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Ms. Connolly has created a fast paced book full of twists and turns that ensnares and holds the reader captive from the first word. I love the vivid portrayals of how Gina feels when she shape shifts, showing the readers all her innermost thoughts as it happens. Ryan isn’t your average rock star; he has depths to him that Gina learns as the bond between them grows stronger than ever. I loved watching WildFire as they performed at their concerts which came alive for me as I read not only their actions, but thoughts as well. Watching the love grow between Gina and Ryan, as they learn in times of trouble the strongest bonds are the ones forged in times of trouble. I for one will be waiting for the next action packed book in the Wildfire Series.
Teresa for Fallen Angels Reviews. Recommended Read!
I fell for the band members in the first book of the series and I fell even harder with Ryan and Gina’s story. The passion, danger, and suspense were equally distributed in such a way as to keep me flipping the pages as fast as I could and were responsible for my light staying on way too long on a work night. nI did figure out the 'who' before the end, but I was not even close on the 'why', which added even more to the story for me. I highly recommend that you get rocked with Pure Wildfire. I also have given Icefire my highest recommendation so it is a Joyfully Recommended Read.
If you read Sunfire, then you will be happy to know that Aidan and Corinne have continued with their own surprise. I absolutely cannot wait for the rest of the band members to have their stories.
Jo for Joyfully Reviewed Recommmended read!
Once again the reader is taken on a wild ride through the sex, glamour, and mayhem that is this author’s world of rock music. A fascinating journey with well-developed characters the reader is bound to come to consider dear friends.
Despite her misgivings and her step-sister’s history with the band, Gina is pulled into a world known for its hedonistic and sinful pleasures. Ryan is a hard man to resist even under the best of circumstances but Gina needs to find answers to questions that were never asked years ago when Maria died.
But it seems there are some who don’t want those questions asked, let alone answered and now Gina finds that she may be the next target.
So grab a seat and hang on for the ride, this is one you won’t want to miss.
Samantha Ann for Night Owl Reviews. 5 hearts Top Pick!
Lynne Connolly is beyond gifted. Her stories are always well written and her gift is palpable. Her writing talent is truly awe inspiring. Icefire is a must read novel that can be read alone because it truly is a well written, fully realized adventure. I can not wait for the next firebird novel because these firebirds are truly hot, hot, hot. Summer heat has nothing on Lynne Connolly’s characters.
Kimberley Spinner for Sensual Romance
Ryan is irresistible as he gives so much raw emotion and sincerity to his audience during concert performances and as he pours so much of his soul into making love with Gina. She would have been seduced body and soul even if she weren’t Ryan’s mate, but when she learns the truth and begins to see the real Ryan, Gina is hopelessly lost in lust and out-of-control in love. Between the intensity of Ryan and Gina’s relationship and they mystery and suspense around Maria’s overdose, I couldn’t stop reading. Icefire is a must read!
Karen Haas for Just Erotic Romance Reviews 5 stars!
One of the best surprises I've had this past month has been Lynne Connolly's paranormal books. With the second book in her Pure Wildfire series, Ms. Connolly continues her winning streak. Pure Wildfire is a rock band, consisting of firebird shapeshifters, and given that I love me some musicians, this is absolutely one of my favorite premises for a series.
The romance between these characters was well done. I thought that their progression from hostility to lust to friendship to love was very well-drawn, and it moves along at a believable pace. None of the sex scenes felt gratuitous or forced, and all of them were intense.
Shannon C for The Good, The Bad and The Unread. B
Icefire is the second book in Lynne Connolly's Pure Wildfire series, and is a pleasure from start to finish. I'm a sucker for anything involving music, but it has to be done well—that is, the author needs to make me believe she knows whereof she speaks. One of the things that shines through both Sunfire and Icefire is Ms. Connolly's love for and familiarity with music and musicians. Her descriptions make it easy to see—almost hear—the band; the intensity, communion, and joy of making music and bringing together a performance fairly leapt off the pages at me. I'm also in love with her phoenix shifters, and her descriptions of them are so beautiful I'd love to see a good fantasy artist interpret them. As far as the individual characters, I appreciate the time she takes to build and flesh out Ryan and Gina. They are both strong, mature personalities, but I saw growth in both of them over the course of the story, both as individuals and as a couple. Though they both felt an immediate attraction and connection, Ms. Connolly didn't take the easy way out; Ryan and Gina had to hash everything out and work for their HEA.
