BOOK REVIEW ~ ICED BY KAREN MARIE MONING

Title:  Iced (Fever, Book Six; Dani O'Malley, Book One)

Author: Karen Marie Moning

Release Date: October 30, 2012 

Reviewer purchased own copy of hardback for review 

The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be. 

Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.

Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants her dead, the terrifying Unseelie princes have put a price on her head, and Inspector Jayne, the head of the police force, is after her sword and will stop at nothing to get it. What’s more, people are being mysteriously frozen to death all over the city, encased on the spot in sub-zero, icy tableaux. 

When Dublin’s most seductive nightclub gets blanketed in hoarfrost, Dani finds herself at the mercy of Ryodan, the club’s ruthless, immortal owner. He needs her quick wit and exceptional skill to figure out what’s freezing Fae and humans dead in their tracks—and Ryodan will do anything to ensure her compliance.

Dodging bullets, fangs, and fists, Dani must strike treacherous bargains and make desperate alliances to save her beloved Dublin—before everything and everyone in it gets iced.

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Book Review

What can I say? I think that KMM is just effin' brilliant. I have loved her Fever series and Jerricho from the start. And to see this story continue with Dani has me doing the happy dance.

Dani is spunky, snarky, fierce--everything that I adore in my heroines. 

And now we get to find out more about Ryodan, who has me thinking highly inappropriate thoughts. This dark and mysterious dude has a irritatingly appeal that I just can't put my finger on--but I found myself smiling whenever he appeared in the book. 

The wall that separates the fae and humans has fallen and shit just got real. Dani continues to search out for fae baddies to kill them with her Sword of Light - one of the instruments able to annihilate the fae. She lives off snickers and pop-tarts, moving at hyper speed around Dublin, and OH YEAH--hoping like hell she doesn't run into  the one person she desperately tries not to think about--Mac. 

Instead, she runs into one hard-bodied man whose species still remains undefined. Whatever the hell he is, Dani doesn't want any part of him or his men.

"Sloppy, Mega," AI mutter. I still can't see. I wipe my bloody nose on my sleeve and reach out to reel what I hit."That's my dick," Ryodan says.I snatch my hand away. "Gah!" I choke out. I can feel my face again--because, like, it's going up in flames. What kind of universe makes me reach out at exactly that fecking level to fell what I think is a wall and puts my hand on a penis?

Then there is the newest Unseelie Prince, Christian, who has his sights locked on Dani and struggles with the darkness that threatens to consume him. With Dani, he sees the woman she will become and reminds him of what he used to be. 

I know exactly what she's going to be one day. Bloody hell is she ever. Worth.Waiting.For. Too bad I won' t be here anymore.

But now something out there is freezing people right where they stand--killing them instantly--and leaving without a trace. The clues are few, if any, and Ryodan wants answers. He hires Dani to help identify this being freezing his way around Ireland. And really, she doesn't have much of a choice. One cannot simply say "No" to Ryodan. Even the Mega O'Malley. 

Dani's special abilities to freeze frame make her the perfect detective to examine the icy scenes left behind. 

I absolutely loved the dialogue between Dani and Ryodan. These two snap, crackle, popped like a bowl of Rice Krispies.  They curse, (FECK), argue, fight and made me giggle out loud.

"Sign.""You can't make me.""Or Jo dies. Slowly and painfully.""Dude, why are you still talking? Unchain me and give me the fecking contract already."

This story has so many possibilities, so many twists and turns, and if KMM's history of major cliffies is anything to go by, so many screaming out loud moments before you wanna pull your hair out. 

I am DYING to see what KMM has in store with the next book. Who will Dani end up with: Christian, Dancer, or Ryodan? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for R-man. He makes me go weak in the knees with his sexual prowess that leaks though the pages. 

Here are just a few of my favorite Iced moments:

"It happens when I get really excited. The more excited I get, the more I vibrate.""Now there's a thought," Lor says."If you mean what I think you mean, you want to shut the fuck up and never think it again," Ryodan says. 

Lor points through the glass floor. "See that blonde down there with the big tits? I was about to get laid.""One, I'm too young to hear that kind of stuff, and two, I don't see you carrying a club to knock her over the head with, so how were you going to accomplish that?"Behind me, Ryodan laughs."You're ruining my night, kid.""Ditto. Ain't life at Chester's grand?" 

He freeze-frames away, moves in on the scene. “I like sex for breakfast, kid. I eat early and often.”

I look down. Ryodan’s dick is as big as mine. “Why the bloody hell don’t’ you wear underwear?” To an Unseelie prince, an exposed male dick is a call to battle.
“They chafe. Too small and confining.”
“Fuck you,” I say.

But there he is, in graphic detail because I know exactly what he looks like naked, I saw him. I know how his body moves. He’s got a lot of muscle. Scars, too. I know that when he has sex he laughs like the world is a perfect place.

Okay, apparently I could do this all feckin' day. Iced is just amazingly written, highly addictive, and sexually charged. It has in-your-face dialogue with pin-and needles excitement from the get go.