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Category: Romance/Suspense/Thriller Orange Rose Award Winner
Description: Zach Taylor and Claudia Stuart have been at odds with each other for five years, a feud that masks the desire each truly feels. After a night of wine and gambling, they wake to find themselves married to each other. Disgust turns to a partnership when they discover they must use their marriage as a front to find a killer. Forced in close companionship, can passion tear down the wall between them before a power-hungry madman kills them both?
eBook Publisher: Amber Quill Press, 2002 Amber Quill Press, LLC
eBookwise Release Date: April 2004

69 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [323 KB]
Words: 73900
Reading time: 211-295 min.

"5 Stars! ... A well-written book that kept me glued to my screen, and up to the wee hours of the night trying to finish it! Ice Princess is a Five Star winner and comes highly recommended. But do yourself a favor, read these books in sequence, pick up Always Faithful first!"--Charlene Smith, Simegen

"Very highly recommended. The plot twists itself inside out, there are interesting characters galore. A fascinating story with believable characters and a mystery that only gets more twisted as it unravels. Ice Princess takes romance books to a new depth. I would very highly recommend this book. Lovers of romance and fans of Catherine Snodgrass will not be disappointed!"--Jennifer Macaire, Wordweaving

"Five Stars!!! Catherine Snodgrass and Bryndis Rubin take the classic elements that make us fall in love with a good story and twists them into something new and exciting. It's a keeper!"--Word Museum

"This is a wonderfully written and charming book. Sexy, too, but not in an offensive way. A fast read--it goes from action to action, but doesn't scrimp on the character development either. Excellent read!"--Bea Sheftel, Writers Club Romance Group on AOL

"Ice Princess is a fast-paced romantic suspense novel. Watching Claudia and Zach trip over their feelings for each other provide a bit of fun along with the seriousness of the plots. The solution to the murder is an ending filled with tense moments. I highly recommend this book, it is one of the best romantic suspense novels I have read this year."--Hattie Boyd, Reader To Reader

Sharp, painful jabs of sunlight forced open Claudia Stuart's eyelids. She squinted against her pillow, trying to focus on her surroundings through bleary eyes.

"Oh my God."

The soft mewl of agony felt like a shout. Wincing, she fought against the pounding beat of a headache that reverberated throughout her aching body. She tried to center herself by focusing on any one part of her body that wasn't sore. None existed.

A faint, persistent sound filtered through her pain. For a moment, she imagined she was in her own familiar apartment with foghorns from San Francisco Bay echoing in the distance. Her senses slowly emerged from the blanketing haze. She wasn't in San Francisco. She was in Las Vegas. And there was an odd noise coming from the far side of her bed.

Stretching out a shaky hand to balance herself against the spinning room, Claudia brushed against something warm, solid, and most definitely male. She gasped and twisted around to see a dark head partially buried in a mass of tangled covers. A frightening thought reared its ugly head.

"Franklin?"

The very idea churned her stomach. Franklin had made his intentions clear. She'd made hers even clearer–no. If he somehow breached her defenses and took advantage…

Claudia shook her head. Not possible. She would never be that drunk. Besides, Franklin was in San Francisco. He had no idea she'd gone to Las Vegas. He thought her safely on vacation, visiting her brother in Twentynine Palms, California.

So, if not Franklin, who was she in bed with?

Please don't let him be a stranger.

Or maybe she should be hoping he was a stranger, then she'd never have to face him again.

She squinted at the waves of dark hair.

Wavy? With growing horror she realized that the head nestled next to hers was clipped military-style, with the hair along the side cut tight and the top allowed to grow a little longer, permitting the errant waves.

"Oh my God!"

The loud croak of disbelief aggravated her headache. Claudia didn't care. This was too horrible to believe. It couldn't be! It just couldn't! Of all the men in the world, why this one?

She lashed out under the covers with one foot, whacking him squarely in the rump. "Get out! What are you doing in my bed?"

A muffled "oomph" and a string of curses emerged from the pile of sheets.

"What the hell?"

He bolted upright, clutching the edge of the sheet to him like a maiden bride. It did little to cover his naked body.

Claudia's eyes widened. It was Zach Taylor! What was he doing here, in her hotel room, in her bed? More to the point, what was he doing in her bed without any clothes on? But if the tingle between her legs was any indication, she already knew the answer.

Copyright © 2002 Catherine Snodgrass & Bryndis Rubin