If you like your romances hot, if the paranormal intrigues you, if you're a music lover—or any combination of the above—don't miss this series. It's a keeper!
Reviewed by Julia Clark for Paranormal Romance Reviews
Ms. Connolly’s expression of Ryan’s continuing angst is so well done, you can almost feel his pain and Gina’s love of her sister is never doubted. I loved these two lovers together; the intensity of their feelings for each other was almost palpable, and the sex was phenomenal.
Mystical Nymph for Literary Nymphs
With precise rendition, Lynne Connolly brings to life the exhilarating intensity of the rock universe as well as the dangers that Ryan and his fellow shape-shifting musician members of PURE WILDFIRE faces from those that would have them eliminated. As romance intertwines with adventure, an enthralling love story is born between the world weary rocker and the cautious consultant as together they learn the joys and fears of being able to trust and love again. ICEFIRE is definitely a great sequel to Lynne's unforgettable SUNFIRE. With such great heroes from the first two books of Lynne's PURE WILDFIRE series, we can only imagine what stories that Jake and Chris Keys, the remaining rogues of her renowned rock group will bring.
Nadine St. Denis for Romance Junkies
ICEFIRE’s unique nature is unexpected in an ultimate romance. The characters undergo significant emotio al development, and overarching themes of forgiveness and second chances is clearly evident. The intimate scenes are scorching, and the beautiful nature of the phoenix lends a romantic tone throughout the developing relationship between the characters.
Reviewed by Angela Etheridge for The Romance Readers' Connection
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You must be 18 or older to read the following excerpt.
“I thought this was a fling?” Gina said.
“It’s whatever you want it to be, love. I don’t want you to label it. You label things easily, don’t you?” Ryan indicated her office with a jerk of his head. Glass-fronted shelves held file after neat file, all labeled and color-coded. Files on one shelf, videotapes and CD cases on another, all in their cases, and good old-fashioned books. He’d bet they were all alphabetized.
“It helps.”
“But not with us. Give us a chance, Gina, let us explore each other and discover what we have. Who knows what will happen? Coming with us on tour will help. Which reminds me, I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
He kissed her lips, softly touching them with his. “Do you want us to go public with this? The band will know and probably Randy as well as Sonny because he’s head roadie on tour and he spends a lot of time with us. But we can ask them all not to tell and you’re with us as our new PR manager. It’s up to you.”
Gina knew what it would mean for her affair with Ryan to become public. She’d seen wives and girlfriends before, some embracing the publicity and gossip, others loftily ignoring it and she appreciated the choice Ryan gave her now.
“No, I don’t want to go public, not yet. I’m your PR, I’ll have to spend quite a bit of time with you anyway, so if people see us at restaurants and clubs, that’s what it is. Ryan, the fallout can be horrible, for both parties.”
“Okay.” He caressed her hair and the last of her hairpins fell free. “You’re probably right. Nobody will label us faster than the media.”
Gina loved order, everything in its place, and this affair was going somewhere too fast for her to get a handle on it, to apply her mental sticky label to it. She felt out of her depth with this new revelation that they could talk mind to mind, considering the strong link she already felt to this man. “You don’t object to being labeled all the time?”
“Do I look as if I do?” He didn’t give her a chance to reply but bent and covered her mouth with his. This time he gave her a full-bodied kiss and she opened her mouth under the pressure of his, feeling his tongue touch hers, then caress her, bringing relief to the tightening of her body.
But not enough relief. When he took her down, she went with him, not caring where they landed, but it seemed he knew better than she did where they were headed. They landed in her large leather chair, Ryan sitting, she on his lap. They didn’t break their kiss but he drew her closer and slid his hand down her body to hold her firmly against him, while he brought his other hand up to her breast, pressing and massaging.
