This is a first author for me, I have not read any of Ms. Brooke's books yet so was excited to jump into this story. It is based around Aislin, and high school counselor and Susanna, a CEO of a conglomerate of businesses. The timeline is around 3-4 months and it opens up with Aislin meeting Susanna's daughter Cynthia (Cynt).

The story does move along at a good pace, Aislin finally does meet Susanna, formally, through Cynt. I do like how Aislin and Susanna met first at the club, neither knowing they have Cynt in common, It gave the reader a better warm up to Susanna, I think had we met her in the formal way, the Ice Queen title would have be front and center, but we get a pick of Susanna in the club to see a bit more warmer side first.

This book is heavy on the narrative style, where as I am more of a heavy on the dialog style, so for me the book was a bit slow moving, but again that is just my taste. The dialog does come out more towards the end, again I am a sucker for dialog interaction with characters.

As expected, warming up to Susanna was a bit hard, but the book is called Ice Queen after all <smile> but in the end I fell in love with her and of course Aislin. I got the impression from some of the other sub-characters in the book, that this book has threads to other books of Ms. Brooke's, but I found I could follow along with some of the scenes without having to have read past books, though it does make me want to look into those for some of the stories of the other women in the book.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read and the ending was a good wrap-up to the start of their relationship. I will say though I would have loved to have had more of Susanna ripping into her ex Craig <smile>.

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-enjoyable read

This was a really good novel, loved all the characters in this book. Aislin and Susanna were really cute and sexy together and I loved that there was very low drama in the story. Loved Susannas' daughter Cynt as well. There were some moments where I really felt for one or more of the characters but mostly everything worked out in the end.. This was an age gap romance that featured characters from other books from this author it was good to catch up with some of them in this book. I would definitely recommend this author to anyone who loves a romantic female female age gap romance with very low drama and some very sexy scenes.

I have to admit that until the release of this I hadn’t been aware of Brooke’s romances, only her sci-fi work and therefore hadn’t taken the opportunity to read her work. I was pleasantly surprised by the book and enjoyed how it introduced important topics outside the main romance itself.

Aislin is a school guidance counsellor. She spends her spare time hitting the town with her friends. Susanna is a CEO of a fashion conglomerate and finds herself with very little time for relationships of any kind, including the time to build a good relationship with her daughter. They find themselves pushed together at a club when Susanna is entertaining some clients that just want to have fun.

Unbeknownst to Aislin, the friendship she’s struck up with a teenager in a coffee shop brings her back to Susanna in a professional capacity.

The development of the romance worked really well for me. It was always there, but both characters prioritised Cynt, Susanna’s daughter and her situation at first. This gave appropriate time for a bit of a slow burn. I also enjoyed the development of Aislin’s relationship with Cynt, there were some things I thought might be added to this to create drama later on in the storyline but I’m really glad to say that didn’t happen.

The bullying storyline was dealt with well. I think there were some elements I’d have preferred to have been closed off more fully as I felt neither Aislin or Susanna would have let it slide, but I can understand why Brooke chose to focus on the relationship rather than more explicitly discussing more of the reasons behind Cynt’s unhappiness.

As an ice queen character I really like Susanna. I found that she was in touch with how she came across to the world and I appreciated that. Both characters might have been a little bit slow at communicating with each other, but they did communicate and that was refreshing too.

I will definitely want to read about the characters that appear in this from the Coffee Sonata universe and explore Brooke’s romances further. I would recommend this to romance fans and those that are fond of ice queens.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a typical lesfic romance. A woman meets a woman at a bar. Later they find out they gave something in common - the woman’s daughter. The woman is her pseudo counselor.
The book had a good pace and not a lot of angst.
If you are looking for a romance, this would be for you.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 Stars. This was a chemistry filled romance. I’m a fan of Brooke. I have read around seventeen of her books and the lowest I have ever rated one is 3 stars. I think that really shows what a good author she has been over many years. While her sci-fi type books are my favorite, she knows how to write romance too. One of her romances I had a lot of fun with was her book Coffee Sonata. When I heard that this new book was going to take place in the Coffee Sonata universe, I was really excited to read it. You can read this book without reading Coffee Sonata, or any of the other books in this universe, but it was a real treat to see Mike, Viv, Eryn, and Manon again.

