ISBN-13: 9780778325369
Publisher: Mira
Published: May 2008
384pp



What does a tattooed Japanese Yakuza punk has in common with a leggy and brainy California beauty? At first glance, they make an odd couple but sparks fly between them in this exciting romance suspense, Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart. This is a joint-reading with Alice and Julia, and I had a great time reading with them as usual.

20-year-old Jilly Lovitz takes off for Japan not only she wants to pay a surprise visit to her sister, Summer and her Japanese brother-in-law, Takashi O'Brien but also secretly hoping she will meet Reno, Taka's cousin. A notorious Yakuza punk with a head of flaming-red hair and red tattooed tears on his cheekbones, Reno is not your typical hero but Jilly had a crush on him ever since she had met him two years ago.

But it is bad timing for she is being chased by a group of ruthless Russian hitmen that intend to use her as a bait to lure Taka out and she has no one to turn to except Reno. She never expects them to meet again under this bizarre situation, and not only she has to get used of him being her protector but they have to stay close together wherever they go.

Reno is attracted to her, but he cannot allow himself to get any closer to her as Taka and her sister have ever warned him not to hurt her, given his notorious reputation. He did not think she is his type anyway, and he is glad of this arrangement but things are not what they had hoped or expected. There are a few occasions that each of them are separated while escaping from the assassins and though they don't want to admit it, both of them do actually care for each other. With no way to go, Reno decided to keep Jilly at his grandfather's place, knowing that no one will dare to mess around with the elderly Ojiisan with his team of bodyguards. But never did they know that a traitor is hiding in disguise being one of the bodyguards and Reno later found out that Ojiisan's heavily guarded place is as dangerous as the outside world.

Soon they find themselves on the run again, and this time their attraction for each other is coming on too strong and unfortunately when Jilly is being captured by the baddies, Reno will have to find a solution and risk himself before he gets both of them killed.

Fire and Ice is an exciting, fast-paced romance suspense that got me hooked from the very first page and never let go till the end. Besides the plot, I also find it interesting to read the two protagonists that appears to be so different from each other and yet you could see sparks fly whenever they are in each other's company. Though Reno gives me the impression of being a tough and bad boy, he is not what I expected him to be initially. Funnily, it is Jilly who annoys me at times because she can be a tad stubborn and in my opinion she is a lot more trouble than Reno appears to be.

This book can be read as a stand alone but I would recommend to read the Ice series in order:

• Black Ice
• Cold As Ice
• Ice Blue
• Ice Storm