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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780778321712
ISBN number: 0778321711
Label: Mira
Manufacturer: Mira
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: May 01, 2005
Publishing house: Mira
Sale Popularity Level: 68798
Studio: Mira
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Product Description:
The job was a killer.
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 subsequent 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?
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Rated by buyers 
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Wow. I'm a fan of Anne Stuart, but a fairly new one, and I'd been trying to get her backlist before reading the newer books, so the most recent book I'd read was from 1999, and it was a novella. Still, I had faith enough in her older work and in the recommendations of friends who've been raving about her to have bought Black Ice when it very first came out.
Chloe Underwood is a young American woman living her dream--sort of--in Paris. Her job translating children's books doesn't pay much, but it's keeping her in Paris, as long as she has a roommate, so it's enough for now.
When that roommate begs Chloe to take her place as a translator at a meeting of food industry executives (unknown to them both, they're actually arms dealers) at an estate in the French countryside, she's reluctant, but agrees, thinking that if nothing else, she'll get a weekend in the country out of it.
Unfortunately, things don't quite work out that way. Almost immediately, she overhears a suspicious conversation in... German, I think it was, or Russian--anyway, it wasn't French or English, and realizing it would be imprudent at the least to admit she overheard and understood, she pretends to be limited to French and English rather than the several languages she actually knows.
This backfires, however, for undercover assassin Bastien, who sees through her clumsy endeavor at hiding her knowledge, so he immediately suspects she's a fellow operative. The only question is, whose side is she on?
From then on, it's nonstop tension with Bastien working on several fronts, trying to complete his mission, trying to figure out who Chloe is and what she's there for, and, to his chagrin, saving her life when the others decide she's too great a risk, at which point his goal becomes to get her out of the country and then complete his mission.
Black Ice is gritty and dark, and mostly lacking in romance genre conventions. The action scenes are reminiscent of those in the better (read: less silly) James Bond movies, and Stuart doesn't hold her punches. Bastien isn't a sweet, gentle man, kind to children and puppies, who just happens to have an unusual job. He's cold and ruthless and deadly. Since it is a romance novel, after all, Chloe does crack his hard shell, but it's not easy or typical.
Despite how harsh the story can be, or maybe because of that, there are some sweet, amusing moments. Like when Chloe, trying to shrug off her growing feelings for Bastien, tells him she has Stockholm Syndrome, and he tells her that Stockholm Syndrome is a myth.
I almost forgot Chloe. Understandable, I suppose, with such a vivid character as Bastien around. Chloe is young, and in way over her head, but she's not stupid. She realizes from the start that things are not as she was led to believe, so she does what she can to confirm her suspicions, then tries to leave. She keeps her head, for the most part, and is realistic as someone of her age and background--not perfect, but not TSTL, either. What impressed me most about Chloe is that she doesn't blindly trust Bastien, either.
The ending caps off the story perfectly. Both Chloe and Bastien have changed because of their experiences together, but they're still recognizable, still the same people.
Black Ice is not your typical romantic suspense novel. There were several places in the book that made me blink and realize just how common those romance or romantic suspense genre conventions are, because I'd fully expected the cliche and didn't get it. Which, of course, made me love it even more.
I'm not going to stop collecting Anne Stuart's backlist, but I think I'll start putting her newest books in my shopping cart, too.
Rated by buyers -
Black Ice is one of the best books I've read lately. Action and mystery abudant, a hero to die for and my favorite kind of heroine (innocent but not stupid and strond when needed) made this a favorite. I really loved Bastien, the kind of strong, ruthless, cold hero that can't believe he's actually starting to care for someone. And when such a person cares for someone, well, he'll go to any lengths to protect her from anyone.
I was not so jaded as to not observe that certain things were unrealistic, like Cloe's use as a translator by arm dealers, or the fact that though Bastien was considered the best agent, Jensen kept tracking him again and again. But, if you're not looking for realism in your romances, you'll enjoy a book full of action, fast pace and emotional angst. I'm already in the middle of the second book of the series (Cold as Ice) and I think, if you like cold, ruthless heroes, you can't get any better than Anne Stuart's.
Rated by buyers -
Bastien Touissant may be my favorite alpha-male fictional character in this genre. Deft character development of all the necessary players, particularly Bastien and Chloe. I quickly gobbled up all the other books in this series and wasn't disappointed, except with the last one (Fire & Ice). Didn't care for that one at all, but I love the rest. Author does a great job of mixing intrigue, romance, erotica, suspense, and drama. Not a lot of authors can stay strong across a series of books (IMO, Nora Roberts with her JD Robb "In Death" series is the master), but Anne Stuart does a wonderful job. I would love Stuart to write another Bastien (and Peter) book somewhere down the road; find out what these delicious men have been up to!
Rated by buyers -
I think this was the best of the series. I can't wait to read Fire and Ice. I think if you read in the series from begining to end it flows really good into the subsequent book.
You got to love the sexual tension in all of Anne stuart's books it just keeps you wanting to read more
Rated by buyers -
Black Ice is one of the most compelling, risky, and wonderful romance novels I've ever read. It transcends the genre and reads like a John LeCarre thriller with a happy ending.
Romance authors often try to write dangerous, tormented heros who have done dark deeds and need redemption, but they're never willing to commit, to truly push the formula's envelope.
Well, Stuart is. She walks the edge with this story, but her footing is sure. People die, people get hurt, and the hero (or anti-hero?) is never magically revealed to be any better than we thought he was in the beginning. BUT, in the end, Bastien LOVES. And that makes all the difference.
This is beautifully written prose. Lovely and haunting descriptions of the French countryside and Paris abound. You feel like you're being chased through that city's wintery streets. The characterization is pitch-perfect and consistently believable. Bastien makes decisions that will take your breath--and not in a good way, but that makes his redemption all the more moving. Chloe is wonderful too. You understand why she can love this flawed, damaged man, and why he loves her. And in the end, you don't want to leave them. THIS is what a romance novel should be!
Read the rest of this series, if only to catch the occasional glimpses of Chloe and Bastien.
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