I found this story to be very easy to get into and the pace and flow felt really nice to me. If anything, the book flew by which means I lost track of time since I was enjoying myself. I found myself really interested in the teenage character and what she was going through at school. I think bullying storylines are important and I was anxious to know what happened. While we do eventually find things out, I do wish there was more done to work through and handle the whole situation. There were important discussions that I wanted to see happen and actions I wanted to see taken too. This storyline started so well that I’m disappointed that it wasn’t finished stronger. If it was handled better, this would have been a 4+ star book for me.

When the bullying storyline was kind of dropped, it seemed to be in favor of more romance. The romance started off strong, but for me the chemistry got even better as the book went on. This is the kind of strong chemistry and obvious spark that I want in my romances. And as other reviews have mentioned, these characters -while they tried to fight it- in the end they actually communicate together. Communication is so rare in WLW romance that when it actually happens, I’m always happily surprised.

I’m forever a fan of an ice queen character, and some good chemistry, so I’m not surprised to have enjoyed this. I think Brooke thought we would want more attention on the romance, but I do wish she would have stayed strong on the bulling storyline instead. If you have read Coffee Sonata, I would highly recommend reading this one too. If you are new to Brooke, and like romances with good chemistry, I think you will enjoy this one too. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we get some Brooke sci-fi soon.

4.5

Loved it! The chemistry and passion between the main characters are most definitely there from beginning to end.
I didn't realize that 'Ice queen' is part of a series so it cant of made that much of a difference to the story. I will add the series, Coffee Sonata universe to my 'to-read' list!

Aislin Kennedy is a high school counselor, she has a history that stops people from getting too close. She throws herself into helping students. Susanna Garry, the CEO fashion conglomerate has been through some painful relationships and has given up completely on any form of relationship.
Aislin agrees to help Susanna connect with her daughter Cynt, surprising feelings awaken for both of them. Aislin can't seem to trust and doesn't want to open up and Susanna's track record is a bit too intimidating. Aislin just doesn't want the past to repeat itself. Cynt is also going through a tough time, she's trying to establish some form of relationship between herself and her mother, as well as deal with life as a teenager, and struggles with school.

I really did enjoy this story, it could have dealt with other issues within the storyline but I was just content with reading Aislin and Susanna's story, rooting them on to see if they get there happy ever after.

I was given a copy for an honest review.

I love a romantic story with an ice queen as one of the main characters. It’s one of my favorite tropes, so when I saw the novel Ice Queen by Gun Brooke, I grabbed it right away. I’m happy I did because I really liked this tale.
This book tells the story of Susanna Durr, her daughter Cynthia (Cynt) and Aislin Kennedy. Susanna is the CEO of a major fashion conglomerate, but she’s having problems understanding her teenage daughter. Enter school counselor Aislin who met Cynt at a coffee shop one afternoon, and Susanna at a night club, where sparks erupted between the two strangers on the dance floor. Those sparks fly as they get to know each other, but both have had heartache in the past and are afraid to trust their hearts with the other.

This is not only an ice queen romance, but an age gap story as well. The two tropes go well together, and Ms. Brooke has done an excellent job incorporating these into the story. The main characters are all well developed. Cynt is written very realistically, trust me. I have years of experience with her age group.

This novel is part of the “Coffee Sonata Universe” series, and is set in the same world as the other books. This means a few of the secondary characters may be familiar to those of you who have read the other novels in the series. Happily, these stories are mostly self-contained in their own novels, so you can still enjoy this book even if you have not read the others yet. The other novels are equally good, so you will want to get the whole series anyway.

I recommend Ice Queen to anyone who loves a great age gap love story with an ice queen as a main character.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

3.75 stars. I enjoyed all the books of Brooke I’ve read so far, but I had read none of her contemporary romances yet. With this book, I’m happy to see that I like those too! This book is part of the Coffee Sonata universe (the 5th book). I’ve read none of them, but had no trouble whatsoever reading this book, so it can be read as a standalone.

Aislin and Susanna get to know each other through Cynt (Susanna’s teenage daughter) who is having a hard time at school. Aislin is a counselor at a high school and immediately picked up on Cynt’s state of mind. Susanna is a CEO of a large conglomerate and has trouble connecting with Cynt and she doesn’t realize that there is more going on than just teenage rebellion. The attraction between Aislin and Susanna is immediately there, but they try to remain professional for Cynt, even if that’s not really working out.

