Born In Ice: Number 2 in series (Irish Born Trilogy, #2)

by Nora Roberts

Brianna Concannon has buried a broken heart under her fair, calm exterior for ten long years. Jilted just weeks before the wedding to her childhood love, Bri turned her attention to keeping house for her family in County Clare. She's cooled her passions for anything other than tending to the guests at her inn, until one stormy night when the wind blows in a houseguest who could change everything . . .

Grayson Thane, the acclaimed thriller writer, has come to Ireland to research his next bestseller. It's the latest stop on Gray's travels: with a past of his own that he'd rather forget, Gray won't let anything tie him down. But he's soon possessed by the ghost stories of Ireland - and the fired-gold hair of his hauntingly beautiful host.

Stumbling across her late father's letters in an attic trunk, Bri is about to make a discovery that will stir dark family secrets and change her life for ever. But will Gray stay with her to weather the storm?

• ISBN10: 0749928905
• ISBN13: 9780749928902
• Publish Date: 2 April 2009 (first published 1 August 1995)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

I loved Born In Fire with all my heart and soul. I had no choice, but to award it with five stars. My expectations for Born In Ice was extremely high and while it was a good book, it failed to "Wow!" me.

Born In Ice follows Brianna Concannon. While Maggie is filled with fire, Brianna is filled with ice. She's cool, calm, practical, loyal, has a quiet strength, doesn't enjoy conflict and forgives easily. She's also very homely, is a culinary genius and runs a quaint Bed and Breakfast, called Blackthorn Cottage.

Grayson Thane is a writer from America and he stays in Brianna's Bed and Breakfast in order to research more about Ireland for his book. He's a mystery, a writer, a little self-centered and egocentric and is extremely moody. But this is a contemporary romance novel, and a romance develops between the two of them that's quite sweet, but isn't ultimately satisfying.

"Love survives, you see. Through fear, through heartache, even through death." (Brianna Concannon)

WHAT WORKED FOR ME
❄ The beautiful setting. Ireland is an amazing place and is one of my dream destinations. Nora Robert's successfully shows the beauty and mysticism of Ireland.
❄ Blackthorn Cottage and the whole idea of a quaint Bed and Breakfast.
❄ Brianna. In the first book she's portrayed as a saint and is the epitome of utter perfection. In Born In Ice, there is a lot of depth to her and she becomes a believable character. However, I do prefer main characters who are fiesty and flawed which is why Maggie from Born In Fire is a more appealing character.
❄ The character development.
❄ The tidbits of Maggie and Rogan that makes me love them even more, without detracting from the main characters, Brianna and Grayson.
❄ Murphy Muldoon. He is such a sweet and kind guy and I hope he finds his happy ending.
❄ The mystery, although it is tied up a little too nicely.
❄ The family relationship involving Maeve, Brianna and Maggie as well as a family secrets that come to light.

WHAT DIDNT WORK FOR ME
❄ Grayson Thane. He is so damn manipulative and moody, so hot and cold. The one minute he is a jerk and the next minute he's one of the nicest guys in the world. Urgh! His up-and-down moods makes my head turn.
❄ Born In Ice follows the same plot as Born In Fire . Grayson has Maggie's artistic temperament, but he isn't likable enough to pull it off and Brianna has the same cool, calm and practical nature that Rogan had.
❄ The predictability and formulaic nature of the romance. The romance is sweet, but the curve balls and obstacles fail to entice emotions, because I know there was going to be a happily-ever-after. This is a contemporary romance though and the genre is quite difficult to spin on its head.
❄ The ending is extremely abrupt!
❄ Everything is tied up a little too neatly to be realistic, but whatever, it's fiction.

Born in Ice is a solid novel, but its predecessor, Born In Fire is a more fun, engaging and fulfilling read.

[Baroness Book Trove]

CAUTION! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK YET. CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK! THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

I read this one after I was done with reading the first one because why wouldn't you? This one is all about the middle child of the Concannon girls. The middle one is more likable for the mother but not by much. In this one we find out that Maggie is now pregnant with her and Rogan's first baby and Brianna is as stubborn as her sister on the whole thing of not being married. See Brianna would rather take care of other people than finding a husband.
Or at least that is what she thought until she started to spend time with Grayson Thane and she started to fall for him for each passing day. Though Grayson is as stubborn as the Concannon ladies and doesn't really want to settle down since he is always moving from place to place to write his books. But what if he has finally found a place to stay?!

This book is such a good book that it makes me want to keep on reading all the different books from Nora Roberts even more. This of course isn't my first time reading a book by Nora and it won't be my last. Her romance books are just so good that I love them very much. I have to give this book five stars once again.

If you want to read my other reviews or even to comment on this one on my book blog: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/