LOCKED IN ICE (Ice Breaker: Cold Case 9) by Cynthia Eden -review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 28, 2024

The world called him a monster, so he became one…

Guilty. Innocent? Definitely dangerous. The media chases Lane Lawson wherever he goes. Once upon a time, he’d been locked away because the Feds believed he was a serial killer. Every single day that he’d been in that hell, he’d had to fight for survival. Now he’s out, free, seemingly clear, but he’ll never be the man he was before a nightmare ended the life he knew.

It’s his turn to be the predator.

So he hunts. Adrenaline and rage fuel him, and he hunts the killers who think they’ve gotten away with their crimes. He paid for someone else’s sins before, and he’s determined that the guilty will be the ones to suffer. He’s joined up with the Ice Breakers, a team of cold case solvers—a team that helped get him out of his hell—and he will not stop until the scales of justice have been balanced.

And in this new life, he has an unlikely new partner.

PI Ophelia Raine is Lane’s opposite in every way. Fiery when he’s ice cold. Smiling when he’s ready to rip the world apart. She’s supposed to balance him, to help train him as an Ice Breaker…and, most importantly, he knows that Ophelia is supposed to keep him in check. Don’t let him go off the deep end. An order he’d heard her receive.

But the problem is that the more he’s around the gorgeous and tenacious Ophelia, the more Lane’s control begins to fracture. Because it has been far too long since he’s taken something—someone—for himself. And he very, very much wants Ophelia. A dark and desperate desire that begins to consume him.

•••••

REVIEW: LOCKED IN ICE is the ninth instalment in Cynthia Eden’s contemporary adult ICE BREAKER: COLD CASE romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for Ice Breakers, an online team of crime solvers whose goal is to solve cold cases. This is former FBI agent turned PI Ophelia Raine, and cold case trainee Lane Lawson’s story line. LOCKED IN ICE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from omniscient third person perspective LOCKED IN ICE follows the building relationship between our story line couple. Years earlier Ophelia Raine lost the love of her life to a killer and vowed she would spend the rest of her life saving those unable to save themselves but Ophelia never expected to be both babysitter and profiler with the Ice Breakers’ newest higher, a man who spent time in prison for a crime he did not commit. While on assignment together, Ophelia struggles with the apparent copy cat killings of a man she took down years before, killings that are getting more personal and seemingly directed at our story line heroine. What ensues is the building relationship between Ophelia and Lane, and the potential fall-out as our couple are targeted for sins of the past.

The world building is detailed and complex as there are many references to previous cases, killings, investigations and betrayal. Ophelia and Lane both struggle with issues of trust having been betrayed by the people in charge.

The relationship between Ophelia and Lane begins as a work assignment in which Ophelia battles between head and heart preferring to work alone but the boss needs someone to profile our story line hero, a man who was sentenced to prison for crimes he did not commit.Lane Lawson ‘s attraction to Ophelia is immediate and intense, and within days, Lane declares himself protector of the woman with whom he is falling in love.The $ex scenes are passionate and seductive.

There is a large ensemble cast of questionable secondary and supporting characters including over zealous law enforcement, and the return of FBI Agent Oliver Foxx, and Lane’s sister Lark Lawson, and tracker Memphis Camden, and falsely accused Beau LeBlanc. The requisite evil has many faces.

LOCKED IN ICE is a story of power and control, obsession and madness, betrayal and vengeance, acceptance and love.The fast paced premise is intriguing and suspenseful; the characters are determined and dynamic; the romance is fated.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Frozen in Ice
Falling for the Ice Queen
Ice Cold Saint
Touched by Ice
Trapped in Ice
Forged From Ice
Buried Under Ice
Ice Cold Kiss

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy