Nora Roberts: Born in Ice

MY REVIEW

Born in Ice
Series: Born In Trilogy, Book 2
Author: Nora Roberts
Release: November 1, 1996
List Price: $7.99

Read: August 26-27, 2009
My Rating:


Author Homepage | Trilogy Page | Amazon.com

SUMMARY (from Amazon.com)
Brianna Concannon is a woman with a rare gift for creating a home, and she makes use of this talent by running a bed-and-breakfast in a picturesque corner of Ireland. Mystery writer Grayson Thane is an American who grew up in an orphanage and has spent his life alone.

A restless wanderer with a painful past, Grayson arrives at Blackthorn Cottage intent only on soaking up the Irish atmosphere and writing his next novel, but he finds far more than he bargained for. The beautiful, calm Brianna soothes his disquiet soul, and in her Grayson finds the home he hadn't realized he needed.

Brianna knows that by falling for him, she risks her heart, already bruised and scarred by a young love who left her at the altar. But the yearning to let the American melt the ice around her cold exterior is irresistible. Unless Grayson can let go of his past to forge a future with her, Brianna may have gambled her heart in vain.

SERIES: Born In Trilogy

1. Born in Fire (October 1, 1994)
2. Born in Ice (November 1, 1995)
3. Born in Shame (January 1, 1996)
   

The trilogy follows the Concannon sisters. The first book features Maggie, a glass-blowing artist of fiery temper, and Rogan Sweeney, a very successful and driven international gallery owner; opposites attract in this book. Then comes Brianna, Maggie's quietly reserved sister who finds contentment in running her inn and making strangers feel comfortable when they are far from home; her hero is Grayson Thane, a well-known mystery writer who has been a lone wanderer for most of his life and treasures the fact that he isn't tied down.

The trilogy ends with Shannon, their American half-sister, whose existence they have only learned of during the second book. She is the result of a brief affair between her mother and their father and has grown up in America, never having met the other side of her family. Shannon's hero is the wonderful and sexy Murphy Muldoon, who was featured in both of the trilogy's other books.

OPINION
Born in Ice has good reviews on Amazon.com (average customer rating of 4 stars), but it is the least preferred one of the trilogy. I myself liked it better than Born in Fire and give it a solid four stars. I love the quiet heroines and Brianna is definitely that; she's so reserved and cool at times that I would have liked to see her lose her temper in one big fiery blowout at least once in the book. Regardless of this, Brianna was an interesting heroine and despite my apprehensions from the first book, she was much more accessible than I thought she would be.

Gray was a wonderful hero and he and Brianna are perfect for each other. Their trip to New York was one of the highlights of the book;he's so sweet to her and her bafflement when he gives her gifts is very amusing. The love scene while they're in NYC was the hottest one in the book and one of the best. Gray is always so tender and loving when they make love (Brianna is a virgin, so at first she's somewhat frightened/confused by her feelings for and attraction to him) and this one rougher and hotter moment had me fanning myself a little, lol. Though of course nothing beats the scene in Rising Tides between Ethan and Grace against the tree - whew!! ;-)

The relationship between Brianna and Gray was always honest, forthright, and open, which was something I really appreciated. They are reserved with one another about their pasts, but when it comes to their relationship with each other, there were no misunderstandings, no lies, no secrets, etc. As always, Roberts has one of the characters realizing and admitting their love, while the other one refuses to admit the truth until the end - still, the end is wonderful, sweet, and just perfect for those two characters.

BOTTOM LINE
A great read that I would definitely recommend. The first book in the trilogy, Born in Fire, can be passed over, but it's worth checking out from the library if you want to read all three books of the trilogy. Now it's on to Born in Shame for me! I'll let you know what the verdict is :-)