She moaned, loving his touch, the way he surrounded her, not caring when he lifted her legs to drape one over each arm of the chair. The position opened her to him. Even though her underwear still formed a barrier it was a fragile one. Sitting here, in her office, in a blatantly sexual position, Ryan Hawthorne’s eyes blazing into hers, Gina thought she might combust.
He slid one button through its hole then moved on to the next.
I want to touch you. You look so sexy like that and I can smell you, so good.
His voice was even sexier in her mind, soothing and exciting at the same time.
Ryan, someone will come in. They’ll see!
No they won’t. Trust me. Indeed it felt as if they were in their own little cocoon, sheltered from the world.
“Go with it,” he murmured, his mouth moving over her lips as he spoke. “Live a little.”
So she did. She let him unbutton her blouse, scoop her breasts out of her bra and bring his mouth down to suck one already hard nipple into his mouth. The ecstasy of his mouth on her, together with the thrill and the danger of discovery engendered chills all along her spine.
His hands slid down, cupping her ass before sliding around. A tug and her panties fell away. Fuck, she hadn’t realized they were so fragile!
Ryan didn’t give her time to push him away but slid his mouth up her throat, kissing the side of her neck, nipping at exactly the place that drove her crazy, until she turned into a mass of nerve endings. She couldn’t think properly anymore, couldn’t do anything but moan and sigh until his mouth reached hers and she took it with devouring completion.
When she realized the gentle humming was him, in her mind, she went even crazier, his sounds driving her on, so by the time he touched her pussy, she was soaking wet.
Ah, yes, you feel perfect!
She hadn’t even realized the hand cupping her bottom had left her until he eased her away slightly and she heard the grate of zipper teeth, followed by a rip. The foil packet. Too late now to call a halt.
His mouth still on hers, his breath coming in short puffs against her cheek, he lifted her right on to his straining cock.
If she hadn’t had her mouth on his, her cry would have been heard by half the office.
He separated her labia with his fingers and found the little nub of her clit. She melted for him.
Only then did he pull back and open his eyes, heavy-lidded with desire. “You look so good like that.”
She tried for some kind of sanity. “Is this the first time you’ve done it like this?”
“With my PR agent in her office with the door unlocked? Oh yeah. And I’m so turned on I want to do it some more.” He bit his top lip and jerked up in the chair, pushing deeply into her, entering and withdrawing in short, sharp jabs, entrenching himself hard and fast until she bit her own lip in her effort not to scream.
The danger of discovery added more than spice, a buzz of something different creating a cocktail of thrills inside her and when she saw the wicked glint in Ryan’s eyes, she knew he felt the same. “I shouldn’t be enjoying this, I really shouldn’t.”
“Why not?” Another shove, pushing her up but this time he gripped her hips and held her so he could move more freely. “Relax, Gina, enjoy what we’re doing, let go, sweetheart!”
She didn’t have much choice. She leaned back, the hard edge of her desk pressing a line into her back, while he drove into her until she screamed. As she drew breath he jerked her into his arms and stifled her cry with his mouth.
Oh God, what am I doing here?
Loving me. Or letting me love you. I said trust me, Gina, and I promise I’ll take care of you.
He guided her away and lifted her again, so he could drive up and his gaze dropped to where they joined. “That looks so good, I can’t tell you how hot it makes me.” She glanced down to where her dark curls met his startling red ones.
What man dyes his pubic hair?
She hadn’t been aware he’d caught her wayward thought until she heard his reply, tinged with amusement. Not this man. It’s natural. If you don’t believe me, stick around and wait for it to grow out.
I might just do that.
You’ll be around a long time then.
This time she was careful to keep her thoughts deep. What was she thinking, to offer to stick around? After this tour, the band would be back in the studio, in London and her life was here, the life she’d worked for. She had to remember that, otherwise she’d be utterly lost when he left her.
And he would leave her.
The complete Pure Wildfire series, in order:
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Lead guitarist Aidan, aka Splinter, and second guitarist Corinne
Bassist Jake Keys
Drummer Chris Keys
Charismatic vocalist and lyricist Ryan