There are ice queens that just don’t deal with emotions and don’t care about them (until they meet their special person), and there are people that that use an ice queen persona as a mask to protect them from being hurt. Susanna would be the latter, she has been hurt in the past, and she’s an expert in tuning out her emotions when her rational thought tells her it’s the smart thing to do. She’s not an ice queen through and through and Aislin quickly realizes this.
What I really enjoyed in this romance, was the play for power. Susanna is extremely rich and successful, but Aislin knows what she wants and she is not afraid to pursue it and even Susanna seemed surprised by Aislin’s actions from time to time. But then Susanna’s need for control surfaces and she takes the power back. This was fun to read and resulted in some great chemistry and some pretty steamy scenes.

There is quite a bit of attention for bullying in this book, which is excellent, as this is still such a difficult and important topic. However, as also mentioned in other reviews I feel I have to mention it as well, when there is an actual case of bullying going on, Aislin and Susanna take the easy way out instead of actually confronting the problem (on several fronts). Their way of dealing with the bullying felt like a missed opportunity.

A good ice queen romance with interesting characters and good chemistry. For fans of the Coffee Sonata universe, I believe there were several cameos. It actually made me curious about their stories and want to dive in the back catalog.

3 Stars

Ice Queen is number five in the Coffee Sonata universe. I’ve not read any of the previous books and I never felt I was missing anything. For those who would be interested, it did seem like most of the main characters from the previous books made an appearance here.

Aislin is a counselor at the local public high school and meets Cynthia (Cynt) at coffeehouse. Cynt is going through some things at her private prep school and starts opening up to Aislin. When Aislin meets Cynt’s mother, Susanna, to discuss transferring schools they realize they recently encountered one another at a dance club. Their initial attraction from the club continues to grow and soon they start a romantic relationship.

I can’t say that I loved this one, or even liked it really but I can’t say I disliked it either. I found it to be average. I think most of my reasoning is because I liked Susanna, but I didn’t care for the reasoning behind some of her issues. I didn’t find her to be at all “ice queen” like. I found her to be more guarded and just busy with her work. She’s the CEO of a fashion conglomerate and has tens of thousands of people under her. My main issue, because of her work, is that that her relationships suffer because she is absent. She is an absentee mother and it sounds like that’s how she was in her previous marriages. She realizes it and while she does seem sad about it, she doesn’t really do anything to change it. I would think as a CEO with all her employees that she could delegate to make time for her family, or at least try. I just didn’t see how she’s going to be any different in the future for Cynt or Aislin.

As far as the romance goes, it’s a bit a slow burn with an age gap for those who are interested in that. I say it’s a slow burn but I was also surprised by how quickly the I love you’s came. A good part of their beginning interactions dealt with Cynt and her school issues. Both Aislin and Susanna are guarded with their hearts so them declaring love after less than two months was unexpected. I would have liked more depth to their relationship as most of it seemed superficial.

I did appreciate that the black moment doesn’t really happen and the drama is saved by them having an actual conversation. They’re open with their fears and discuss it like the adults they are.

Almost all of the other reviews have been mostly positive so I say read them and decide for yourself 😊

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely book. What a great school counsellor to have. I envied the daughter. In the UK, actually having a school counsellor at all would have been amazing. Not that teenage me would have been caught anywhere near talking to someone! Meanwhile back to the book, the school counsellor’s romance with the daughter’s mother is soon sizzling hot. The ice queen melted pretty quickly via a classic meeting on the dance floor. The romance then paces along very nicely in a charming way. Basically it made me feel good as I read it. All the ingredients for a fine romance and throughly enjoyable.

