This taut romantic suspense novel from RITA Award–winner Stuart ( The Widow) delivers deliciously evil baddies and the type of disturbing male protagonist that only she can transform into a convincing love interest. I hate what passes for dark contemporary romance these days with the 50 Shades stuff, so I really loved that the book had a believable dark hero in a world that wasn’t paranormal.Starred Review. If you like romance and like that dark hero who has more depth to him than a stupid closet filled with S&M gear, this is a great read. He was rude, gruff, and yet he always did the right thing for Chloe in the end, which was interesting. Bastien was mysterious and I think he treated Chloe like he hated her because he really wanted to get through a job without complications. I felt like her character was realistic and likeable. Chloe wasn’t some crazy kick ass heroine, but she wasn’t an emotional doormat, either.

Chloe was just an innocent translator who took a job in place of her friend and landed herself in the wrong place. Bastien was obviously some sort of agent/spy. I typically don’t enjoy contemporary romances with dark love interests because they are usually over the top, but this wasn’t a billionaire romance, so it worked out well. I’ve never read any Anne Stuart novels, but I decided to pick this up because it was on a gamma hero list and I was interested to read more books involving not so heroic heroes.

What were his motives–and would she live long enough to find out? But instead, Bastien Toussaint drags Chloe away, and the next thing she knows she’s on the run with the most terrifying and seductive man she’s ever met. Her clients are illegal arms dealers, and one of them is ordered to kill her. Then by chance Chloe discovers her employers are anything but the entrepreneurs they appear, and suddenly she knows far too much. So when she’s offered a lucrative weekend gig translating at a business conference in a remote chateau, she jumps at the chance to shake things up. Summary: Living paycheck to paycheck in Paris, American book translator Chloe Underwood would give anything for some excitement and passion–even a little danger.

Black ice by anne stuart