Audio Review: Steel’s Edge by Ilona Andrews

Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews
Narrator: Renée Raudman
Series: The Edge #4
Published by Recorded Books, Ace on 2012-11-27
Length: 402 pages
Length: 15 hours and 25 minutes
Listening Speed: 2.5x
Reviewing Audiobook, eBook from Audible, Library
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2025 Audiobook Challenge, 2025 Beat the Backlist, 2025 Library Love

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...

Steel’s Edge by Ilona Andrews is the final book in The Edge series. Charlotte de Nay is a blueblood Healer who can’t heal herself. After finding out she is barren and her husband presents her with an annulment, Charlotte flees to the Weird to the Edge, leaving all she’s ever known behind. Rebuilding her life, she finds a sense of peace working in the Edge until slavers upend it.

I think this one might be my favorite of the series. Charlotte is a force to be reckoned with. Sheltered and naive her world has already crumbled once, but this second time sends her out for justice. As a healer, she’s been trained to suppress the side of her magic that can destroy. After her ex presented her with annulment papers on the same day she found out she was barren, Charlotte nearly broke her oath to do no harm. This is what led to her being in the Edge. Now with her life once again ruined, Charlotte goes scorched earth, ready to take down the entire slaver ring by herself and the eldest Mar brother was the catalyst.

We first met Richard in Bayou Moon. He’s Kalder’s older, more sensible brother. At the request of Duke Camarine, Richard is hunting down the slavers trying to find the people at the top. However, an injury lands him at Charlotte’s doorstep. Everything that follows he believes is his fault, so when Charlotte comes and saves him again, he can’t turn her away.

Overall, I really enjoyed Steel’s Edge. Richard and Charlotte work well together. Their chemistry feels natural, making them easy to root for. The plot moves at a fast pace, so fast I didn’t want to put it down. The book serves to conclude the series while also setting up the spin-off well. I’m excited to read more from George, Jack, and (I hope) Sophie. If you are a fan of urban fantasy or paranormal romance, I highly recommend it.

Audiobook Note: I opted to listen to this one since I’ve listened to the entire series so far. I enjoyed this one more. It was easy to identify whose perspective it was with the narrator’s subtle inflections and tone changes. Her southern accent still makes me cringe slightly, but I’ve gotten used to it or it wasn’t as bad this time around because it didn’t bother me like in previous books. If you enjoy audio format, I’d recommend it.

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