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

Mar 13, 2010 KatLynne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: keeper, 2013-reads, hero-dark-brooding, g-romantic-suspense, hero-gamma

I’ve never read a hero quite like Bastien Toussaint…EVER! He’s a cold, calculating, heartless killer until he meets young Chloe Underwood, and slowly that block of ice he calls a heart turns to mush.

This action-packed thriller is unputdownable! The writing is superb, the tale is gripping, and the romance is steamy. Young Chloe Underwood happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and from the moment they meet I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

I loved it all and can’t wait to read mo ...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Lisa Kay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series-i, authors-s, authors-a, genre-romance-suspense, genre-romance-spy, bom-rlftci

Can you fall in love with a ruthless killer? I NEVER thought I would say this: Yes!

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Jul 15, 2010 Quinn rated it liked it

Shelves: romantic-suspense, library-book, series

Meh. And I had such high hopes for this book too. Maybe that was part of the problem.

Chloe Underwood finds herself unwittingly caught in a dangerous ring of big time crims and cartels. When she discovers too much, her subsequent necessary removal is considered at best a minor inconvenience, at worst, collateral damage, by both those who seek to kill her and the man who finds himself inexplicably driven to save her.

The problem here is I didn't develop any form of affinity with any of the characte ...more

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Jun 24, 2010 Mrs. Badass rated it it was ok

Shelves: nook

I am not even sure if I liked this book! It was compelling in a sinister, weird and dark sort of way, but the plot was just silly and unrealistic, and the "hero" was totally an anti-hero, which generally I don't have a problem with, but he was Cold, I mean really cold and detached. Sociopath. That is Sebastian/Bastien/Jean-Marc/Etienne. Chloe was cute in a pure and innocent way, although, seriously? She fell in love with the person who practically raped her, lied to her, punched her, manipulated ...more

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Feb 15, 2014 Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it did not like it

Shelves: seriously-didn-t-like, pretty-much-hated, adult-cravings, read-in-2013

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What a terrible book. I am not even sure how people could like this. I liked that Bastien was tough and not afraid to get violent, but this was just over the top ridiculous. He was wayyyy too cold to be likeable. He only laughed once. Once! In the entire book. And honestly, he laughed at the same point where I wanted to punch the dumb heroine in the face.

Yes, she was dumb. Likely, the dumbest, spineless, and most aggravating heroine that I have ever read about. Really! You just met him, you kne ...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Keri rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance-suspense, 2010s-read

It was dark Anne Stuart good, but suffered from a lack of an epi...as usual.

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Feb 28, 2010 KarenH rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, sexy-with-a-capital-s-hero, audiobooks-that-rock

I was a little out of my element with this book. I like contemporaries to be straight-up romance - no espionage, organized crime, or terrorists. Or so I thought. Bastien, the French hero in Black Ice, is a smuggler, a spy, a trained killer, a practiced playboy and a master of character disguise. A man of few words, he is ruthless, cold, calculating and indifferent. He is a man with a death wish...an oxymoron complementing his impressive resume as it is the reason he is still alive. To feel...to I was a little out of my element with this book. I like contemporaries to be straight-up romance - no espionage, organized crime, or terrorists. Or so I thought. Bastien, the French hero in Black Ice, is a smuggler, a spy, a trained killer, a practiced playboy and a master of character disguise. A man of few words, he is ruthless, cold, calculating and indifferent. He is a man with a death wish...an oxymoron complementing his impressive resume as it is the reason he is still alive. To feel...to hurt...to care means losing control. And Bastien never loses control...that is, until he crosses paths with a feisty American translator.

A "good ole girl" from North Carolina, Chloe embodies everything that Bastien is not. She is compassionate, caring and completely naive to the dark side of mankind. She has more than a mild curiosity about everything, a serious adversity to the word "obey" and a stubborn streak a mile long. She possesses the "gift" (that all men abhor) of chatting incessantly and the "curse" of being in all the wrong places at all the wrong times. The curse is what brings these two "polar opposite" protagonists together time and again...as Bastien is repeatedly saving Chloe's life.

Black Ice is by all rights a 5-star book. The story grabs you from the very start and it is a non-stop, wild ride to the very end. (Even though I'm not a big fan of romantic suspense and therefore have nothing to cite as a comparison, I'm betting this book is extremely popular with fans of this sub-genre.) I chose to give the book 4 stars, however, because I had serious doubts about the authenticity of Bastien's love for Chloe.

