Finished Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart. This is the fifth and last (for now) book in her Ice romantic suspense series.

This one’s about Reno, a former member of the yakuza (Japanese mob) who works for the Committee, a spy group that fights terrorists and more. Reno is dispatched to Japan to intercept Jilly Lovitz, the younger sister of Summer, who is married to Reno’s cousin Taka (who also works for the Committee).

Summer and Taka are in hiding from some Russian mercenaries, who turn their attention to Jilly when she shows up in Japan. Jilly and Reno met before and were immediately attracted to each other. All of which means they have a hard time keeping their hands off each other as they dodge the mercenaries and uncover a plot by another yakuza member to dethrone Reno’s grandfather as head of the organization.

This book follows the general formula Stuart has established in the Ice series. Tough guy meets innocent girl, saves her from bad guys, is supposed to kill/keep his distance from her, but can’t help himself and falls in love with her anyway. But Stuart’s writing is so smooth you hardly notice the formula. I just really like her writing style. She’s great at keeping the suspense part of the plot going while developing the romance.

I thought Reno was one of her better heroes for the simple fact he’s not quite as much of a jerk as the other guys. All of Stuart’s heroes in the Ice series are stone-cold killers who use sex as a weapon against women. They’re not very nice guys (certainly no one I’d want to know in real life), but they’re interesting to read about. Even if I do want the heroines to beat them with baseball bats for being such jerks.

But Jilly, well, like most of Stuart’s other heroines. she’s just no match for the hero and is completely overwhelmed by Reno. Jilly is supposed to be this freakishly smart woman, but she never shows it. I kept expecting her to bust out some MacGuyver moves and save the day, but it never happens. She’s just kind of there for much of the story.

I had high hopes for Reno and Jilly’s story, and I have to say I’m a little disappointed, especially with Jilly. There were parts of the story I liked (the Japanese setting especially), but I’m going to have to go thumbs down on this one.  

But overall, this is a solid romantic suspense series, especially the first two books, Black Ice and Cold as Ice. So if you’re looking to read some more RS, then I’d definitely recommend this series. Thumbs up to it.

Up next: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

Books in my TBR pile: About 12.