Iced: Fever, Book 6

All here. Interesting premise, breakneck pacing, the return of favorite characters, new nasties to battle, comedy, suspense, character development...and not one sigh of relief....There be Spoilers ahead...Dani - We are finally allowed into the deep places that generate her attitude and chosen lifestyle. Finally out of the cage, off the collar (literally) and unencumbered by Rowena's suffocating influence, she is giddy with freedom and in a headlong rush everywhere... because she can. And because she wants to "superhero" everyone to safety. Nobody gonna starve in a cage on her watch.Kat/Sean/Cruce - The chapters from mentally tortured empath Kat's POV are...well, torturous. "Soul mate" Sean - blah. Kat's attempt to withstand Cruce's mental seduction - admirable but waaaay too drawn out. Kat seems to have morphed from the no-nonsense warrior who fought back-to-back with Mac, into a nunnish, funereal, hand wringing wreck. OK. Going will-to-will against War can take a lot out of a person. I get it. But still, too much ink on this. The only interesting Kat moment occurs when she discovers she can't "see" Ryodan on her empathic radar. She speculates there is nothing there to see. Ryodan points out that it might be her lack, not his. (Ya think?) Also, seems odd that he constantly touches her during their encounters, taking her hands, kissing her cheek, stroking her arms, holding her gently. Seduction? Manipulation? Soothing? Just wondering...Christian - Ah. Gorgeous, scary, erotic, horrifying, almost Unseelie Prince Christian. No older-guy-hot-for-barely-teen-girl "ick" factor here at all. IMO, Christian isn't actually in love with Dani. In the Fever books, he was literally saturated in the love tale of the Unseelie King and the Concubine while trapped in the White Mansion, and that is the framework for his attentions to Dani. The more Unseelie Prince he becomes, the more connected he becomes to the tale. To him, Dani is an ideal, his "princess", "damsel", "angel", a shining light in his growing darkness, not the souped up 14 year old street urchin she still is at this point. Or not. We'll see. Ironically, some of the best comedic moments in Iced result from Christian's quirky, ongoing transformation.Dancer - A likeable character who would seem the logical front runner as Dani's eventual love interest. Or not. KMM is tricksy, and Dancer is a complete question mark. He is depicted as a mostly laid back, somewhat geeky 17 year old, but surprizes us with his complete lack of fear of Ryodan and Christian (even taking command and barking at them on occasion), and we are given hints of dark secrets-yet-to-unfold. Read: Fasten our seatbelts when KMM delivers on those hints.Lor - The member of The Nine least likely to know what century it is. This beastie is a keeper. Love his sense of humor and am intrigued by his affectionate, avuncular treatment of "the kid".Kasteo - There are only brief mentions of him in Iced, but how is it he reported anything to Ryodan about childhood-Dani when he allegedly has not spoken a word to anyone in 1000 years? (A little matter of his brethren killing the love of his life...)"Shadow" - Hellooooo, number six! So far we have been allowed to know Barrons, Ryodan, Lor, Fade and Kasteo. Hoping the introduction of "Shadow" foreshadows (pun intended) additional detail, more back-story and greater focus on each of these guys, including the three who are still unnamed. These creatures are IMO the most delicious mystery and the true beating heart of Fever world...and of their own series if we should be so lucky.Ryodan - Several reviews have remarked on what an abusive brute Ryodan is. Brute, yes. An animal, in fact. Just like everyone's beloved Barrons and the other seven. Not men who turn into a beasts, but beasts wearing the skins of men. Abusive? Ryodan does not damage Dani any more than she damages herself by freeze framing into things. He seems to be all about putting Dani on his "Mine" list, being her exclusive trainer, assigning one of his guys to baby-sit her, fending off the advances of supposed suitors, musing about what a magnificent woman she will be and, most significantly, NOT including her in the outsiders-must-die-if-they-learn-we-are-immortal thing. So here's a thought - Perhaps Dani is allowed to live because, after watching her since age 9 and testing her capabilities with this frost mystery, Ryodan determines she is, at least partly, one of them. Part beast. Let's review - Mom was a pleasure loving bumble bee with many casual liaisons, but who was dad? Where did Dani get her super hearing, sight, speed, et al? Just like Barrons and his guys. Just like Ryodan. Granted, she hasn't gone all horned and fanged yet, but there was that interlude during which we got to follow her into her internal "cave" and meet the very Nine-like creature within. And the business of Dani and Ryodan thinking so alike in battle. And that exchange between Dani and Ryodan in which she insists she wants to be immortal like him...and he says to ask again when she's older, rather like a father saying "we'll see." A father. Maybe this isn't Ryodan waiting for a prospective mate to grow up, but rather tempering a daughter while she grows up. Which brings us back to Ryodan's right hand guy, Lor, treating Dani in such an avuncular manner, like a protoge. An insider. And to Ryodan's attentions detouring to Jo. (More about that travesty below.)On the other hand, arch sorceress KMM might bring us back full circle in later books to Dani and Ryodan as an eventual mated pair. (Would vastly prefer that. Equal juice and all.) If so, a word about the age difference issue. When Dani is a few years older and, hopefully, wiser, a liaison with Ryodan would be no different than the one between Mac and Barrons. Mac - 20 something, Barrons- in the thousands. Dani - 20 something (or late teens - she's a bit of a prodigy), Ryodan - in the thousands. Same/same.The only deal breakers on this series for me would be if KMM allows Ryodan to be "K'Vrucked" - or - diminishes him by leaving him in a "relationship" with Jo. In Iced, that pairing is the definition of anticlimactic. It would be characteristic for Ryodan to enjoy a mutually satisfying sexual interlude with Jo (The Nine apparently use sex both to calm down and to recharge...ergo that "shaking" scene after Ryodan gets nearly-frozen-to-death Dani back to Chester's), while he uses Jo as an information conduit about Abbey doings, per her starry eyed remark to Dani that she and Ryodan are a couple and "tell each other everything".(Uh huh) He does seem to be protective of her, but as a permanent couple? No. Ryodan is epic. Jo is not. An imbalance of that magnitude would be a total waste of one of the most complex and tantalizing alphas KMM has ever written.Am I over-thinking all of this? Sure. Anything to do with Fever World calls out for it. That is the genius of KMM's work. We get so involved with and proprietary of her characters/worlds that, even when she takes things in a direction that infuriates or disappoints, we're still with her. Celebrating, speculating, dissecting, griping, analyzing, and always, always anticipating the next anything. Might as well go ahead and buy the book. And the next. And the next. Got to.***Correction*** Have dodged the Rhyodan/Dani father/daughter thing. Found an interview with KMM in which she indicates they are NOT related. Let the games continue...

