Exciting Fast-Paced Romantic Suspense

Living paycheck to paycheck in Paris, American book translator Chloe Underwood would give anything for some excitement and passion — even a little danger. So when she's offered a lucrative weekend gig translating at a business conference in a remote chateau, she jumps at the chance to shake things up.

Then by chance Chloe discovers her employers are anything but the entrepreneurs they appear, and suddenly she knows far too much. Her clients are illegal arms dealers, and one of them is ordered to kill her. But instead, Bastien Toussaint drags Chloe away, and the next thing she knows she's on the run with the most terrifying and seductive man she's ever met. What were his motives — and would she live long enough to find out?

Title: Black Ice
Author: Anne Stuart
Series: Ice Series, Book 1

Published: 2005

Publisher: MIRA Romantic Suspense (Harlequin)
Pages: 444
Genre: Romance- Contemporary, Suspense

Anne Stuart has written quite a few novels in her lifetime, some of these being part of series but her most recent are her romantic suspense Ice Series set in various interesting places with various leading characters. The first book in this series is Black Ice in which Chloe and Bastien’s story is told.

I’d been hearing a lot about Anne Stuart’s Ice series on various blogs for the last couple of months when I won the third book Ice Blue from J. Kaye’s Book Blog Raffle so I figured it was as good a time as any to start the series. I have to say that I really liked it!

I thought Chloe was an interesting and strong main character because she never got too hysterical the entire time her life was being threatened (which was more times than not) and the fact that she could speak dozens of different languages was really cool but the real reason I loved Black Ice was of course Bastien. He was such an appealing devil! Cynical, jaded, and yet still the knight in shining armor... sorta.

Black Ice was an enjoyable experience for me but I have to admit that the book wasn’t unforgettable. The atmosphere and mood seemed to carry the story a lot and Bastien was much more interesting and complex than Chloe. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series pans out.

Stuart says, “This was a gift book for me, one the universe delivered when I was riding in a taxi in Paris, and it comes with a sound track. Listen to Japanese Rock and Roll, French Rock (Marc Lavoine, Florent Pagny) and maybe some Pretenders. Enjoy!” Well I wouldn’t know where to start with the Japanese stuff but I looked up the other people she mentions including Chloe’s great weakness Charles Aznavour (listen to Bohemia here) and although I couldn’t understand a word, it’s still very beautiful!

There is an excerpt from Black Ice available on Anne Stuart’s website and if you would like more information on Anne Stuart than her website provides, Wikipedia has an article on her with a list of her books in chronological order.

Ice Series:
1. Black Ice (2005)
2. Cold as Ice (2006)
3. Ice Blue (2007)
4. Ice Storm (2007)
5. Fire and Ice (2008)

First Paragraph: People might go on and one about springtime in Paris, Chloe Underwood thought as she walked down the street huddled in her coat, but there was really nothing to compare to winter in the City of Lights. By early December the leaves were gone, the air was crisp and cool and enough of the tourists had left to make life bearable. In August she always wondered why on earth she'd chosen to pull up stakes and move three thousand miles away from her family. But then winter came, and she remembered all too well.