’ve read a couple of other books by Ms Noble, and I do like how she can switch from paranormal, to contemporary, to more sexy books. High skill of an author, I think!
It crept up on, this book, it really did!
4.5 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Edge Jump starts off with the death of Brett’s sister, who is also Rylan’s skating partner. The police are treating it as an attempted mugging. Brett wants answers, and hopes Rylan can provide at least some of them. When they meet up with each other again, neither of them wants to deny the attraction. Making their relationship work though, proves more difficult due to outside forces than either of them imagined.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and found it to be very well written. Rylan is new to ‘the scene’, but already knows what he wants. Brett is scared at the thought of having a ‘forever’ someone, but isn’t able to stop moving forward with Rylan. The mystery side of it wasn’t that mysterious, but I still enjoyed it. I couldn’t quite understand the culmination of the mystery (without giving anything away) as I don’t see how they could have got away with it, but nevermind.
With no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow, this was a great M_M romance, and I would have no hesitation in recommending it.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!
Brett and Rylan have known each other for years, since Rylan and Brett’s sister Celia became skating partners as children. Now, Celia has been murdered, and Brett and Rylan immediately become dependent on each other to make it through this difficult time.
I have to admit, I never got a feeling of true devastation from either man over Celia’s death. They seemed more focused on their budding sexual relationship. At first, I was put off by this and worried I wouldn’t like the book, but things began to change for me after the murder was solved. Once Brett and Rylan were able to spend more time together building their new D/s relationship, and Rylan had to learn to cope with the shift in his world caused by an injury on top of Celia’s death, I began to care more about both men. I loved the way they just wanted to make each other happy. I enjoyed the entire book, but I really got into the second part. The writing was strong, and I will be happy to read more from this author.
This story had me hooked from the first page until the last. The writing is captivating and had me turning the pages in record time. It was fun, sad, sexy, heartbreaking, thrilling, and uplifting. It all started very sadly with the death of Brett’s sister, Celia, and her fiancé, Clive. He has known Rylan, Celia’s ice dance partner, from a young age, but now he sees more than the little boy who has always been by Celia’s side.
What follows is a beautiful journey of two men grieving in their own way and finding solace and love in each other’s arms. The author did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life. I could feel their connection and love shining through. Brett introduces Rylan to his BDSM lifestyle, and that as well felt natural. They were made for each other. Rylan has always been in control on the ice, but now he is adrift. Submitting to Brett and letting go is what he needs to heal and feel himself again. Brett loves nothing more than keeping Rylan on the edge and taking care of him. The scenes were steamy, but very tastefully and knowledgeably done. With mutual consent and trust. How it should be in good BDSM relationships.
A big plus for me is that there are quite some on-ice scenes, and especially the show Rylan performs in sounds magical, with all the heartbreaking beauty.
Although I felt that the mystery around Celia’s death was not the heart of the story, it emerged more than enough to not let me forget it and keep me on my toes. The outcome is not that surprising, but the author tied up all loose ends very nicely. Well, nicely in the way of telling who done it. Not in other ways because it has serious effects on Rylan and Brett. They are already so far in their relationship that they can handle this as well with love and understanding. For me, this was one of the best parts of the book as I have gone through the same thing as Rylan, albeit it on a different level. I can, however, relate to him, and how he feels broken and useless. I loved how Brett didn’t give in and showed some tough love.