⋙ PDF Gratis Fire and Ice Anne Stuart 9780778325369 Books

Fire and Ice Anne Stuart 9780778325369 Books

Download As PDF : Fire and Ice Anne Stuart 9780778325369 Books

Fire and Ice Anne Stuart 9780778325369 Books

I have a shameful weakness for bad boys, and Reno is one of the baddest. Yes, they are sexier in print than real life, but a girl can dream of the dark, hot, tortured man-hunk that only she can reach - right? Anyway, for those of you who like your heroes cold on the outside but volcano hot on the inside...look no more. Reno is a little rough and a lot alpha-male. Jilly is a sweet brainiac who has lusted after Reno since she was in her late teens. She's grown up, and can't get him out of her mind. She is beyond sweet, but a bit like the old-fashion damsel in distress at times. Reno was warned to stay away from Jilly by his sister-in-law, but circumstances call for his particular talent to save Jilly from certain death. Warning: Reno is not for the reader who wants a tender hero. He's bossy, cold, distant, and down right mean at times. However, the author makes him so confident, heroic, and sexy that I think readers will agree with Jilly - he is the ultimate bad boy you dream about.


Tags : Fire and Ice [Anne Stuart] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <strong>TALK ABOUT LOST IN TRANSLATION…</strong><Br><Br>In the wake of a failed love affair, brainy beauty Jilly Lovitz takes off for Tokyo. She's expecting to cry on her sister Summer's shoulder,Anne Stuart,Fire and Ice,MIRA,0778325369,10007279,115026X,20080501,707220,AMERICAN LIGHT ROMANTIC FICTION,AMERICAN MYSTERY & SUSPENSE FICTION,Crime & mystery,FICTION General,FICTION Romance Suspense,Fiction,Fiction - Romance,Fiction-Romance,General Adult,Japan,MASS MARKET,Romance,Romance - Suspense,RomanceGeneral,Romantic Suspense;Contemporary,United States

Fire and Ice Anne Stuart 9780778325369 Books Reviews

27 year old Hiromasa Shinoda or Reno is hardly one's typical romance book hero. Reno is cousins with Takashi O'Brien, hero of the 3rd book in the Ice series which I reviewed earlier. Readers who have read or are reading the series in order would have come across Reno in Takashi's story, and even then I found myself intrigued with the complexity of his character. Half-American and half-Japanese as well, Reno is the grandson of the head of the infamous Yakuza family, a family steeped in organized crime in Japan. Reno's complexity doesn't come from his mixed heritage, but rather the mass of contradictions that he actually is. Whilst Hiromasa Shinoda looks respectable and is a man with a high IQ with a degree in Engineering, the darker and edgier side of him known as Reno can most well be described as a punk Yakuza gangster. With long spiky hair that falls well below his waist colored in crimson red, and two teardrop tattoos on his high cheekbones and hard-ass attitude, Reno is the ultimate bad boy with a deep rooted animosity towards American women as his own American mother had abandoned him once she had grown tired of playing Yakuza royalty. Serving as the Committee's newest recruit, Reno hardly fits in with the typical Committee material but shows his true potential when things turned quite rough in Ice Storm, the 4th book of the series.

Jillian Lovitz or Jilly as she is called by everyone close to her is 20 years old and a genius who has never had the chance to experience the stuff that normal childhoods are made up of. With a high IQ that had refused to sit idle whilst she experienced life, Jilly had graduated from high school when she had been fifteen, college when she was eighteen had never had the chance to develop normal relationships. With big brown eyes, a wide mouth and short blond hair and well around 6 feet tall, Jilly had always felt more like a giant around her five foot something, petite mother who had acted more like a spoiled child herself than an adult all her life. Jilly's one solace in life had been Summer her half-sister who had always looked out for her and mothered her whom she misses terribly since she married Takashi and moved to Japan.

It is Jilly's yearning to experience life and the need to divest herself of her status as a virgin that ends in a disastrous one night stand which propels her to fly to Japan to drown her sorrows in the arms of Summer. However, unbeknown to Jilly, Takashi and Summer had gone into hiding to escape a bunch of mercenary killers who were gunning for their lives. And it is Reno who rides to her rescue on a mean looking Harley and whisks her away to safety whilst Jilly's heart acknowledges the fact that in reality she had come to Japan wanting to seek Reno out, the man who had fueled all her adolescent dreams for the past two years. This time rather than international terrorists out to take the world, the danger that surrounds them rises too close to home for comfort and it will take every ounce of Reno's willpower to keep his hands of Jilly whilst they run for their lives dodging killers and bullets as they race through Japan trying to figure out who and why they have been targeted.

