Customer Reviews

Fire and Ice (Wheeler Hardcover)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love Anne Stuart. It is my goal to read every single book she's ever written, and I'm getting there! She is probably the only author whose books I will buy without even reading any kind of plot description. That's because anything this woman writes, even if it's flawed, is still more enjoyable then the best work of a ton of other authors. Fire and Ice is no exception; it is Stuart working her usual magic.

I've really liked all the "Ice" books, and ever since we first meet Reno in Ice blue, I've been eagerly awaiting his story. After reading it in one sitting, I can say that I was not disappointed. Reno came across as such a unique and complicated character in Ice Blue, and fire and Ice definitely does him justice. Who else but Stuart could take a flamboyant Japanese punk/gangster/secret agent with long red hair and tattoos and make him into a feasible romance hero?

Some people have commented that Reno has lost some of his spunk and become too much like the other ice men, but I don't agree. He's still as outrageous as ever, but he seems a little bit harder and wiser. I think he's just grown up a little. And we do get a better understanding of him-- beneath the outrageous exterior, he's actually not a bad guy, he's a brilliant engineer, and he's scared of falling in love. Aww.

People have also commented that Jilly is cowardly and annoying, but I disagree. The poor girl is only 20, and she is on the run for her life faced with numerous near-death situations. The way she behaves is realistic. Yes, I was disappointed that we only heard about her genius IQ but never saw it in action. However, this is a small complaint, as I still found her likable and spunky. Yeah, she did some stupid things and took a lot of orders from Reno, but come on! she's young and frightened, and what other choice does she have?

Most importantly, the chemistry between these two that was hinted at in Ice Blue really explodes. They argue constantly, throwing out insults and inuendos, but you can tell that sexual tension simmers close to the surface. I was worried that Jilly would not be able to hold her own alongside the larger-than-life Reno, but she does. They're a good match, and their feelings for each other are believable; you can really see the gradual transformation from lust to grudging respect to love.

My only real complaint was the plot. For the first half of the book there kind of isn't one-- Jilly and Reno just basically run around Tokyo, trying to escape various thugs. It seems that the purpose of this is to force them into close proximity so that their relationship can develop. The plot was a bit hazy; I never really understood why exactly they were being chased and who was doing it. However, the plot improved in the last third, when we see the complicated problems within Reno's family's gangster organization and finally somewhat understand what's going on. Anyway, I always think the relationship between the hero/heroine is way more important than plot in a romance novel, so the plot holes didn't really detract from my enjoyment.

Overall, this book is full of non-stop action and riveting sexual tension-- making it a worthy addition to the "Ice" series!

I remember when I first started reading this series. I had no notion of where the story was going, did I like any of these murderous characters? most of the plot left me lost BUT I kept on reading because of the sheer writing mastery of this author. I liked a few in this series, but most I did not. The one immediately before this one, left me cold. None of the characters I cared about and the female lead needed a sharp needle to the pericardium. Except it would have been too difficult to find the heart. Now comes this home run and wow! Can you IMAGINE a tall, brilliant, Japanese hero with a head of flame-red hair down to his waist? With a leather jacket, Harley, a master Yazuka grandfather and a hunka a' burninglove for the female lead. Just quit folding laundry and making dinner, right now! Find a comfy spot and don't leave it because you won't want to put this honey of a book down until it's read. Then maybe you will turn around and read it again! It's that darn good.

While I can see the point of some reviewers that Jilly is young and therefore her lack of backbone and stupidity should be somewhat understandable...she IS supposed to be a genius. I guess because her genius is ancient Japanese something-or-other, it's okay that she's rather dumb in other areas, even as she's frequently referred to as an "old soul". What really bothered me overall was the complete "given over to the gonads" theme, which seems somewhat common in the few Anne Stuart books I've read. The male leads are SO HOT that the fact that they frequently treat the female like utter crap, but the woman just loves and pants after them anyway. Sorry, but having seen and interacted with someone for 5 minutes as the two characters were have supposed to, then she sees him again and he's a complete d**k to her and she melodramatically says she hates him....but he's SO HOT....

