Fire and Ice

By: Julie Garwood

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Sophie Rose, a tough and determined newspaper reporter, is the daughter of Bobby Rose, a suave, charming, and handsome gentleman who also happens to be a notorious big-time thief sought by every law-enforcement agency in the country. When the major Chicago daily where she works insists she write an exposé about her roguish father, Sophie refuses, quits her job, and goes to work at a small newspaper. Far from her onetime high-powered crime beat, she now covers local personalities such as the quirky winner of several area 5K runs whose trademark is goofy red socks.

Those red socks–with Sophie’s business card neatly tucked inside–are practically all that’s found after runner William Harrington’s shredded corpse turns up in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the victim of a mysteriously dramatic death by polar bear. With an unerring nose for a good story, Sophie heads north to Alaska.

What she doesn’t realize is that her father’s infamous reputation has spread even to the far reaches of Prudhoe Bay. Sophie’s assigned a bodyguard–Jack MacAlister, a sexy FBI agent who grudgingly takes the assignment while recovering from an on-duty injury. But they will soon be fighting more than growing passion.©2008 Julie Garwood; (P)2008 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[Julie] Garwood entices readers with sizzling adventure punctuated with memorable characters. . . . Humor and danger are a winning mix. . . . A genuine Garwood gem!”—Romantic Times

“Julie Garwood has become a trusted brand name in romantic fiction.”—People

Super

Love to read everything Julie Garwood writes. She always has a gorgeous girl and a real hottie. Not super deep, but a fun read.

Polar Bears, Arctic Wolves, and Research

Audio narration by Rebecca Lowman was fine. No complaints about her performance, except she could have made the various characters sound more distinctly different. I liked her voice -- easy on the ears, with good inflections.

STORY: Set in contemporary Chicago and Alaska, this one was fairly engrossing at times (especially the heartpounding survival scenes in Inuk, Alaska). However, the pacing was sometimes too slow, especially in the first half of the book. About 30 journal entries from unethical researchers slowed the pace and didn't add much to the story that couldn't have been said more succinctly. The two interviews with the narcissistic William Harrington went on too long (but Harrington's characterization was vivid -- more vivid than anyone's).

Even though the pace lacked intensity and drive at times, I thought Garwood did a nice job of weaving together various seemingly disconnected threads. Kelly's Root Bear anyone? Marathon racing? Polar Bears and Arctic Wolves? Alpha Project? The Barrow Whalers football team? Greg, Sophie's jealous co-journalist?

Sometimes, especially in her historicals, Garwood makes me chuckle. I have noticed that I smile a little during her contemporary novels, but I usually don't laugh. In this book, I did chuckle about the YouTube video gone viral.

Our hero, FBI agent Jack MacAlistir, was credible. He had some texture. I chuckled at how much he absolutely dreaded freezing temps. I feel the same.

As for the relationship, it wasn't love at first sight, and began with minor animosity. The first sex scene -- halfway through -- felt like it almost came out of nowhere, since Sophie and Jack were barely friends at the time.

Annoyance: Once the two had slept together, we get the typical drivel from Sophie: "I lust for him -- may even love him -- but I am NOT gonna sleep with him again. Gonna stay away from him. Oh no!! Here we go! I cannot resist! Well, I really WILL resist next time, because this relationship can never work." (Oy vey. Give me true relationship building, please.)

However, I really loved Sophie's father, a sort of modern day Robin Hood, protecting Chicago's humble folk from the ravages of dirty dealing fraudsters. Would have liked to see more of him. Unlike SWEET TALK, this heroine doesn't have a vile family. I also liked the scenes with Sophie's girlfriends Reagan and Cordy. Her girlfriends added something without dominating the story, which was a problem in SWEET TALK. I also loved Sophie's editor boss, Mr. B. I enjoyed the scenes between Jack and Alec, his FBI partner, Reagan's husband.

As for the suspense, I confess I didn't figure out exactly who would show up in the dark warehouse at the end. That's a plus.

Good, but not Julie Garwood good

I've been a huge Jule Garwood fan since I was a teenager. Her books are some of my most favorite and I've read them again and again. However, this one was good, but not what I would expect from Ms. Garwood. If it were anyone else, I would have given this book four stars.

Great book

Great book. The reader of the story was not great a voicing the characters, but it didn't detract from the story too much. Would recommend.

Gripping story! Perfectly performed!

If you could sum up Fire and Ice in three words, what would they be?

Exciting story that totally fell apart at the end. Rebecca Lowman's reading was better than the content but even she could not give it the creativity the end should have had. Great read and definitely worth listening to.