Review: Thin Ice by Irene Hannon

After losing her parents in a car accident and her sister to a house fire, Christy Reed has been mired in grief. Life is finally starting to feel normal again when an envelope arrives in the mail–addressed in her sister’s handwriting. And the note inside claims she is still alive.

FBI Special Agent Lance McGregor, a former Delta Force operator, is assigned to reopen the case, but he’s coming up with more questions than answers. If Ginny Reed is still alive–who is the woman buried in her grave? Where is Ginny? And is Christy a pawn in a twisted cat-and-mouse game–or the target of a sinister plot? As he digs deeper, one thing becomes clear: whoever is behind the bizarre ruse has a deadly agenda.

Bestselling author and two-time Christy Award finalist Irene Hannon warms readers’ hearts as they root for a romance between Lance and Christy, but she pulls out all the stops as this high-stakes thriller chills to the bone in a race to the finish.

First of all, I must point out how much I love the way Irene Hannon writes men and women as separate character types.  Sometimes, in romance, there is nothing that especially distinguishes the two – especially when it comes to thoughts. But Hannon is one of those rare authors who captures the mind and reactions of a man so distinctly! So we get delightful gems like… Lance suddenly remembering what’s playing on his computer and then lunging toward the kitchen in a fruitless attempt to overtake his brother before Mac discovers the figure skating video. Or – along those same lines – Lance’s thoughts while researching Christy’s past:

“He scrolled down, studying the accompanying photos. He might have a lot of questions for Christy based on this new information, but those skimpy skating outfits answered the one he’d been pondering since they met.

Her legs were seriously great.”

I basically grinned the entire time Lance was in a scene. So… there’s that. 🙂

The romantic tension between Lance and Christy was just fantastic and (as previously mentioned) brought plenty of opportunities for grins – and swoons.  I also like that Hannon’s suspense series all take place in the same universe, so there’s always a high likelihood that you’ll bump into at least one familiar character from an already-loved series. That always makes me smile too!

But if this is your first novel by this fabulous author, never fear! As someone who has read all of Irene Hannon’s romantic suspense novels, I can promise you three things.

1. The romantical tension will make you grin and swoon and even resort to fanning yourself from time to time.
2. Gentle nuggets of faith seamlessly wrap around the story like a hug.
3. The suspense-driven tension will have you on the edge of your seat, frantically turning pages, biting your nails, unable to put down the book until the villain is brought to justice.  And even then you might not be able to relax.  You never can tell.

Thin Ice turns each of those statements into reality – and then some! You always sorta know whodunit in that you read his/her perspective as well as those of the hero and heroine. But it’s the WHYdunit and the WATCHOUTHEISRIGHTBEHINDYOU moments that remind us why Irene Hannon’s name is at the top of so many romantic suspense recommendations.

The added poignancy to the Men of Valor series lies in the McGregor brothers and their adjustment to life post-military.  It’s been touched on some in these first two books, but I think we will see it even more in Finn’s story once it is released.

Bottom Line: Thin Ice may very well be my favorite yet of Irene Hannon’s romantic suspense offerings.  The romance, the suspense, the action, the characters – and their interactions with each other – are all just top-notch.  This is definitely a novel I will keep on my favorites shelf to reread.

(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)

My Rating: 5 stars / Fantastic!

KissingBook Level: 3.5 / May forget to breathe on occasion and may feel the urge to fan oneself from time to time.

About the Author:

Irene Hannon is a bestselling, award-winning author who took the publishing world by storm at the tender age of 10 with a sparkling piece of fiction that received national attention. Okay…maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But she was one of the honorees in a complete-the-story contest conducted by a national children’s magazine. And she likes to think of that as her “official” fiction-writing debut!

Since then, she has written more than 50 romantic suspense and contemporary romance/women’s fiction novels. She is a seven-time finalist for and three-time winner of the RITA award—the “Oscar” of romance fiction—and a member of the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Her books have also won a Daphne du Maurier award, two Carol awards, three HOLT Medallions, a National Readers’ Choice award, a Retailers Choice award, two Booksellers’ Best awards and two Reviewers’ Choice awards from RT Book Reviews magazine. One of her novels was also named by Booklist as a top 10 inspirational fiction books of 2011. In addition, she is a two-time Christy award finalist.

A former corporate communications executive with a Fortune 500 company, Irene now writes full time. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, gardening and singing. When not otherwise occupied, Irene and her husband enjoy traveling, Saturday mornings at their favorite coffee shop and spending time with family. They make their home in Missouri.

Find out more at http://www.irenehannon.com/