Ice Blue (The Ice Series, 3)

Ice Blue is the third book in the Ice series after "Black Ice" and "Cold as Ice". I absolutely loved "Black Ice" and consider it one of the best books I've read. But "Cold as Ice" was like... a cold shower. I couldn't like Peter, he was much colder than I could take while the heroine, Genevieve, made one stupid mistake after the other. So I thought that Anne Stuart was one of those authors that wrote a great book but couldn't manage to repeat that feat. I was so wrong! Ice Blue features an incredibly sexy hero, the half-Japanese Takashi O'Brian. While Taka fights his attraction to Summer until very late in the book, he is one HOT man. Summer is a wonderful heroine; clever, feisty, strong and -unlike Genevieve- not prone to stupid mistakes. She quickly realizes that Taka is her only chance to survive, even if he tried to kill her once and may even try again in the future. Takashi, walks an even thinner line between villain and hero than Bastien or Peter, so readers with a soft heart and fond of protective alpha males are better off this book. Takashi is a full Gamma-male, but his sexual aura is so strong that you'll never ask "what Summer found in him". The tension between the two of them was palpable from the very begining and the plot a real page-turner (I hadn't finished a book in a single day for a long long time). Be sure to have plenty of time when you start this one because you'll not be able to leave it off your hands, but if you don't like controversial, gamma-type heroes please stay away. Taka is even harder to forgive than Bastien in Black Ice and that says a lot. If, on the other hand, you've been disappointed with "Cold as Ice" and consider whether to give the Ice series another chance... plunge ahead! This one's a rare treat!

...then the world would have twice as many Anne Stuart novels. But, we must wait patiently for each new Stuart book, for this skilled author to take us out of our comfort zone and on a fascinating journey. This sense of travel is one element I really enjoy in Stuart's fiction. She chooses international settings: when I read the Ice books, I get to experience another place and culture. I love the descriptions of Tokyo and the Japanese countryside. Of course, Stuart's characters are wonderful too. Taka is inscrutable, exotic, sexy--I wish more authors created multicultural heros. Summer is a much better heroine than Genevieve from the previous novel. Even though she's pretty much a normal young woman, albeit very well educated and wealthy, she manages to keep Taka on his toes without being annoying or making stupid choices. I like her sister too. She's a cool, level-headed chick. And this is where we first meet Taka's uber-interesting cousin Reno, who has his own story in Fire and Ice. Read all the Ice books. With the exception of Cold As Ice, they're way above par.

Wow! Summer Hawthorne and Takashi O'Brien are by far the best couple so far in Anne Stuart's Ice series. Takashi is an operative for the super secret Committee. His mission is to retrieve an ancient Japanese urn and then eliminate its owner Summer. If the urn falls into the wrong hands or Summer herself, for that matter, countless lives could be lost. A crazed religious fanatic believes the urn holds the key to his apocalyptic vision. Summer is a pragmatic American. She knows the religious sect wants the urn so she is trynig to keep it well hidden. The moment Takashi enters her life, it is never the same. He rescues her from danger but she also is aware he could kill her at any moment. Takashi is a man used to following orders but he finds reasons not to obey the Committee chairwoman, who sees Summer as a real liability. This book is a roller coaster ride of adventure. Takashi and Summer move from one high drama to the next as they try to stay one step ahead of the religious cult leader and his henchmen. Anne Stuart marvelously keeps the tension simmering. Both Summer and Takashi are incredibly complex individuals that seem perfect for each other from their first meeting. Summer is very likeable. Rarely are romance heroines bold, smart and vulnerable. She does not have to be continually rescued from her own plans, she is too intelligent for that. She realizes Takashi and the Committee hold most of the cards. Takashi is alpha male but also vulnerable with Summer. Anne Stuart allows the reader glimpses of his family situations past and present (he is half Japanese and American, related to a Japanese mobster) which makes for a full character development. He walks the fine line between hero and villain. No one can write about the tortured hero/ bad boy like Anne Stuart. This one goes on my keeper shelf.

Ice Blue is a hard driving suspense and romance set in the midst of a global power struggle against the catastrophic plans of delusional religious cult leader surrounded by New Age enthusiasts and the best scientific minds the Cold War could provide. A professional Japanese operative is ordered to obtain an art relic and then kill his hostage but surprising twists and unfolding details repeatedly derail the completion of those orders. Romantic suspense fills every scene of Ice Blue to the N-th degree! Museum curator and Asian art scholar Summer Hawthorne treasures the blue ceramic bowl as a gift from her beloved Japanese nanny. Summer values her childhood memories of eating cookies from it over its current high monetary value. When her quirky mother Lianne joins The True Realization Fellowship, a Japanese religious cult headed by the albino Shirosama, Summer knows that if her mother had her way, her beloved bowl will be only one more family heirloom that increases the coffers of this strange cult. When Takashi O'Brien ("Taka") saves Summer from Shirosama's followers and a certain death, she does not know whether to trust him or fear him. He may have temporarily saved the bowl from the True Realization but only so that he could take it. If the look in his eyes did not scare her, his tattoo does. Taka belongs to the Yakuza (the Japanese Mafia). She has already seen him kill more than once to achieve his objective and his plans for her are no secret. Even more disturbing is the use to which this bowl will be put once possession is attained. The macabre and delusional visions of his Holiness Shirosama are far more deadly than the sarin gas attacks of the Tokyo subways by the Aum Shinrikyo cult and or the Jonestown mass suicide "The People's Temple" led by the Reverend Jim Jones. The reader knows every cruel thought and mission detail as it unfolds --- and still the page-turning suspense builds until the very last line. Despite her hostage situation, Summer is an unusual heroine-victim --- weak, strong, intelligent, feminine, bruised from the past endowed with a quirky sense of humor. The unusual pairing of the family rejected half-breed Yakuza operative and the sensitive museum curator who thinks of herself as unattractive electrifies the suspense. The romance is hard, somewhat cruel yet soul-healing and even tender at moments, but most of all unforgettable. The family relationships of the main characters and the secondary characters are complex and deepen the psychological motivations and histories of Taka and Summer. Ice Blue will sear these two characters and their struggle into the reader's memory long after the book is closed.

I don't get a chance to read from the romance/suspense genre very often as I usually try to avoid it - so I can't tell you how it compares to its fellow rivals or aquaintances. That may change after reading this story. I was cruising along the paperbacks at a local foodmarket and stumbled on this book. I read the summary on the back and bought it on a whim since it sounded interesting. Little did I know that the instant I picked it up to read right before bed, I ended up not sleeping at all. It is THAT AWESOME. I may be checking out the paperbacks more often now, especially for Anne Stuart. This book isn't for everyone. Unless you're a diehard romantic who can stomach heady forbidden romances such as this, you may not enjoy the story quite as much. It was a nice intense read (BIG understatement), but truly, if I hadn't loved this story as I did, I wouldn't even have bothered writing a review for it. My final advice? Go for it.