Red Hot + Blue Reads

Shannon Reviews ICED by Karen Marie Moning.

Iced picks up where Shadowfever left off. Except there is hardly any Mac and even less Barrons in what is now Dani's book. Once you get past that and wrap your brain around her voice as the narrator, it's easy to get caught back up in KMM's Fever World. And the world's a fecked up place. Everyone's got problems.

The most pressing problem is that something large and fae is freezing things. Randomly. Ryodan has taken a particular interest in solving this mystery and enlists Dani's help in investigating the possible cause. And by enlist, I mean coerce. The careful reader will notice that this harkens back to the job he mentioned he had for Dani near the end of Shadowfever. It's interesting that Ryodan looks at Dani, much in the same way Mac looked at Barrons - she has potential. This has what has kept Dani alive and on his radar all these years. You can almost hear Barrons teasing Ryodan...

But I knew I was going to love this book when Ryodan says to Dani “Kid, Batman needs Robin.”

And so begins the unlikely pairing of one Dani Mega O'Malley and Ryodan whatevertheheckhislastnameis. And by pairing, I don't mean  in a romantic sense. We will have to wait until the next book to see if there is a romance in Dani's future. Although I'm sure a certain MacKeltar turned CrazySexyHorny Unseelie Prince would tell you there is DEFINITELY a romance in her future. For some reason I have yet to fathom, Christian has decided Dani is or will be his mate. "Just one time before I turn into the villain of this piece, just one time before I become the fourth and final Unseelie prince, I want to be her Highlander. And her hero."

Then there is Dani's bestie Dancer. Is he just your average brilliant genius with a knack for not getting killed in this extremely dangerous world, or is there something more to him...

Meanwhile, back at the abbey, the sidhe-seers have their own problems. Cruce aka the Sinsar Dubh, the big bad evil form the first five books, is frozen beneath their abbey. But even frozen, Cruce is causing mischief. He has been busy projecting himself into the dreams of every sidhe-seer in the hopes that one of them will set him free. I'm hoping that now that they all realize that Cruce is playing all of them, the next book will see a more united band of sidhe-seers, rather than the divisive and scared group they currently are.

Dani mentions that the Unseelie Princes are at large and have begun fighting with each other. The foreshadowing is there for something big to come from that in the next books. Unless of course, it is KMM's way of throwing us off the track and over the cliff. Something she is well known and well loved for. One of the great things about a KMM book is that you never quite know where she's going next but you know it's gonna be a helluva ride.

I think it's important to remember that this is the first in a three book series. If I had read Darkfever when it first came out I might not have picked up the next book. KMM is a brilliant plotter. I think it's safe to say we've only just begun and that she has amazing twists and turns ahead for us. 

Iced earns 4 Red Hot + Blue flames