The book title of Ice Queen completely drew me in without even reading the blurb. I didn’t care about the blurb because ice queens are a popular lesfic character plot that so many of us adore. We expect icy and complex, yet fiery women to adorn those crowns and the bar has been set high by previous authors. The lure of these characters that draws us in to love them so much is how they are tamed. What is unique about this ice queen is that Susanna is already tamed by her delightful daughter, Cynt who desperately wants to run from the bullying at the elite prep school she attends. Susanna abandons all pretense of her otherwise workplace authoritarianism to desperately try reconnecting with her daughter. It’s sweet and wonderful when the badass boardroom diva completely falls away to the loving mother trying to understand and help her struggling daughter.. Aislin awkwardly and then sweetly enters both of their worlds that brings order and ultimately love to both Susanna and Cynt. The family they build together is wonderful and filled with laughter, respect, and healthy communication even when the going gets rough. It’s funny that I completely forgot what the title was by the end of the book, because there certainly is no ice left by the end. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story on many levels. First, the author placed the story in East Quay, a town she used from her brilliant book Coffee Sonata and brought back some favorite characters. Second, the plot of the book was so well developed. I take exception to the title of the book, I don’t see the main character of Susanna as an ice queen, rather I see her as never knowing how to love someone as she never had models for that and two x husbands who were not nice men. She is very focused on running her umpire but does really try to be there for her daughter Cynthia. Cynthia is miserable in her private prep school and one day she meets Aislin, a school counselor who befriends her. Cynthia would like to continue to see and talk to Aislin. When Aislin meets Cynthia’s motherSusanna sparks fly for both women. These two women could not be more different. Aislin is a free spirit and open, Susanna is closed off and afraid to connect as she is well aware of her shortcomings. Yet despite their reservations they do connect and start something nice but Susanna calls it off because she fears Aislin will leave her. Can these two srar crossed lovers ever find a way to a solid love life?
This author is one of my favorites as she does such a great job developing her characters. I also like the way she writes love scenes as I see them as something a mature woman would do and I can relate to that. I highly recommend this book, I already read it twice, it’s just that good.

5 stars
Another excellent age gap story by Gun Brooke. She just knows how to craft an interesting romance with strong characters. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. I'm totally hooked to her characters and so looking forward to the next book from this universe.
Recommended to all fans of romance novels.

Ice Queen by Gun Brooke is part of the Coffee Sonata Universe so we return to idyllic East Quay. Our main characters are high school counselor Aislyn Kennedy, CEO of a fashion conglomerate Susanna Durr and her 14-year old daughter Cynthia (Cynt).

Cynt is being bullied at her fancy private prep school and feels like she can’t open up about it to her mother, who is quite the workaholic. She meets Aislyn at the coffe shop and the two hit it off. Cynth can finally confide in someone. Aislyn suggests a transfer to her (less fancy but much nicer) public school might be a solution for Cynt. A talk to mom Susanne is in order, something Cynt is not relishing but Aislyn is there to pave the way. Turns out Cynt’s mom is the same hot woman she danced and flirted with in a nightclub a week before.

I liked the other books in the series and this one was enjoyable too. Mostly. Turns out I didn’t think Susanna was much of an ice queen to be honest. Workaholic yes, she is CEO of practically the whole East Coast so I thought she was doing pretty good with that. She could have presented much more as a mega bitch, but she didn’t.

I really liked the chemistry between Aislyn and Susanna and the sex was pretty steamy. I was a bit baffled by the drama towards the end because it made little sense. Also the epilogue was suddenly told from Cynth’s pov for the sole purpose of wrapping up her bullying adventure (something that would have had more impact had it been worked into the story). Now it felt like mustard after the meal.

A decent contemporary romance, Ice Queen will appeal to a lot of readers.

f/f pretty steamy

Themes: attraction strikes at YOUSHEME, Susanna is practically CEO of the whole East Coast, I want a Lovisa of my own, all the women from the Coffee Sonata series have a cameo, I felt that last sex scene was one too many.

3.5 Stars

This book is the latest in the Coffee Sonata universe, characters from other books make an appearance in this one. It is not necessary to read the other books before reading this one.

Aislin is a 27-year-old high school counselor her charisma and cute appearance make it easy for her to connect with her students, but she doesn't let anyone in to love her. Someone in her past has left deep and ugly scars. When Aislin meets Cynt in a coffee shop she notices the girl is unhappy and strikes up a friendly conversation. Aislin would never have expected Cynt's mother to be the extremely hot woman she danced with at a club and just can't seem to get her out of her head. Susanna is the CEO of a fashion conglomerate, her nickname is the Ice Queen and she doesn't even really mind it. Jaded from two divorces and only focused on her job Susanna has a hard time connecting with anyone, her daughter, and any potential lovers. That is until Aislin, Aislin isn't afraid of the 13 years older Susanna, her icy tactics don't scare her. Aislin's honesty and frankness are what pulls Susanna in. Aislin helps Cynt and Susanna connect, while also developing and exploring her own feelings for the Ice Queen.