****SPOILER ALERT****

We can rule out "love at first sight" since Bastien was out banging a married female partner-in-crime during the meeting where he met Chloe.
And obviously this young man's fancies had not turned to thoughts of love after they had sex for the first time, because later that night, after he sold her out to the guy who got off on torturing women, Bastien was quite surprised to find Chloe still alive. (I really hated that whole scene!) He had to punch her lights out a few times to ensure she stayed quiet, but I guess that was in her best interests. Later, Bastien had another serious make-out session with aforementioned partner in front of a dozen onlookers which included Chloe. Yes, he wanted to humiliate her so she would hate him, but it was a pretty thoughtless idea as he only succeeded in hurting her. He had casual sex with a few women when Chloe wasn't around because he wanted to forget her (although I've yet to see that reasoning work). Finally, he went to Chloe only after he found out she was in danger; and when he haphazardly declared his love, Chloe was more shocked than anyone. At the very end he stated he had no particular interest keeping him there and was walking away when the great epiphany hit him that perhaps Chloe was a good enough interest & he came back. All in all, it wasn't a sigh-worthy HEA and I was not convinced he wouldn't cheat again and/or tire of Chloe and "normal" life.

***************

Even with that being said, overall I totally enjoyed this fast-paced, out-of-control, surprise-around-every-corner novel. This is the first book I've ever read by Anne Stuart, but I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style and storytelling ability so it won't be my last. I'm looking forward to reading the remaining books in this series.

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Bastien perfecting one of his many talents

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Jun 23, 2010 Nisha rated it liked it

Shelves: alpha-heros, dangerous-or-bad-boys, opposites-attract, ugly-duckling, rake-player-heroes

I was actually expecting to like this book much more than I actually did, but it took me nearly a month and a half to finish this, because I kept getting distracted by other books. That shouldn't even happen. So, I can only say that I liked it.

This is my 2nd Anne Stuart book, and honestly, I like her style. What I didn't like was Bastien or Chloe or maybe it was the idea of them together. I couldn't picture it. It just didn't click that they would actually fall in love - or that they were even I was actually expecting to like this book much more than I actually did, but it took me nearly a month and a half to finish this, because I kept getting distracted by other books. That shouldn't even happen. So, I can only say that I liked it.

This is my 2nd Anne Stuart book, and honestly, I like her style. What I didn't like was Bastien or Chloe or maybe it was the idea of them together. I couldn't picture it. It just didn't click that they would actually fall in love - or that they were even in love.

Chloe is an American living in Paris as a translator for children's books. By some bizarre chance, she gets the opportunity to translate for am international business meeting and meets Bastien, supposedly a dangerously sexy businessman, with a penchant of screwing any half-way attractive female in his vicinity. But there's more to the meeting than meets the eye, and more to Bastien. The business meeting is the crossroads of an illegal arms trade and Bastien is skilled spy sent to infiltrate and destroy. Personality-wise, he is cold, calculating, heartless (its not entirely his fault - his mom was an ultra-bitch), passionless and mostly unfeeling - until he's put in a position to abandon his mission to save Chloe. This is something that goes against Bastien because he has never made a mistake in trusting people. But somehow being with Chloe makes him need to protect her and to sleep with her. What he eventually realizes is that he had also fallen in love with her. Chloe goes through a denial process during the whole time, as she also realizes that she's falling for a dangerous man who she wasn't even sure had a heart.

The fact is, I really enjoyed the development, to see Bastien become human again. But somehow, I felt Chloe was the catalyst to the change, not really his soulmate. Maybe with time, but the romance was too rushed and underdeveloped. I have very ambivalent feelings toward Chloe. I neither liked or disliked her, but regardless, I couldn't see her as Bastien's soulmate.

The villains and horrific events in the story - maybe I'm just not in the mood for this kind of stuff, but I thought that it was boring. There was no real development in that part, it was merely part of scenery. I just that it was a waste of time, but I'm sure some people would enjoy it.

I really enjoyed the book (despite the 3 star rating), but I think I will take a break before I complete this series. I have high hopes, but contemporary spy romances aren't usually my type. I'll have to be in the right mood to try again. But I definitely recommend this book for those who don't mind callous heroes and very unlikely spy scenarios.
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Feb 03, 2010 Silvana~Duchess of Avonlea~ rated it liked it

Shelves: romance

This one was just okay for me. I think I was expecting more because of all the hype I hear about Anne Stuart. The book has a cold feel to it and the relationship between Sebastien and Chloe was weak at times.

So I guess I won't continue with the series and maybe go with Devil in Winter next. Sounds like a fan fav.

...more

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