Gun Brooke is a terrific writer. Ice Queen is a great read, Aislin and Susanna connect to help Susanna's daughter Cynt. I appreciate the character development and the romance and sex are well done. However, I never quite understood the primary reason Cynt left the school. The ending didn't really explain. I don't want to give away spoilers, but I felt the situation with Cynt might have been more well defined in terms of a story arch. Overall it's a wonderful romance and a great read!

While written well with an interesting enough premise, this book didn't hold my interest for very long. Normally an avid reader, I found myself firing up my Kindle and sitting there watching television instead of reading. I fit in a chapter at a time, but there was nothing to pull me into the story to make me not want to stop reading. 

Fine enough read, but no passion.

Two women from different backgrounds and lifestyles fall for each other while trying to connect to a troubled teen. The women have an undeniable chemistry they can’t ignore which turns into a really endearing relationship. The communication is upfront and refreshing, until it isn’t. Fear threatens to break a good thing and when it does, communication breaks down.

Overall, it’s a really well written book that flows smoothly for the most part. The ending seemed a bit anticlimactic and rushed, but the epilogue hinted at the future security and happy ending I needed.

'ARC provided by both NetGalley and The Publisher in exchange for a honest review'

**'Good fiction creates empathy.A book takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another character or person and to live another life...'

3.5stars!
Poignant, enjoyable but a little perplexing at times, 'ICE QUEEN' will surely be an appealing read to many of Ms.Brooke's fans and any interested readers because of it's alluring title and the thought of an exciting storyline.
Reading the storyline was nice but i think Ms.Brooke kinda missed the opportunity of exploring the topic of bullying which happens more often than some parents want to believe in these well to do private prep schools -- but not doing this never ruin the rest of the storytelling.
Furthermore, this story can also be deemed as one of those rare story by Ms.Brooke that showed how she captures the utter joy felt by one person after meeting someone else not of her social stature but has a simple way about life, is passionate about her job and whose energy helps to bring back what really being loved feels like --- just not being looked at as a privilege uppity dame but as a mature woman who she might shape her life with forever.
Recommended!

much. I love ice queen romance and although the title for this book is Ice Queen itself I didn't find Susanna that icy, she obviously had some issues with past relationships and was a bit uptight but the interaction between her and Aisling were logical to me. I believe the author made a fantastic effort in bringing together two characters from different worlds and their connection felt very real.

Susanna's relationship with her daughter was more difficult but it was great to see her character evolving despite the difficul subject of bullying and the acceptance that sometimes what you believe is best for someone simply it isn't.

What a good surprise was to meet again all main characters from Coffee Sonata, I wasn't expecting them and it took me a while to recognise those familiar names I read some time ago. You don't need to read the previous book to enjoy this one and I wondered if other characters were also from Gun Brooke's books. Obviously I have some more reading to do.

Aislin Kennedy, 27 was a high school counselor at East Quay public high school. Susanna Durr, 40, was the workaholic CEO of a fashion conglomerate with an intelligent 14 year old daughter who was often bullied at her very prestigious private high school. The bullying was what bought Aislin into the lives of both mother and daughter. The mother daughter relationship was strained.  Cynt felt invisible and couldn’t talk to her mother about her problems, but wanted Aislin’s help to transfer to the public high school. When Aislin was invited into their home to discuss the possible transfer, the women’s immediate attraction continued and soon became intimate. They had previously met at a dance club when Susanna was there with her clients and Aislin was with her friends. From that point on, Cynt’s bullying problems became almost nonexistent since she moved to Aislin’s school and the relationship between the two women became the main focus of the story. This was fine, but I felt a problem that was central to the story, and particularly in today’s environment, was underdeveloped.

Even though it was often stated that communication was important, there was never any deep conversations between Susanna and her daughter, especially with regards to her being bullied.The daughter wanted to get away from her high school and bullies. She told her mother that was enough to know and the details weren’t important. Cynt came home from school and from a friend’s house crying and quite distraught. Throughout the story, I kept patiently waiting for that emotional unburdening of those bullying details from Cynt to her mother or even to school counselor Aislin. I was hoping the bullies would be confronted or at least some strongly worded conversations between Susanna and the principal about the obvious bullying presence in that prep school - starting with its principal.  Aislin had even recorded the harsh tone he took with Cynt. With Susanna’s highly prestigious position, she could have made a  lot of noise to bring those issues to the forefront. But those conversations and repercussions were never actively involved in the story but rather passively stated in the epilogue. 
   
