The LGBTQ+ romance novel “Ice Queen” is part of Gun Brooke’s “Coffee Sonata universe”, published in 2021.
My Thoughts
A bitchy, successful and unpredictable ice queen as a leading character? That’s a big YES from me. These characters are my absolute favourite characters in books. There is nothing better than being totally frustrated because you just don’t understand the person’s behaviour 😉 Joking aside, I like it when a character has several layers that you have to struggle through to understand them.
Here it’s Susanna, an extremely successful businesswoman. She is a bit arrogant, is under constant stress and is a single mother. The last two characteristics alone create a lot of tension.
And what would a queer story be without a younger, more grounded counterpart? Exactly, nothing. However, here this is, Aislyn, a school counsellor. In a café, she meets a young girl named Cynt, which turns out to be Susanna’s daughter. When she faces the older woman, Aislyn remembers that their paths had crossed much earlier under different circumstances.
I liked the story. Of course, Susanna often comes across as very demanding and distant. And she has difficulties understanding her daughter’s problems or taking them seriously. Nevertheless, her character grows on you, and I think I loved her more with each chapter. The same goes for Aislyn, who I found very loving from the beginning.
Both have a different social status, and as expected, this leads to tension. But (!) Susanna and Aislyn know how to communicate with each other. Thank God, because there is nothing I hate more than misunderstandings that nobody talks about.
Of course, the story isn’t perfect and raised a few minor questions that the author didn’t quite answer. But that didn’t bother me too much. Even though I wasn’t happy with the ending, I have to say it’s an excellent book for anyone who loves the Ice Queen characters as much as I do.
My rating for ‘Ice Queen’
I really enjoyed reading this book. Although it didn’t give me the same excitement as a 5-star book, I can totally recommend it.
About the author
Gun Brooke is a retired Swedish intensive care nurse who now writes novels.
Some of her books are “Protector of the Realm”, “Soul Unique”, “Ice Queen”, and several more.