I get why Susanna is portrayed as the Ice Queen and nicknamed as such as well, but she really isn't At some point in the book Aislin thinks the icy veneer comes from fear, and that is just it. It's a mask, a mask that has served Susanna well in her business, but not in her personal life. I really like how the author worked with this, how Aislin is never scared and gives as much ice as she gets. There is never any imbalance. I do have some questions left about what was going n with Cynt, there was bullying, and it worked well as a side story, but I could have done with a little more on this. Adding some depth to the mother-daughter relationship which is a vital part of this story.
At the 80-90% mark I could feel the inevitable drama coming, but low and behold, like proper adults they talked (or shouted) about it and worked it out. It is a believable moment, if it would have played out differently, I might have thrown my Kindle out of the window, so thank you Gun Brooke for not making me throw my Kindle.
Solid 3.75 star read.

Gun Brooke is one of my favorite authors. Once again she doesn't disappoint. I loved the chemistry between the main characters Aislin and Susanna. I felt so much for Susanna daughter Cynt and all that she was going through. I was happy to see Characters such as Mannon, Eryn, Mike and Vivian from her previous book being incorporated. The story flowed beautifully. You should grab a copy you wont be disappointed. I recommend. 5 stars.


I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest opinion.


Thank you NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books Inc and Gun Brooke# Ice Queen

3.5 stars
Rich divorcee (Susanna) with 14 year old daughter,(Cynthia) meets hot school counselor (Aislin) and they fall hard for each other. The counselor helps mother and daughter mend their disconnect. But it's more than that...it's a hot romance between two interesting characters with the side story involving the daughters social problems.
I don't agree with some of the reviews that stated they thought the author missed the chance to highlight the bullying aspect more. I thought it was a necessary side story and was described enough and dealt with using an investigation in the end.
I was more interested in finding out why Susanna had the ice queen tag. Of course we find out after a very sexy dinner with friends. That's when I started reading faster.
(I was a bit confused about the couple's at this dinner. They weren't described very much and I felt they were important to the story......and then later I discovered this is a series, and these are reoccurring characters. But don't be concerned, this can be read as a stand alone)
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review

I always look out for Gun Brooke, she a great author and story teller, which she has done again with Ice Queen.
The story is a sweet romance, and the attraction between Aislin and Susanna is evident from their first contact.
I loved the book included secondary characters like Cynt and included her story and out come along with the main story.

Would i recommend: Yes. Great sweet book to read

Whenever Gun Brooke writes a book it will make my to read list. So far I have not been disappointed and this time is no different. She excels in writing characters you can connect with, her dialogue flows naturally from the pages and interactions/reactions in her story make sense.
In this book the relationship between Aislin and Susanne (who is not really such an Ice Queen) is one you as a reader can get behind., both are struggling with insecurities from the past, but the way they handle that rings true and for me a believable plot pulls me even more into the story: it could happen to me!

A point to take into consideration: in the beginning it felt like Cynth (Susanne's daughter) would have a bigger role in this story and considering the subject of her part of the plot that would have been better in my opinion. Now the rather serious problem of bullying is touched upon but as soon as Cynth fulfills her role as instigator for Susanne and Aislin to meet she and her problem fade to the background. In the epilogue it's mentioned that her bullying has stopped, but more of that process as well as more reconnecting between mother and daughter would add more depth to the book.

Nevertheless, a sweet romance I read with a lot of pleasure and would recommend to romance lovers who like contemporary books with an (slight) ice queen persona and class difference love story with a simple, realistic plot.

**** An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. ***

𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼.

High school counselor Aislin is besotted by Susanna after sharing a dance at a club. Aislin is reacquainted with Susanna when she discovers that the twice divorced conglomerate CEO is the mother of a troubled 14 year old Cynt whom she had befriended by chance at a coffeehouse.

I read this book without realising that this is the fifth book in the Coffee Sonota universe series. And even though there is absolutely no need to read the first four books at all, fellow sticklers for chronology would know how I feel, especially when characters from Coffee Sonota and Insult to Injury made small guest appearances.

Anyway, this is a low angst, non-fluffy romance that I lapped up almost immediately because this book falls into one of my favourite tropes - ice queens, of course. And I'd say Gun Brooke did the chemistry bit between the main characters right and I am so happy with it.

But I also noticed that the author chose simplicity over a complicated narrative, downplaying or disregarding everyone else in favour of focusing predominately on the relationship between the main characters themselves. This includes Cynt who centres this story as a neglected teenager at home and a victim of school bullying but her issues were addressed only half-heartedly. This also includes other side characters like Aislin's friends who could have had a chance to interact with Susanna even if its not to play a larger role accentuating the realistic differences in Aislin and Susanna's social circles.

But that being said, I am still positive about this book because the author delivered a good romance that has me wanting more of Aislin and Susanna.