When 1st learning that the next 3 books in this series was going to have Dani as the main character, I was worried. While I liked her in the previous books I just didn't think she would be that entertaining. I'm happy to say that the author did a great job with her character and I found Dani to absolutely entertaining and adorable. She's got a lot to deal with in ICED and she manages to handle everything like the superhero that she knows that she is. For the most part of the book, she partners with Ryodan to figure out what is icing parts of the city. It's a pretty scary thing since no one can seem to figure out what's causing it as well as predict when it will happen. There's no warning at all so Ryodan enlists Dani's help and there are lots of scenes featuring some great banter between the two of them. There are also some great emotional moments as well as the characters try their best to live in this new world since the walls came down between the human and Faery worlds.Dani's character is very complex as she is only 14 years old but I feel that she's very mature for her age. She has witnessed and dealt with so many things that the average teen wouldn't until they are much older. Death and destruction is all around her and her role in this new world is an important one. She is so unique and special and no one can do what she does. That puts a lot of responsibility on her shoulders and Dani does a great job at handling it. She wants to be important and feel wanted. She knows she can kick ass and loves it. Her ego is hilarious and refreshing and is needed to deal with all that is going on. But she's still a teen and shows her vulnerable side from time to time. I found this to be very realistic as Dani can't be so hard core all the time. We also learn more about her childhood and how it has shaped her character. There's so much more to learn about her will hopefully be revealed in the future books. Ryodan on the other hand knows that there's more to Dani than meets the eye. This is a great time for me to segue into discussing Ryodan's character since he and Dani make great partners in the book. Ryodan is mysterious and oh so sexy! We've gotten to know him as Barrons right hand man and finally get to see him as the boss. He's also fiercely protective of Dani and sees so much potential in her. There are lots of moments where these 2 want to strangle one another which was to be expected and like I mentioned above, the banter between them is awesome! I'm looking forward to see what these 2 will have to face next and the progression of their working and personal relationship. Another character that ends up being partnered with Dani is Christian MacKeltar. If you've read the previous book in the series, Shadowfever, they you know that something happens to Christian in it. In ICED he's constantly changing throughout the book and he's not the man that he once was. He keeps an eye on Dani and wants to protect her which soon has him bumping heads with Ryodan. This threesome dynamic is interesting and while they all don't get along all the time, they all have a common goal of saving Dublin and must work together to do so.If you're as much of a fan of the series as I am you're going to enjoy this book. Karen Marie Moning does a great job of balancing the funny with the serious in ICED. There are also some scenes that had a horror feel to it that had me cringing while reading, but I loved it. This world has turned into a very scary one and I think it's important for her to keep that feel to it. You just don't know what's going to happen next and I'm sure there are many things that exist that we haven't seen yet. I would have to say the thing I liked most about ICED was the getting to know more about the characters. The ones that I already know and the new ones that are introduced. They are all very entertaining and is what makes this series my absolute favorite. I'm liking the direction that the series is taking and am so glad that this wonderful world will carry on. I for one cannot wait to see what's going to happen next!

