Black Ice (Ice, #1) in Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group

Apr 07, 2009 Shawna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2009-reads, series-ice-fire, favorite-romance-series, i-read-no-longer-own-sold-swapped, romantic-suspense, action-adventure-treasure-hunting, hero-pissed-me-off-and-turned-me-on, author-anne-stuart-kristina-douglas, violence-not-for-the-faint-hearted, favorites

5 stars – Romantic Suspense

This book is hard to rate/review because it’s so different from the typical romantic suspense novel and much darker, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but makes it more challenging to describe. I had read a lot of the reviews describing Bastien as the ultimate gamma hero, and boy is he ever! I’m not sure what I was expecting, maybe a Jason Bourne type assassin, but Bastien makes Bourne look like the Easter bunny! He’s brutally cold, ruthless, calculating, manipulative, s ...more

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Jul 17, 2017 Juliana Philippa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: romance-contemporary, cr-series-book-1, 4-half-stars, cr-mistaken-identity-impersonation, romance-series, 4-to-5-stars, 0-reviewed, series-book-1, 0-own, 4-half-to-5-romance-contemporary

He just hoped, for some odd reason, that he wouldn’t have to be the one who killed her.

4.5 stars. Have read Anne Stuart's HR, but never any of her contemporary romances (don't read much CR to begin with). I've really been looking forward to this one though, because my GR friends' reviews were so good and the story really appealed to me. No one does bad, tortured, antihero heroes like Anne Stuart and it sounded like this was one to take the cake; I was interested to see how believable it woul

He just hoped, for some odd reason, that he wouldn’t have to be the one who killed her.

4.5 stars. Have read Anne Stuart's HR, but never any of her contemporary romances (don't read much CR to begin with). I've really been looking forward to this one though, because my GR friends' reviews were so good and the story really appealed to me. No one does bad, tortured, antihero heroes like Anne Stuart and it sounded like this was one to take the cake; I was interested to see how believable it would be that Bastien fell for Chloe.

Happy to report that the book was just as enjoyable as I expected and I found the entire thing very believable. (Am referring to their relationship and them falling in love being believable ... I have no idea what goes on at super-secret illegal gun-running meetings or what the inner workings of shady organizations supposedly running the world would look like, lol).

Sometimes in books like this, when the hero is an operative/spy/whatever and the heroine stumbles upon everything, she pulls some very TSTL moves and it can get extremely annoying; thankfully, there was really only one incident like this with Chloe and given the circumstances of everything that she's gone through in the last 24 hours, I was willing to let it slide. She also adds some unexpected humor and while yes, she's physically brave (given the shit she goes through and sees in the story, I think she holds up pretty well, let me tell you), I really appreciated that she's also quite emotionally brave. Overall, Chloe was really, really likable and Stuart was able to make her both naive and vulnerable, while also smart and strong—she balanced it really well, which was necessary because if the scales tipped too much to one side or the other, the pull on Bastien's side wouldn't have made as much sense.

Because to be clear: Bastien does NOT see Chloe and think, "Omg I have to save this girl, something is going to happen to her and she's completely innocent and uninvolved"—quite the opposite. And thank G-d for that, because would have been very unbelievable if so and not at all fitting with his character and the way he's depicted. Bastien is very dangerous with very sharp edges, and I say "sharp," not "rough," on purpose, because it's much more accurate. The character he's playing at the time of the story is one of a charmer/ladies' man, and he does that well, while also having a clear "silent but deadly" vibe; he's seductive and magnetic, but there's also a clear coldness and indifference to him. His evolvement and step-by-step interconnectedness with Chloe was very well done though and by the end, when he's fallen hard and completely done for on the love front, I didn't question it in the least and just found the entire thing very swoon- and sigh-worthy.

I don't like asshole heroes; I hate them and don't find it charming in the least—but that's the thing, Bastien isn't an asshole. Don't get me wrong: he's an emotionally-disconnected killer who has no compunction about killing an "innocent" if the situation calls for it, but he's not an asshole ... if that makes sense. He doesn't act the way he does or do the things he does because he's an immature pushing-everyone-away cliché romance hero, so while he can be totally cold, do heartless things, etc., it's never to be an asshole. He's actually a contrast to some of Stuart's HR heroes, because in those instances, they are anti-heroes by being stupidly and needlessly assholes for no real reason, and it adds annoying and unnecessary angst that I don't enjoy. I'm not into the angsty books or the ones where both characters (especially the hero, of course) are pushing the other away because they're afraid of their feelings or think they're protecting the other person or blah di blah di blah. You have a little of this last, but given the plotline, this is one instance in which it actually makes total sense!! [After writing this review, went through shelving the book and perfect point: I did not put this book on the cr-hero-sometimes-a-jerk shelf, because he's not! ... Though he has the cr-hero-is-anti-hero-villain shelf locked down hard lol.]

Quote. As always with these wonderfully quote-worthy books, there are so many to choose from! Here's what I'm putting for now though:

"How do you happen to understand so many languages? Most American girls can barely manage to speak English."

She shot him an angry look. She was so predictable, so easy to play. All he had to do was make a sweeping, disparaging remark about American women and she forgot all about her misery. He tended to like sophisticated, unpredictable women. But for some reason he liked her.