Overall, I enjoyed other stories by this author. The romance part was well written, but personally I felt the bullying storyline fell short. 

3.5 stars

An ARC was given for an honest review.

Wow, I loved this one. A bit of slow burn, but a nice break in to really nice relationship. I loved how Susanna and Aislin mesh so well together. They complimented each other so well, one can calm the other. Such a sweet story. And Cynt? Such a bright kid. I love her character as well. The 3 of them are just perfect family.

I always love when Gun Brooke releases a new romance!  The theme of "ice queen" has been done quite a bit, but Gun Brooke did such a nice job of making it different than most.  Aislin was a high school's guidance counselor who happened to meet Susanna's daughter Cynt at a coffee shop in town.  The two formed a quick bond with Cynt finding a confidant in Aislin.  Susanna and Aislin happened to meet on a dance floor at a local club.  Little did either know how the chance meeting would change all of their lives.  

This book was a nice change of pace from the usual lesfic books that are filled with a ton of drama and angst.  The relationship between Aislin and Susanna was sweet and flowed nicely.  Aislin helped Susanna and Cynt repair their struggling relationship.  We also got to visit with characters from some of Gun Brooke's other novels which was wonderful!  This was a really nice book and I look forward to her next one!

The “ice Queen” theme never gets old for me. I love watching reading about the MC slowly letting down her mask and this book didn’t disappoint. I think that this may be my favorite book that Gun Brooke has written. Aislin was perfect: sweet, beautiful, caring, and sensitive. She has been seriously hurt in the past but when she met Susannah, she was all in. No hesitation, and that takes a lot of guts to open back up after getting hurt, especially in the way that it happened to her. Susannah was the perfect compliment to Aislin. She’s strong, but caring. At first, you think that she’s another of those types of moms who has career first and child second. But she wanted to get closer to her daughter and just didn’t know how. Aislin bridged that gap. The storyline was fluid, there was no unnecessary drama, and the characters were well developed. My only complaint is that the ending was really rushed.

Aislin and Susanna meet at a club and share dance without realizing their lives is about to collide.

Aislin meets  teenage Cynthia at a coffee shop and they talk but is quite surprise to see each other again they strike up a friendship Aislin realize something is bothering Cynthia when she meets her mother she surprises it’s the woman she dance with. 

As she helps Susanna and Cynthia relationship the chemistry between her and Susanna is to hard to deny and they give in to their feelings but will they let both their past interfere with what’s going on in the present. This was a good read.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

This author is one of my all time favorites and I try not to miss any of her books. Because of her, I can even read genres that are not normally to my liking and so far I have not regretted it. So when I saw a new romance from her, I threw myself into it and without hesitation. And to my surprise, I discovered that this was a new novel set in the East Quay community and that the women of the Chicory Ariose group had an apparence here, which has been so appreciated by me. These women have starred in novels that I have really enjoyed in the past and finding them now is so exciting.
So for readers who like me have enjoyed these novels, Coffee Sonata universe Series, this one will not disappoint you either.

The argument is common to all others, no less interesting: two women from different walks of life who are attracted to each other in an uncontrollable and complete way, despite their differences, including the age difference. In this case, one of the women, Susanna, has a daughter and the other one, Cynt,  has the ability to empathize with said daughter and find out her problems at school, which her own mother fails to do. This will be the main link between Cynt and Susanna, although it will not be the only one, as a fortuitous encounter in a nightclub is the initial moment of their attraction.

I don't have much left to tell you, if you liked the previous novels in the series, this one is very similar and you will like it a lot. If it’s the first book you read about this author, you’ll find a romantic, sweet, and sometimes fierce story. And if you haven’t read other books by this author, I personally recommend you to do it, any of it.