This is another outstanding book by this author.The books of this collection are addictive and this one did not disappoint. Action comes fast the plot thickens and all you can do is keep on turning the pages.I loved to get to know more about Dani and Ryodan and see their relationship develop. I feel for Christian ...The only thing I would say though is that I would have loved to have seen Mac in this book and the rift between Mac and Dani healed... there is a promise of more Mac on the next book, so I cannot wait to start it!I totally recommend this series.

Great continuation! I love Dani's character. I only thing that the author could've made her one or two years older.

Before I get into the review let me tell you that I adore the Fever series. ‘Darkfever‘ was my first urban fantasy novel. I completed the first five books in the Fever series in 2016. Early this year, I started to miss Mac and Barrons a lot. Since I don't like re-reading a book I decided to go for the extended series. Despite reading poor reviews of 'Iced' I still went for it because I just had to get to book seven i.e. 'Burned'. After reading Iced, I have to tell you that whatever bad reviews you read about it are true. The book is bad. If you hated Dani in the previous books, you might come to like her a little bit in this one but overall you might not be impressed by Iced.Author Karen Marie Moning has set the bar so high with the first five books in the Fever series that even she finds it difficult keeping up with it let alone surpassing it. Though Iced reflects Moning's exceptional style of writing and is also gripping to a certain extent, it still lacks gravity. The plot is thin and has limited scope for stretching. Also, the characters are not strong enough to keep you invested in their lives.Yes, the two old men Ryodan and Christian lusting after the teenaged Dani is indeed an issue as pointed out by several readers. It especially becomes an issue when Dani keeps reminding the reader of her tender age. Had she not been mentioning the fact that she is barely 14-years-old, readers for once could have ignored that one important detail and tried to go on with the love triangle or rectangle.All in all, Iced is not a good pick. However, even I feel disappointed by this one, I will still continue with the Fever series hoping to get more of Mac and Barrons.Full review on AlphaGirlReviews.com.

Karen Marie Moning is back with this awesome story. Maybe the first 5 books were better, but you need to know what's coming up next no matter what!

Simply Amazing!! I found the characers rich, funny and quite frankly hilarious. I found myself somerwhat surprised by how much I enjoyed this sequel to the series considering that Dani is only 14 years and she is the main character in this novel. I say somewhat because this is Karen Marie Moning I am writing about. She is simply wonderul in everything she writes. She just gets better and better.