Quite an interesting romantic suspense novel. It involved a dangerous cult, the Japanese Mafia and a mixed culture romance: a seemingly cold heartless assassin who fell for a plain-Jane museum curator. Summer and Takashi deny their true feelings for each other while it's plain to everyone around them that they are in madly in love. The reunion scene on the last pages is the one of the best ever written. I re-read it 4x before I returned the book to the library. Aaaahhhh...I really love truly romantic endings!!! ( )

This is the third book of the series about the Committee, following Black Ice and Cold As Ice.

Summer Hawthorne is a museum curator. Seems like that would make her life pretty safe, even dull, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the bowl her Japanese nanny left her puts her in the middle of a terrorist's plot.

The bowl and a map to a shrine are the final things the creepy Shirosana needs to bring about his apocalypse, but getting Summer's mother involved in his cult didn't work out as he'd planned.

So now, not only does Summer have the terrorists after her, but also Takashi O'Brien, an assassin from the Committee, whose mission is to do whatever it takes to prevent Shirosana from succeeding, including killing Summer.

As in the other books in this series, there's an evil villain, and a cold-blooded assassin as a hero. It's definitely not a warm, fuzzy romance, but if you're not completely turned off by ultra-dark heroes, it's all the more satisfying to watch a hardened, seemingly emotionless man fall in love.

Summer is a good match for Taka--she's smart and resourceful, but personally unsure of herself, so she needs him emotionally as much as he needs her. Their developing relationship is intense, heartbreaking, and ultimately exhilarating. ( )

Here is another excellent example of the cold dark anti-hero who spends a great deal of time wavering between the desire to assassinate or make love to the heroine. Summer Hawthorne is the daughter of a wealthy woman involved in a Japanese religious cult run by a disturbed fanatic, Shirosama, who is planning a catastrophic killing of millions of people with biological weapons. Summer was given a priceless Japanese bowl by her nanny and her mother has promised the bowl to the Shirosama (for some ritualistic reasons I didn't quite understand) but Summer refuses to let him have it. Takashi O'Brien is a member of the Committee, a top secret anti-terrorist organization. Taka is assigned the task of acquiring the bowl and assassinating Summer to assure her silence. But he ends up saving her from Shirosama's followers and a complex thrilling roller coaster adventure begins. Taka belongs to the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) and is half Japanese, half American and walked that fine line between hero and villain. Summer was one of Stuart's stronger heroines. ( )

This book does not survive scrutiny well. Yes things were exciting but I don't see Takashi surviving a normal life well, nor do I see Summer surviving well in his life, but apart from that, it is quite an amusing story.

The True Realization Fellowship and their leader Shirosama want the bowl Summer Hawthorne was bequeathed by her Japanese Nanny. They have plans for it and they don't care what it takes to get it. Summer doesn't want to give it to them, she doesn't trust them and she really doesn't trust what they've done to her mother, not that her mother was outstanding at any rate.

Into the struggle comes Takashi O'Brien, he works for The Committee, an international group whose aims aren't clear but they want to keep Shirosama from attaining his goal. Summer is expendable, but why does Takashi keep saving her? She is proving to be a chink in his armour.

It's pretty predictable romance-wise but the thriller aspects of it kept me going and were, while far-fetched, quite interesting. ( )

Good romantic suspense novel. I think readers who are not big "romance" fans will enjoy this novel because it combines passion with action.

Takashi O'Brien is the intriguing male who is definitely not a knight in shining armor but you can't get enough of him.

Summer Hawthorne is a museum curator on the run with Takashi while members of a bizarre cult hunt them down for a Japanese relic given to Summer by her late Japanese nanny.

Takashi's assignment is to recover the relic and kill the person who possesses it--Summer. Can he complete his assignment? Will he kill Summer? Read it and find out. ( )