Reviews

Cold as Ice by Anne Stuart

wellactjoally's review against another edition

challenging funny tense medium-paced

3.0

Men who don’t talk but are great at sex, and bumbling women who run their mouths. “A thwarted billionaire was the most dangerous thing in the world”.

All manner of gruesome shit, including past child rape and torture. 

romancelibrary's review

4.5

"Something was forcing him to be there, to come after her, to pluck her from the jaws of danger. He just didn't know what it was."

Note: Content warning tagged as spoiler at the end of review.

Similarly to Black Ice, Cold As Ice is not for everyone. If you enjoy dark and fast-paced romantic suspense with cold anti heroes, then I highly recommend this series. You definitely won't enjoy the books in this series if anti heroes is not your thing. And I'm not talking about soft anti heroes like the ones Kleypas has written. These are cold, ruthless, and hard anti heroes. Anti heroes who, at first, prioritize their mission over the safety of the heroine.

"It didn't matter if the fate of the world rested in his hands — he wasn't going to let Genevieve Spenser be hurt. And he had absolutely no intention of examining why he felt that way."

Anne Stuart writes delicious and dark anti heroes like no other author. Stuart's bad boys are so ruthless, cold, and unfeeling...that is, until they become soft for their heroines. What I like the most about her anti heroes is that they don't immediately become soft; it's a process that takes time. In the Ice series so far, the heroines find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time. The heroes are covert operatives who are on a mission and the only way to successfully complete their mission is to make sure that there are no loose ends. And the heroines are definitely loose ends here. So in the beginning, these anti heroes basically have no problem with their heroines getting killed...until they slowly start getting soft and go out of their way to protect their women. Their burgeoning feelings make them less cold, but not any less ruthless when it comes to doing their job. Like I said, it's a special process trademarked by Anne Stuart; only she can get away with writing these kinds of romance novels.

In Cold As Ice, there's no immediate insta-love or insta-lust between Peter and Genevieve, which is why this unlikely couple completely ensnared me. The lack of insta-lust is the main reason why 1) I enjoyed this book a little more than its predecessor and 2) why Peter and Genevieve end up having such explosive chemistry later on. Peter is known as the Ice Man. He is cold and unfeeling — he's even colder than Bastien, the hero in Black Ice. But that's what makes him such an appealing anti hero and a compelling character overall. He does and says questionable and hurtful things. He can be such an asshole. But ugh, I just can't hate him, I don't know why. If this hero was written by any other author, I would have hated his guts. I don't know how Anne Stuart does it!!!!!

The timeline is tight: the entire book takes place in the space of, what, a month? I LOVE the setting of the yacht and the private island. It made the book that much more exciting to read. The heroine, Genevieve, was great in the first half of the story, but she became super annoying in the second half. Maybe it's the dangerous situations she was forced into or maybe it's the fact that she didn't have her tranquilizers with her, but she started behaving stupidly in the second half of the book. She really tested my patience. That being said, I don't hate her. And like I said before, Peter is an incredibly compelling character. I only wish he was romantic like Bastien lol. I really wanted a passionate love declaration from the Ice Man. And I really wish there was an epilogue!!! This book was really close to getting a 5 star rating.

Content warning: 

Flashback scene where the heroine gets physically assaulted by her client's husband. Graphically described. The villain in this book is a disturbing individual: a pedophile, a rapist, a racist, and a Nazi. His vile tendencies are not graphically described, but there are a few scenes told from his POV. He uses derogatory terms to refer to Japanese people.

the_bonesie's review against another edition

3.0

SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!! 











Something about the ending left me dissatisfied. There were answers not given and too many loose ends to really justify how the story ended. I love the reality and accuracy of how a relationship like this could possibly go! But I damn well know if a man ever told me “I slept with you for professional manipulation” I could never trust him again. And considering the betrayals Genny had faced, it’s hard for me to accept that she was able to just let that go and move into a trad wife position that was being hinted at by the end. Still interested in reading the rest of the series, but I sure do hope that they are wrapped up with a bow.

heartpages's review against another edition

4.0

I don't love either the heroine or hero as much in this one as I did in book 1, but they're still solid. The action is perfectly paced and their relationship is heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time. I loved it.
One part that didn't age well is Genny's focus on her weight - at a size 8, at that. I get where stuart was going - a trait the woman doesn't like is the thing her man loves - but it didn't sit well with me this time.
Excellent action series with courageous women and solid, anti-heroes.

robinbridgefour's review against another edition

3.0

After a lot of epic and high fantasy reads this was actually a great pallet cleanser. Nothing like a romance that begins with the Hero trying to think of reasons not to kill the heroine. Look it isn’t specifically Peter’s fault Genevieve was just in the wrong place at the wrong time but he doesn’t like it because she is really an innocent and he’d rather not have to hurt her.

Genevieve only had one stop to make before her vacation it should be easy. Get Harry Van Dorn to sign some papers and then be on her way off the grid. Harry has some other ideas and tries to waylay Genevieve into staying for some fun times. While Harry is handsome and a billionaire he isn’t what Genevieve even wants to consider playing around with. Meanwhile she isn’t sure why but she feels a slight tub towards Peter who is doing his best to be bland and unobtrusive.

Peter needs to find a way to get rid of Harry and somehow keep Genevieve alive. This goes against everything the agency he works for wants and might cost him something in the long run but what he is feeling for her, well lust or love or whatnot it eventually just will not be denied.

He remembered everything he knew about her, including her sexual history and the things she didn’t like, and he knew she was going to do every one of them and like it. She was going to be on top, and she was going to go down on him, and she was going to tell him she loved him. And he didn’t know what would cost her more.

I liked the chemistry between Peter and Genevieve much more than the couple in the prior book. I found Peter easier to like than Bastian as an antihero. He is smooth in a different way and his seduction of Genevieve was steamy.

This story isn’t perfect there are a few things in the plot that got really glossed over and the ending was a bit rushed. I like a little more in my wrap up of a story. Overall it was a good time though. The villain was almost like a bond villain with some added sexual deviance and Peter played a pretty decent hero all tales told.

I do enjoy the antiheroes of this series and look forward to the next installment featuring Takashi.

hikejunkie's review against another edition

3.0

Well, I finished it is about all I can say. If I had to read one more time about the extra 15 pounds the heroine was carrying I was going to, I don't know, eat a snack that was bad for me. Perhaps because this was number 2 in the series I felt like I knew what would happen next and, yep, it would happen. Some times a book that I have high expectations for turns out to be less than expected. That was the case with this one.

leyli's review against another edition

slow-paced

waheela's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Not as good as the first one in the series. The FMC annoyed me at times and were written a bit inconsistenly.

MMC was fine and got more development faster,and I liked the villain. Overall plot was also good.

7sofia7's review against another edition

This book made me interested in reading the rest of the series: Takashi, Isobel , Bastien seemed all like great characters to read about.

Anne Stuart writes compelling plots and love stories. Her novels are very readable. 

This one was fine. 
The problem is that :
I liked the action plot and the pacing (there was always the treath of danger but most of the time the couple was together)
The heroine was also interesting and she was the perfect mix of being a fish out of water/damsel in distress and resourceful/proactive. 
All the interactions between the two mcs were good on paper (I particularly liked the boat escape failure at the beginning and the motel scene later on), the novel should have done it for me as all her books do it for me

BUT the romance was shallow for me. It wasn't swoony (there were some good scenes but overall it was unremarkable)

selinasmiley's review against another edition

4.0

this is my first time read Anne Stuart's book, and i like it.