Ice Blue by Anne Stuart

Anne Stuart website

(Romantic Suspense)
5/5 stars







I'm reading Ice Blue with my friend, Melody-click here . She and I always read the "ICE" series together. It always fun! In the past, I have review the second book Cold As Ice of "ICE" books but I posted a comments about Black Ice ......

click here Cold As Ice review/Anne Stuarts


Summer Hawthorne, a museum curator, was given an treasure of sentimental value of an ice-blue ceramic bowl from her beloved Japanese nanny Hana. She had kept it saved in hope that Hana will come back for it. But she died, and Summer loan it to the exclusive museum (where she work)to keep it away from religious charlatan.

But the night of her opening reception at Sansone Museum in Santa Monica Mountain, where only the rich and powerful guests were invited to view the collection of Japanese ceramics, she was kidnapped and put in the back trunk of the car. It wasn't until later that she learn there are people out there who would kill to get their hand on the ice blue ceramic bowl. Even the man Summer had feeling for, Takashi O'Brien.

It was the bowl and a map to a shrine that the Shirosana needs to bring his apocalypse to it final stage. And since Summer's mother and sister didn't work out the way it was planned, they decided to do the next things...get Summer

It was up to Takashi O'Brien, an assassin from the Committee, to stop the global power from mass destruction. His mission was to kill Summer, get the ice blue ceramic bowl away from Shirosana and disappear without anyone knowing he existed. But it get harder as he struggle to keep his emotional feeling for Summer from getting in the way to get his job done. He wonder if he have gone insane.

I thought Taka was very sexy and smart guy. He seem to be very cold with no emotions to anyone...that is until he met Summer. He had humors without trying to be funny. You can tell his feeling for Summer was there, even though he try to control it. I like it that Summer is a smart, strong heroine who is not TSTL and can managed to control her emotions when she face the violence that was put upon her. You'll never see her cry or scream.

We see Taka's young cousin, Reno and Summer's little sister Jilly. I'm hoping for romance between the two, since it was obvious there something between them. And I want to know the answers to why he hate "something". But that is left open for Anne Stuart to decided to write their story. We also see the previous heroes from the "Ice" series, making appearance in Ice Blue as well.

I love it that the hero from Ice Blue is an part Asian American. There not whole lot of books that I have read that show Asian heroes or heroine these days. I'll be lucky if I found some, which I did managed to find *grin*.

Anne Stuart is getting better and better as each "ICE" series books. Her heroes are always VERY dark and emotionless cold-blooded assassin, who always found loves in every unexpected places. I have enjoy most of Anne's heroes and like it that they're bad boy, strong individual who try to put their job first before their emotional feeling toward the heroines. But that the heroines can changed them. The heroes end up getting involved in steamy relationship with the women they don't want to want or much want to love. It not one of those warm fuzzy romance, but it is romance that you surely going to love as you see each couples fight through their feeling and watch their relationship developed while they try to chase or run from the villain. Very intense and very sexy...IMO

Ice Blue is a very exciting book with good non-stop action and well written characters. A few quick spur of the moment but steamy scenes and complex plot. I enjoy the book and highly recommend anyone to read "ICE" series if you not squeamish with ultra dark heroes. I love them all!! .....

Here is the book in order it to be read (I think you can also read it as stand alone-but each characters are seen from previous books)

The ICE series (committee)

Black Ice
Cold As Ice
Ice Blue
Ice Storm - releasing November 2007