Spice:./and it doesnt happen until almost the end
Tropes: shifters, stalker, broody MMC, single POV, emotional chokehold, depression
Slow burn baby.
Not like what I usually read but still good,
The book follows Grace, a human who moves to a remote town in Alaska to be an English teacher after a bad break up.
Shes picked up by Caleb, the broody pilot who instantly dislikes her, Unfortunately for Grace, Caleb is hot, loved by everyone, and her new neighbor, The vibes in the town are off and while they are nice and welcoming, Grace slowly realizes this town is not like the others.
But they ban together when Graces old ex wont let her go,
Something to note is that Grace has depression and it was a focal point of the book, I think the author did such a good job with getting you to feel the FMCs loneliness and numbness,
Negatives: not enough spice and the relationship felt corny, .
I enjoyed the atmospheric writing and setting, It really put me there and I got a sense of the community as well as the town,
At first I really liked reading the heroines thoughts and her reactions, I think I connected with her because she suffered from depression and maybe other things as well, I felt like I could relate to some things like the fact that she felt bad for wanting to isolate and had to always put on a mask and interact with people under the guise of being "normal" whatever that means.
But as the story progressed and we understand that her affliction comes from "outside factors" it kinda ruined it for me, Not that I enjoyed the book less but I felt rather disappointed that she had a quick cure,
The hero was a bit of a jerk, very judgemental but eh, it wasn't that big of a deal really, I think by the end I actually liked them together a lot,
I loved the cultural diversity of the region, the community spirit and the cast of characters, I also, liked that as much as it focused on a love story, other things weren't ignored, What if Jonah and his whole town from the Simple Wild were werewolves Its easy to see why I loved this!!
Grace moves to small town Alaska to escape her past and teach English.
While she is welcomed by most of the town, the annoyingly attractive pilot who flew her in cannot stop getting in her way with his grumpy stare.
As she starts to warm her own heart and open herself up to the community to start living again, she begins to notice things are not as they seem!
Caleb was deliciously broody, but I loved the was he looked out for Gracie even when he was wary of her.
Grace is not the sunshine to Calebs grump as she starts the book deeply traumatized, but I loved that she found her footing to stand up to him and bite back throughout.
The role that temperature and family plays through the story was absolutely beautiful, and Im so happy we got to see Graces journey as she learns she will be okay as she thaws.
I cannot believe this isnt more popular! It has it all: onebed and onesleeping bag trope, how dare he look hot in his secret glasses, grumpily going to three bookstores just for her, multiple rescues in the snow, an apology through gifts for her hobby, and the best: scent marking her before he admits he likes her just to keep his friends away!
This is one of my top romance reads this year!! .
stars
I love PNR and shifters so this seemed right up my alley, This starts with a depressed English teacher moving to remote Alaska to start her life over after a bad breakup and the first person she meets is the surly bush pilot flying her into his remote town.
I loved the setting, the blatant matchmaking of locals and outsiders, and how Graces mental health struggles were described, I will say though this town is the absolute worst at keeping secrets like omg no way the world wouldnt know about supernaturals if these were the people in charge of not being suspicious
“The pack would take you in.
”
“The pack”
“Goddamn it, Grace! Quit using your feminine wiles to pull information out of me, ”
“Im just laying here!”
“And youre very good at it, ”
Also, Graces exboyfriend I have so many questionsthat I cant ask because spoilers but yeah he made no sense to me.
This story wasn't too shabby, Not too exciting, but it kept me invested until the ending, I can't ask for more than that, ᴊᴀɴ. ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏᴛᴡᴏ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ. ⁵
I mean I like this book, a lot, The setting is still really great and Heather Guerre's take on werewolves is one of the best I've come across,
BUT, I think Caleb got on my nerves a lot more this time around, Like the way he was so hot and cold with Grace got on my last nerve, This woman did NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING to him and he acted like she ran over his dog, or something, I think having his pov would have been very helpful, Cause as it stands his emotional constipation gave me major whiplash,
Eh, then again hot werewolves who am I to complain
“Are you going to fall off” he asked impatiently as she clumsily boarded behind him.
“Hopefully not. ”
“Seriously, Grace. Dont fall off. ”
“Oh, well, now that you told me not to, I definitely wont, ”
ᴊᴜɴ, ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ⁷⁵
ᴀ ʙʀɪᴇꜰ ᴀꜱɪᴅᴇ well i guess i'm adding another entry to my sitelink"midnightreads" shelf way sooner than i thought.
. . fun sighs i need to get some sleep you guys, so many books so little time,
sᴏɴɢ ʀᴇᴄ sitelinkWolf FIRST AID KIT
ˏˋ ＭＹ ＯＶＥＲＡＬＬ ＴＨＯＵＧＨＴＳ ˎˊ
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ɴᴜᴍʙᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ
I started sitelinkCold Hearted expecting the typical shifter romance, Here's how it usually goes the MCs meet, stare at each other for an hour, start fcking immediately, declare their love for one another, the hero at some point literally or metaphorically pees in a circle around the heroine, and then they frolic off into the sunset, FIN.THIS is how you make werewolves werewolf lore feeling interesting and inventive.
That did not at all happen in COLD HEARTED, Instead we got a slowburn romance, deep themes of found family, an interesting take on werewolf lore, and a heroine who called the hero out on his hotandcold behavior.
TBH, I think COLD HEARTED would've been so much better if it hadn't been so straightforward in marketing itself as a werewolf romance.
What I mean is there's a bit of a mystery in regards to the whole town, There's something a bit off about them, but Gracie can't put her finger on what, I liked that Gracie didn't automatically know that all of the towns people were werewolves or wolfkin, Instead, little things would happen and the "tension" built more and more as the book went on,
However, as much as I liked the werewolf lore in COLD HEARTED I will say my main critique is that it's not explained very well.
It's kinda revealed to Grace in the last half of the book, and thus things appear very rushed, We never get Caleb's POV and due to that we never really get a strong sense of what sitelinkHeather Guerre's wolfkin are really like.
There was a lot of telling vs, showing when it came to the big wolfkin "reveal, "
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ɴᴜᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ
I LOVED the setting and I am now starting a petition that all shifterwerewolf books be set in Alaska.
Why aren't all shifterwerewolfsupernatural romances set in Alaska Seriously, why Personally, I think it's that many authors not just PNR writers under utilize or dismiss the value that a fleshed out setting brings to a story.
It's clear that HEATHER GUERRE knew what she was doing, She didn't just casually set her story in Alaska, no, she made Alaska feel like a secondary character, It gave the story a very atmospheric feeling and it both demonstrated Grace's initial isolation and eventual emotional transformation,
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ɴᴜᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ
The romance in COLD HEARTED was delicious, While not perfect i'll get to that in a moment it was really good, First, Gracie and Caleb as characters were very well done, We got to know Grace really well before the romance took center stage, Thus, I cheered for her as she began to actually feel things for Caleb, I rooted for her as she stood up to Caleb and told him off, I "awwhhh'd" when she finally kissed him, and I got misty eyed when they finally said "I love you" to one another.Slowburnenemiestolovers in PNR is my literal kryptonite,
Essentially, the romance between Caleb and Grace felt a lot more earned vs, if Caleb had just been like, "you mate, me man. we fck. the end. " Their road to love was rocky, but honestly It fit both characters,
That said sighs I didn't love everything about the romance, My main gripe with the love story between Caleb and Grace is that they spent a lot of the book apart and not communicating.
There was a lot of staring happening, there was a lot of silence in the same room occurring, and there were a few false starts thrown in for good measure.
In addition, their transition from enemiestolovers was a touch abrupt, I think they needed just a few more cute moments before they jumped into a relationship,
Surprisingly though, I actually didn't mind the abrupt turn from enemiestolovers, . . and you know why It's because this book was so gosh darn good, I was just so invested in Gracie's journey that I seriously didn't care, And honestly I think the issues I have with the romance are easily fixable, Just include Caleb's POV. We only get Grace's POV the entire book, and because of that we don't really know WTH is going on with Caleb and why he's constantly running so hotcold.
I think if we'd gotten Caleb's POV a lot of the confusion and mixed signals on his end would've been cleared up,
ᴍʏ ꜰɪɴᴀʟ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ
I'm obviously going to move to Alaska and fall in love with a skycowboy.
All in all, COLD HEARTED was an interesting, fun, and highly entertaining take on werewolves, While it's not without its issues I think they're all easy to overlook, Because honestly The heart of the story is Gracie, It's Gracie's story of growth, healing, and finding a home, The romance is solid and Caleb has the whole "gruffgrumpyalphamale" vibe down pat, Also, he's a pilot what's hotter than that
Moreover, the side characters and the setting really round out the book, The bond between Natasha and Grace was so beautiful to witness develop, Also, seeing Grace interact with her students and get them into reading was really sweet, And the fact that almost the entire town are wolfkin doesn't hurt either, Probably, the biggest "disappointment" of the book is the ending, The whole Alex plot was a little annoying and I just didn't care about the drama he brought, I think having him just be this past abusive boyfriend Grace was getting over would've been a lot better, The screen time he took up could've been dedicated to Caleb and the other wolfkin, But again, it
doesn't make or break the book, . . it's kinda just there,
Thus, I highly recommend COLD HEARTED, It took me by surprise and when I tell you guys I couldn't put it down, I mean it, I'll be on the look out for more books by HEATHER GUERRE because, wow, she sure can she write, So, if you're in the mood for a slowburn enemiestolovers PNR story, check out COLD HEARTED, .