Ice

author: Linda Howard
genre: romantic suspense
grade: A

I think what really helped this story for me was how short it was. Stretched out it would have dragged and annoyed but short and sweet it works completely.

Lolly Helton is home to clean and prepare the old family home for resale. When she finds out an ice storm is coming in she drops everything she is doing and prepares to head back into town to weather out the storm. A lonely, Maine mountain is no place to be in Ice. But just as she is preparing to do the practical thing a glitch occurs in her plan. . .

Gabriel McQueen has just reached town to celebrate the Christmas Holiday with his seven year old son when his dad, the local sheriff, asks for a favor. Seems Lolly Helton has gone out to the old family homestead on the mountain and her cell is out of reach. Racing up an icy mountain to help the girl who was far from a friend in school wasn't what he had in mind but being the sheriff's son and a military police officer in his own right carries with it some responsibilities. He will go up the hill. He will politely tell Lolly about the storm and invite her back into town and then he will head the hell back down the hill and out of her life. It's a great plan but then a glitch occurs . . . . .

The glitch in their plans are a couple of armed, crazy strangers who drive Lolly and Gabe out into the snow. With the storm raining down upon them, the temperatures dropping and the chase heating up Lolly and Gabe find themselves united like never before. For the stakes of losing against man and nature are their very lives . . . .

I liked both Lolly and Gabe. They are capable, decent adults who show themselves as being more than up to life's challenges. Lolly especially caught my attention. She was a school outcast but when trouble came she was happy to grasp the hand of high school hero Gabe without any residual silliness from the past getting in the way.
Gabe for his part was perfect hero material. He wasn't a swashbuckeler but was a cool headed, action oriented guy with the skills to back him up. They worked well as a team, watching each others backs as needed.

I love the way Howard writes her action. There was no silly grandstanding by the heroine or hero, just a lot of intense, practical activity, I also loved the way she handled the romance -- she let us see the beginning and let us know the two were committed to working on it from there. There were no instant declarations of love and no "You saved me now I must love you moments.' These two had history, which helped the believability factor for me. They hadn't been in touch for awhile but they had been a part of each other's pasts and that helped make everything more real to me.

In the last three Howards I felt the author got bogged down by details or ethical quagmires but this is easily my favorite of hers since "Cover of Night".

Tea: Any flavor but make it hot.