Likes

1- Hiromasa Shinoda. As I said earlier in my review, the complex nature of his character is one of the main reasons that made me race through this story at such a fast pace. I loved the fact that he alternated between being the good and nerdy Hiromasa and the ultimate bad boy Reno whilst the bad boy wins most of the time. Whilst his bad boy Harley riding image appeals on so many levels to my slutty inner self, it is the medium between the two that made me fall for him in the end.
2- Jillian Lovitz. She is such a treat to read about. Her positive optimism when it comes to Reno is what made me love her. Even though at times Reno's words and actions cut deep, and Jilly keeps telling herself that familiarity with Reno would breed contempt and in the end she wouldn't feel so vulnerable with Reno, it is Jilly who identifies the fact that it is not that Reno doesn't feel anything for her but rather he is terrified of just how much he feels when it comes to Jilly.
3- The premise of the story. I loved discovering tidbits about Japan and their customs and lifestyle. In fact it made me even search up on the Internet on some of the stuff that I came across in this novel such as the Japanese Capsule hotels and the Meiji Shrine. For someone who has always held the view that Japan is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, reading about it in this novel just drove home the point that I need to do some traveling ASAP.
4- The element of forbidden love in this story. Throughout the whole of Ice series, it has been the nature of their jobs as employees of The Committee that had kept the heroes/heroines unable to face the fact that even they are vulnerable enough to fall in love when it comes to the right person. However, Reno and Jilly's story is different such that Reno tries to keep his hands off of Jilly not because he doesn't want her, but rather because he had promised his cousin's wife that he would stay away from her and for someone like Reno, family loyalty comes before anything else.
5- And oh yes, even though totally unrelated, I loved listening to Breaking Benjamin's latest album Dear Agony all throughout when I was reading this book. The music just brought something extra to the story which is hard for me to explain but nevertheless played an important role in enhancing my enjoyment of a story well spun.

Dislikes
Again, what's with these abrupt endings? I just don't get it! The story flows so smoothly, you ache for the hero and heroine to get their happily ever after, and wham bam thank you maam, the ending just comes out of nowhere and slaps you on the face something fierce. I so dearly wish this weren't so. I mean it would be nice just to leave us readers with a healthy dose of an epilogue (even a page or two would suffice) to tide us over and take with us images of the ending we had envisioned right through the story. *glum sigh*

Recommended for
1- Fans of Anne Stuart.
2- Fans of romantic suspense. Even though this is part of a series it can be read as a standalone.
3- Fans of the Ice Series by Anne Stuart.

Final Grade A-

Reviewed by Maldivian Book Reviewer ([...]
Terrible characters. Fantastic plot!

Jilly is supposed to be a 20 year old master's student- a genius with a super high IQ. She acts, however, like a twelve year old. She makes TSTL decisions constantly. Yes- she did THROW a gun at an enemy who was beating her sweetie instead of shooting him. (The best thing to do with an enemy is toss a gun toward him so he can catch it and use it on you or your lover?) She drove a Hummer into her front gate, effectively sealing herself in with the bad guy and keeping out help. When her house is on fire, she runs UPSTAIRS instead of out. She is pushed into moving traffic (an attempt on her life) and basically shrugs it off- doesn't notify the police or seek help. When she knows she's being chased by bad guys, she runs away from help and straight into their arms. It's all very frustrating to read.

Beyond that, she was very immature. She handles all situations by either 1) running or 2) using the silent treatment. (Reminded me of my kindergarten niece throwing a tantrum!) I didn't pay for entertainment to read about a STUPID BRAT.

Reno was a better developed character but still missed the mark. He made the novel bearable to read but not by much. He was quite the "genius" himself. I loved the part when he and Jilly are locked in a cell together, caught by the bad guys. When Reno hears someone coming he hides Jilly under a cardboard box. LOL. (?) Ok, the bad guys KNOW she's in there. They put her there. And it's just a room. Seriously- how much protection is she going to get from a box? How long can she "hide" in the most obvious place in a tiny room when the bad guys know she's there?

I also love how Reno allows Jilly to get dressed up in (no joke) head to ankle Gothic Lolita attire- black fishnet stockings, garter belt showing under a super short lacy frilly doll outfit, a corset... the whole nine yards. OK, the girl is near 6 feet tall and blond in TOKYO of all places and the supposed "intel undercover protector" dresses her up in a costume that would only draw attention. She had clothing there- even if they were dirty and old. It would be smarter to wear the dirty plain clothing than the neon sign that would be a 6 foot tall blond woman wearing Gothic Lolita garb walking through Tokyo. They're supposed to be in hiding???

And of course, we have the much beloved love/hate relationship between the hero and heroine. They bicker constantly- spar with each other- hurt and insult each other (even after sex- in fact the emotional abuse goes up times ten) basically right until the last two pages. Very unlikeable. For him, I guess he was trying to keep himself from falling too hard because he liked being a bachelor. For her, she's just a stubborn little BRAT who doesn't like to follow instructions.

The plot is actually fantastic- the background story. I loved the setting in Tokyo, the description of the underground leading families, the struggle for hierarchy within an ancient Japanese faction, the food, the customs... even the running for their lives against the Japanese bad guys. That was all very excellent.

And there were some really sweet scenes here and there that I warmed up to. But for the most part, the hero and heroine were just plain unlikeable.
I have a shameful weakness for bad boys, and Reno is one of the baddest. Yes, they are sexier in print than real life, but a girl can dream of the dark, hot, tortured man-hunk that only she can reach - right? Anyway, for those of you who like your heroes cold on the outside but volcano hot on the inside...look no more. Reno is a little rough and a lot alpha-male. Jilly is a sweet brainiac who has lusted after Reno since she was in her late teens. She's grown up, and can't get him out of her mind. She is beyond sweet, but a bit like the old-fashion damsel in distress at times. Reno was warned to stay away from Jilly by his sister-in-law, but circumstances call for his particular talent to save Jilly from certain death. Warning Reno is not for the reader who wants a tender hero. He's bossy, cold, distant, and down right mean at times. However, the author makes him so confident, heroic, and sexy that I think readers will agree with Jilly - he is the ultimate bad boy you dream about.