Gah. I just don't like the dynamic and the way the female is treated throughout the book, then suddenly, he decides, oh, yes, he does "love" her, and reappears and she falls at his feet. Blech.

If Anne Stuart decided to write the phone book out in longhand, I would beg to read it. She's an amazing author. I've been enjoying the "Ice" series for quite some time now, and it finishes with a bang!

Reno, the flame-haired punk Yakuza, made his first appearance in "Ice Blue". To say that he's unforgettable is an understatement. Of course, he's met his Doc Martens-wearing heroine in a traditional English garden, but he doesn't know that. Jilly is the younger sister of "Blue Ice"'s heroine Summer, and loses her heart at first sight. Reno and Jilly meet again when Jilly impulsively visits Japan, trying to find her sister. Jilly's had a crush on Reno since the moment she met him. Reno's been warned to leave Summer's little sister alone. Guess what happens?

The descriptions of the various entities after Jilly, Reno's efforts to protect her from those who would hurt her, and the unfolding of Jilly and Reno's love story will keep you enthralled.

Get the series, read them all, and marvel over the writing skill of an author who can make an assassin a believable, sympathetic romance hero. Anne Stuart is the best, and you'll love "Fire and Ice".

This just might be my last Anne Stuart book.
Listen, Annie, if you keep on telling your readers that your heroine is an absolute genius, yet she does one fool thing after another, it gets to be very, very annoying. WHY do your female characters have to be uniformly stupid while the heroes do everything but walk on water?
I cannot imagine anybody in real life who, when she's holding a loaded gun in her hand and her sweetie is being beaten to a pulp by a hulking ex-sumo wrestler, then THROWS the gun at said sumo instead of firing it. And when the house is burning down around them, she runs UPSTAIRS. I don't usually shout at people in books, but I made an exception for Jilly. She was a sure winner of a Darwin Award, too dumb to live.

I have read a few books in this series and while I am always interested in the male leads, who are all fairly well crafted, intriguing characters. However, I almost always wonder what in the hell they see in the women, at least to some degree. Maybe being international spy/hit man/sex god just gets old and you want to settle down with a nice, normal, undersexed girl who for some reason is in the wrong place at the wrong time. This one however, was the worst pairing I have read in a long time. Loved the hero, he was truly fascinating and I think Stuart did a pretty good job with capturing Japanese culture. The heroine was supposed to be some genius, but I did not see one action of her's that lead me to believe that she was even functioning with half a brain. Being petulant is not a substitute for personality or romantic tension. But the sex was hot and the hero was able to carry my attention to the end so that saved it to some degree.

This book had plenty of potential to be the greatest in the series. I mean, Japanese punk yakuza spy who was also a model student crossed with a formerly rebellious teenager genius girl? What could happen? Alas, not everything that should have.

I love Anne Stuart's early books and found those characters to be well thought out. This one felt like I just got to meet Reno and Jilly for 3 minutes while they were drunk. Just enough below the surface to puzzle and so far from knowing them that I wanted to dismiss them, looking for a more developed character in the book to hold my interest.

Early Anne fans might enjoy this one as much as I did. There was enough Reno in here to chuckle in glee and enough Jilly to feel bad for her. The Japan backdrop provided enough of a smoke screen to shield the fact that the romance premise was basic interest/crush that somewhere along the way (I missed exactly where and I was looking for it) it turned to love.

If you're picking up the series for the first time, put it down and go read the others first. This can stand by itself but I don't think it does Anne Stuart's work justice to read this first.

