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Black Ice  By  cover art

Black Ice

By: Anne Stuart
Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
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Publisher's summary

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 château, 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 next 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?

©2005 Anne Stuart (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This taut romantic suspense novel from RITA Award-winner Stuart delivers deliciously evil baddies and the type of disturbing male protagonist that only she can transform into a convincing love interest....Brilliant characterizations and a suitably moody ambience drive this dark tale of unlikely love." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Black Ice

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    194
  • 4 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    42
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    68
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    25
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    158
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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    20

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome!

I am a big fan of Anne Stuart's "House of Rohan" series, so I was eager to give this "Ice" series a try. If the rest of the books are as good as this one, I will be estatic! Anne Stuart stories aren't your usual romantic "fluff." They are gritty, raw, and often a little dark. I think the previous reviewer hit the nail right on the head when she compared this to a 007 movie where James Bond actually falls for the woman he is protecting. And the female lead was no wilting violet, either. The storyline, character development and dialogue all came together to created a fantistic story, probably one of the few that I will actually listen to again!

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Darkly Fantastic

I loved this. The story wasn't the usual romance I listen to and enjoy, it was more like 007's love life, if he totally fell for one of the innocent women standing at the craps tables with him. The story was well crafted, intriguing and capturing. I stayed up 'til the wee hours and found myself hoping for breaks at work to continue listening to find out what would happen next. Sebastian is not your typical hero, but he is oh so hot.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved the book...hated the narrator.

What would have made Black Ice better?

A different reader. I couldn't even finish listening to the audio version. The narrator made the hero sound like a bad Dracula. Bought the actual book and it was great but the audio was a complete waste of money n

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jennifer Van Dyck?

Susan Ericksen. None better!!

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great story, poor narration.

Where does Black Ice rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 50

What did you like best about this story?

Interesting characters.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jennifer Van Dyck’s performances?

Not likely. She reads in 3 - 5 word bursts, not sentences. It drove me crazy. She also mispronounced the name Gilles.

Any additional comments?

This book is the first in the "Ice" series. All of them are great! I still would recommend this audiobook because the story is very good.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I like Anne Stuarts Rohan - I liked this Who Knew

This was my first foray into the backlist of Anne Stuart. I truly enjoyed the listen. From the beginning of arriving at the estate to translate meetings for international businessmen to finding herself the object of manipulation and possibly execution was smooth and exciting. Well worth the credit. I see this is a series so I will definitely add them to my wish list. A fast paced, sexy, spy book

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Worth the listen

Good story, likable characters. Reader was very good but thought the voice was a little to old sounding for the age of Chole. But she was still very good.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So good!

I've put off listening to these due to reviews about how 'dark' they are, afraid the men were just jerks... in which case I had no interest. But I LOVE a good action/adventure with an awesome male AND strong female lead. These books are incredible. And the love story is so sweet- this is the second one I teared up. The whole book is good... keeps you on your toes in addition to the developing relationship between the leads.
The narrator was good- but you could hear audible swallows she took as well as her breathing at times. But I don't think detracted from the story too much. And she did a good job with the different characters.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good But A Bit Light On Romance

Chloe Underwood is an American living in Paris, working as a children's book translator. She decided to forgo the medical career path taken by the rest of her family and is living abroad trying to gain some excitement in her life. She is fluent in a number of languages and shares an apartment with her co-worker Sophie, who is only looking for wealthy boyfriends to support her lifestyle. Sophie makes a last minute request of Chloe to replace her on a weekend job at a business meeting held at a Chateau outside of Paris. Chloe decides to do so because the money is appealing.

Things start to go south pretty quickly when the participants of the meeting are immediately suspicious of the change in translators. They are actually participating in illegal arms trade and debate whether they need to kill her. One of the participants, Bastien Toussaint, is actually an undercover agent for a private organization battling terrorist operations. He's not your typical agent for a not so typical organization and has his own reservations about Chloe, wondering if she's working for someone else and out to do him in.

This is not your typical romantic suspense story and it moves more like an espionage thriller. Chloe truly is an innocent but no one is willing to take the risk and she's marked for death. Bastien vacillates between allowing her to be killed and risking his life and cover in order to save her. She has an immediate attraction to him but is also repelled by his ruthlessness. The book moves at a very fast pace and no relationship is sacred. You are unsure of friend or foe from one moment to the next, including Bastien.

I found it to be an extremely interesting story but the romance was sometimes hard to swallow. It wasn't clear as to why Bastien was attracted to Chloe, even though her attraction to him seemed to be a bit more understandable. Nevertheless, the book kept my interest throughout and I found myself rooting for them as a couple so something worked. The ending was quite abrupt and I'm hoping the series includes more about the future of these two.

Jennifer Van Dyck was good with the delivery of the story.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Wasted my credit!

Would you try another book from Anne Stuart and/or Jennifer Van Dyck?

I like Jennifer Van Duck. This was my first and last Anne Stuart book.

What could Anne Stuart have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

To make this book enjoyable Stuart should had scrapped the whole idea, it would have saved my time and my credit!

What character would you cut from Black Ice?

All of them!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable plot; lots of foul language

I started the first two chapters three times to make sense of all the characters introduced. After that, the story did flow and was enjoyable. The narrator did an excellent job on all the characters except the heroine. Chloe was a 23 year old with a forty-year old voice. I did enjoy the sarcasm of the hero. However, I probably won't buy another Anne Stuart novel because of the over-use of the "F" word. Seems to cheapen the relationship between the two main characters.

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3 people found this helpful