Born in Ice

Author: Nora Roberts
Published: August 1, 1995 (Berkley)
Category: Romance
Series: Born In Trilogy #2
Rating: 8/10

Born in Ice tells the story of Brianna, sister of Maggie Concannon from Born in Fire. Now, I didn't like Maggie too much in that book, but I found that I liked her a lot better in this one. I believe that motherhood and marriage suit her. Brie's story is very much the center of this book, with very little to distract from it, as she and the hero, Grayson Thane are together in close quarters (he's a guest in her bed and breakfast for a few months).

I'm still catching up on my vacation reading reviews so here's a blurb about it:

When the harsh storms of winter descended upon western Ireland, the locals stayed indoors--and visitors stayed away. Brianna Concannon's bed-and-breakfast became a cold and empty place. But that was fine with Brianna. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, even when the icy winds howled at her window. But this year she's expecting an unusual guest--mystery writer Grayson Thane from America. A restless wanderer with a painful past, he plans to spend the cold winter alone. But sometimes fate has a plan of its own. Sometimes a fire can be born in ice...

It felt like a very cozy read, like I was in Brie's little B&B and with Gray while he tromped over the countryside looking for material to add to his next bestselling suspense novel. They both had baggage, but it wasn't annoying because it was so well blended into their characters. Gray was one of those nomadic men who don't want to get tied down to material possessions or people. He moves from place to place as needed for researching his next novel and his nature is a result of growing up as an orphan. He falls for Brie without knowing it, and the things he does, like sneaking into her hospital room after her car accident and keeping company with her all night (even reading a cheesy romance novel out loud to her), reveal the loving nature that he doesn't want to admit he possesses. Brie wants to make something with him despite his refusal to settle down for something more than temporary and their happy ending was the stuff of a good movie ending.

Maggie and Brie's mother though, was the worst part of the book. As Gray was shaped by the fact he was an orphan, Maggie and Brie were shaped by the awful relationship between their parents. They grew up under the watch of a harridan of a mother who was all too eager to preach from the Bible about how everything her daughters did was a sin or disrespectful to the mother whose only mothering action was giving birth. I guess no book's complete without me wanting to strangle a character.

Apart from the mother, I enjoyed this very cozy, great-for-a-rainy-day read.