Having read others in the "Ice" series, I was looking forward to Jilly & Reno's story. Unfortunately, it was a big disappointment. The plot is the usual - he's trying to save her life with underground characters causing mayhem all around. That's fine - I'm happy enough with the formula. The problem is that I read this series for the characters and their relationships and both were lacking in this book. Jilly is supposed to be a genius. Unfortunately, there is no sign of any great intelligence here. She acts just as boneheaded as any other romance heroine, albeit a more horny one. She seems to be attracted to the "bad boy" Reno as some kind of sick rebellion instead of being driven by real emotion. There is no apparent reason for her attraction to him, as he is shown as being obnoxious without any charm or depth, unlike his cousin Taka, in a previous book. There's no sign that they really know each other in any way, and the attraction, such as it is, is more physical than anything, even though each is supposedly the physical opposite of what the other finds attractive. He is a tall, skinny man, with a bright red, waist length ponytail, and red tattooed teardrops on his face. That weird look might be overcome by personality or his actions, but they're not in evidence. He behaves at all times like a shallow punk brat. There is no positive interaction between them, just sarcasm and indifference. When they finally have sex, it's like an uninteresting quickie, with no tenderness or affection shown, and callousness afterwards. If there had been some sign of real emotional chemistry beneath, that would have been interesting, but there wasn't. What do these two see in each other? He's creepy, and she's nothing special. Don't bother with this one.

This is my favorite of Anne Stuart's Ice books. I love Reno (Hiromasa Shinoda) and I like Jilly. My interest in Reno was first piqued in Taka and Summer's story, Ice Blue. I knew I was going to love this guy and why not? He's a tall, flame haired, motorcycle driving, Japanese punk, with a bad attitude and a heart of gold? Oooooo. Bring it on.

The books starts with Taka and Summer in hiding from some bad guys, with Summer's sister, Jilly blithely headed their way for a visit. Reno hears of this and figures family honor is what propells him after her to protect her. He grabs Jilly before the bad guys do and they have to run around Tokyo together, avoiding the increasingly aggressive bad guys who just won't go away and seem to have a mysterious employer.

Fire And Ice is a little low on plot but it makes up for that in fantastic chemistry and action! Reno and Jilly are constantly on the move and subsequently have a lot of time to spend together, in close proximity, be it in cars or hotel rooms. This makes it unavoidable for them not to notice the other more then they would want to and the sparks fly immediately. Anne Stuart takes us on a quick tour of Japan and gives us a tiny glimpse into the famed Harajuku Station where a six feet plus blonde Jilly and a bright red, long haired Reno try to blend in. The tantalizing descriptions of the scenery makes me want to visit. The plot picks up when the roiling intrigue within Reno's family drags them both under and Taka steps back into the picture to help save the day, after leaving a not-too-happy Summer behind. Here it ends abruptly and suddenly Jilly is back in California and Reno is determined to get back to his life in Japan. Luckily, or unluckily, the bad guys follow Jilly and Reno once more has to hie to her rescue, and both Reno and Jilly realize that they are made for each other.

One of the things I like about Reno is that Anne Stuart doesn't Americanize him. He is a Japanese man and he is proud of that fact and its part and parcel into what makes him so fascinating to Jilly. There's a scene where he wears a fundoshi, a sort of sumo wrestler like under garment that draws Jilly's eye and brings home the fact that Reno is unlike anyone she knows. He's an exotic creature to her and she can't help being drawn closer to him. He's a very strong, capable male, who doesn't shy away from the bloodier aspects of protecting Jilly but he's also more approachable then the earlier 'gamma males' from previous Ice books. In fact, this would be a good book to start with if one was just starting with Anne Stuart's Ice series.

I wish Anne could have stretched the book out more. It was too condensed. She could have easily made this book fifty pages longer. The end was unnecessary as well, I think. If she had just stretched out the conflicts in Japan, it wouldn't have needed the added conflicts in California, except for the fact that the hospital scenes in LA add some needed humor.

*I'm so sad that this is the end of the Ice series. I could have easily bought more and more but this is an author who doesn't like to sit on her laurels and churn out book after book in the same series. She's constantly branching out and I can't wait to see what's next from this ever changing author.

I've been waiting for Jilly and Reno's story a long time...and it was well worth the wait! This is my favourite in Stuart's Ice series.

Jilly and Reno are immediately attracted to each other, and finally the time has come to get what they want. Reno is a little more open with his feelings than previous Stuart heroes which was refreshing. But don't worry Anne Stuart still writes fast, hard and sexy. Fantastic!