Cindy Gerard, To the Edge

Cindy Gerard, To the Edge - In Palm Beach, Florida, renowned wealthy businessman Darin Kincaid has always feared for the safety of his TV news anchor daughter; Jillian on the other hands thinks he is overly worried but caring. Darin wants Jillian under the protection of a bodyguard twenty-four hours a day since she began receiving nasty email and phone calls but she resents the intrusion into her privacy, rationalizing that a sick but harmless prankster is at work.

Darin hires E.D.E.N. security to protect her without telling her. Siblings Ethan, Dallas and Eve assign their reluctant brother Nolan Garrett, former U.S. Army Airborne Ranger, the job. He breaks into her high security apartment to prove she needs his services. She becomes irate with his "grandstanding" while he believes she is spoiled. As they spend time together, he realizes she is a strong, intelligent person refusing to hide from her unknown stalker. Though he loves her, Nolan knows that a drunken broken soldier has no chance with a winner like Jillian; she wonders how to reach the soul of the man she loves.

TO THE EDGE is a fantastic, romantic suspense that moves quite nicely along two parallel paths, the attraction between the lead couple and the stalking of the villain, before converging into a strong finish. Darin's siblings (who will star in their own novels in the future) and her father add depth as each in their unique way worries about one of the prime players. The relationship between the two stars is a delight to follow as their feelings evolve from loathing to admiration to love. The stalker is handled deftly throughout the plot leaving the audience with a fine, opening gamut in the Kincaid siblings' saga.

St. Martin's, May 2005, $6.99, 352 pp.

ISBN: 031299091X