Bottom Line. Fantastic!! Loved both main characters, plotline is good and keeps things moving, wasn't really sure what would happen next, is extremely quote-worthy and is surprisingly emotional and romantic on several levels.

Minor Note Re: Kindle Version. There were spacing sections missing from mine, anyone else have this issue? Talking about when within a chapter, there's several spaces from between one paragraph and the next because it's a change of scene or a change of POV or whatever, so there's space left to signal the transition. In my version, it just starts like it's the next paragraph and was a bit confusing at times. ...more

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Jul 20, 2009 CaliGirlRae rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romantic-suspense, dark-romances

Black Ice is the book that made me an Anne Stuart fan. As a classic author in the genre, I had heard many good things about Ms. Stuart's work from my fellow readers. Now I understand why.

I would recommend Black Ice, first entry in the Ice series, to more than just romantic suspense fans. There are lots of thrills, chilling suspense and some really complex characters that don't fit within the romance genre. I loved that aspect of it. The "hero" or perhaps the anti-hero, Bastien is a cold somewhat Black Ice is the book that made me an Anne Stuart fan. As a classic author in the genre, I had heard many good things about Ms. Stuart's work from my fellow readers. Now I understand why.

I would recommend Black Ice, first entry in the Ice series, to more than just romantic suspense fans. There are lots of thrills, chilling suspense and some really complex characters that don't fit within the romance genre. I loved that aspect of it. The "hero" or perhaps the anti-hero, Bastien is a cold somewhat manipulative man who would do anything (and practically anyone) to get his mission finished. I'm not even sure I'd call him tortured because he knows exactly what he wants and how to get and he has no bones about telling anyone what he wants them to hear straight in their face. The heroine, Chloe, is somewhat innocent but not a pushover by any means. She acts as any sane person would when in the company of lunatics, killers and thieves and often feels like the connection to the reader who is just an ordinary person in an extraordinary circumstance. Sometimes she acted stupidly because of her interest in Bastien which put her life on the line but thankfully such moments as these didn't show up often.

Suspense fans will get a kick out of the story unraveling but romance fans may find the story a bit cold. Stuart pushes the boundaries of the romance genre in the amount of danger, violence and darkness that covers each page. You almost think there won't be an HEA but as the story goes on, shades of Bastien's humanity and interest in Chloe begins to shine through his coldness. I loved how the characters felt real. Bastien didn't feel like a cookie cutter hero but someone who's completely lost his way in life because of the losses he's felt and the darkness he's seen. Even when he starts to get romantically interested in Chloe, he's still a highly unpredictible and lethal man. I love that he didn't change on impact but you could see the little changes and the potential for their future.

Black Ice is an amazing suspense entry that I highly recommend for suspense lovers and romantic suspense readers who want a little something more gritty and real in the genre. ...more

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Jul 10, 2010 Arch rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, older-man-younger-woman, book-from-a-buddy, 2010-book-read, anne-stuart

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Theme: Older Man/Younger Woman

Sex Level: Leave it to your imagination

The Hero: Bastien Toussaint

The Heroine: Chloe Underwood

Recommendation: To anyone that is a fan of Anne Stuart and haven't read her Ice Series yet. Anyone that love to read about dangerous bad boys and to anyone that loves the theme, older man.younger woman.

This is the second book that I have read by Mrs. Anne Stuart. I love her writing style. Black Ice is actually the first book in the Ice Series and Fire and Ice is the last bo ...more

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Jan 01, 2010 Michelle Gilmore rated it really liked it

I finished reading this one, and I loved it! I'd even like to see Black Ice turned into a movie. At first I was thinking that Bastien was a real butthole, and that there wasn't ANYTHING he could do to redeem himself. But then things kept happening, and then we get a glimpse into his background, so it was easier to accept him, and appreciate him for being the flawed hero he was as the story progressed. There were some major twists just when I thought I knew what was happening. I was pleasantly su ...more

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May 11, 2010 Stacey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, read-in-2010, rom-suspense, recommended, bad-boys, rereads, read-in-2023

**** Warning: Spoilery**** This was the first time I had EVER read a romance where I wasn't sure whether the H/H would end up together at the end. Quite frankly, I never knew heroes like this existed in print. Lord knows I like bad boys, the badder the better in fact, yet Bastien was such a cold bastard. At first I honestly didn't know if he gave a shit about Chloe or not, which in some twisted way made the story all the more exciting. Literally could not put it down and stayed up until the wee ...more

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May 27, 2011 Roshio rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, romantic-suspense

My second Anne Stuart book, and I still do not understand why she is so well liked. This book reads more or less like any other romantic suspense book. I've read numerous books with characters just like Bastien and Chloe. Its a nice quick read although the heroine, Chloe got a bit annoying at times. ...more

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May 18, 2010 Norma rated it liked it

Shelves: romantic-suspense

the h bothered the hell out of me for the first half. By the second half, I really got into the story but I was still turned off by Chloe. And by then, Bastien had been so cold that I didn't believe he'd change.

All in all tho, I enjoyed the story. ...more

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