3.5 stars
Coming Attraction is an engaging story that flows very well. The characters are interesting and it's easy to see that this is a great group of friends that will go the extra mile for each other. My problem lay in the romance in this one. Waseem and Brent are friends and they obviously care about each other, but it felt like that spark was missing. Their story does get steamy, but while I liked the characters, I didn't feel that something that makes a reader root for their happily ever after. For me, the story was more about Brent and his emotional turmoil with his family. Romance aside, this one was a sweet story about friendship, loyalty, and learning that family isn't always who we're born to, but those we choose to have in our lives.

Willow is stuck in a dream life that was never her dream. Following her then boyfriend to raise chickens on a farm in Vermont, Willow was dumped and left in debt when he found a pretty face with a trust fund, moving to California. Trying to get home one night before the blizzard gets any worse, Willow swerves off the road and is left with a sexy stranger.

Dane loves being an Olympic skier, but he's lonely and hiding a huge secret which keeps him from forming any attachments. Running off the road during a blizzard, Dane finds himself trapped with a beautiful woman who is willing to share one night of passion. But when a freak accident takes him out of competition for the season, he's forced to face his nightmares head on.

Coming in From the Cold is a cute contemporary romance that makes the hero and heroine work for their HEA. The opening scene, with the pair stuck in a jeep during a blizzard, is a wonderful way for the couple to very quickly get to know one another. They trade complaints while stuck, waiting for the plows. The situation creates a false sense of intimacy, allowing both to share secrets and do things (*cough* jeepsex *cough*) they normally wouldn’t do. One thing leads to another and soon the pair take things further than planned.

Dane has a HUGE chip on his shoulder, which leads to some MAJOR asshat behavior and an unintentional spill on the slopes. Being laid up and unable to compete adds to his destructive mood, and I honestly wasn’t sure he’d be able to redeem himself. But because Willow is a psychology doctoral student, she has insight as to Dane’s behavior. While she’s not ready to jump back into bed with him, she’s able to put the situation into perspective with a bit of emotional detachment, allowing me to travel her journey to forgiveness with her. She’s not unemotional and still hurts, but understands.

The dual POV story has both a male and female narrator for the two POVs. Both narrators are pretty good: not great, but solid. I did have an issue with Ms. Mitchell at the start. She would end of several sentences and phrases by lengthening the vowels and deepening in tone. However, the issue cleared up when I moved up to 1.5x speed and/or she just improved with time. They both did better jobs performing their own gender voices; however, Ms. Michell’s version of Dane didn’t fit his persona most times. He sounded too “boy next door” or chipper for his surly attitude.

Coming in From the Cold is a delightful romance with a lovely happy ending; however, there are plenty of dark moments along the journey. I like that although there are some familiar storylines, the story is not cliche or overly predictable. Dane is a real jerk, but the HEA works because Willow is a psychologist (in training) and can understand with detachment why Dane reacts as he does.

My Rating: B+

Male Narration: B

Female Narration: B-

Review copy provided by Blunder Woman Productions

This is Neal Hesse's book. While it's not my favorite in the series (that was Rory's book), I think this was still a solid novel.

I had a couple of niggles, but I would classify them as minor.

The primary location for this book is in the North Cascades mountains; the rugged terrain poses multiple opportunities for the men to get into some serious, life-threatening situations.

Neal Hesse is a harbor patrol officer. After a bad break-up with his partner of 10 years, Neal is a bit adrift, and has been sleeping his way through quite a few one-night-stands trying to deal with the pain and hurt and his broken heart. Since those didn't fix anything, he decides a vacation is just the right thing to get himself back on track, and what better vacation than roughing it in the mountains. Except Neal can barely walk a straight line without stumbling, apparently, so he definitely needs a guide.

Enter Travis McCreary, mountaineer, who goes by Rock. Because, ya know, mountains. An ex-Ranger, he's now a survivalist, taking on guided tours (which he hates doing) while waiting for his big break to come through in the form of a survivalist TV show. Oh, he's also very much in the closet, because clearly mountain men cannot possibly be gay. 

Right.

So Neal gets dropped by helicopter and the two men set out on a trip across the Cascades to the pick-up zone. Seems simple enough, right? Except, no one told Neal about massive rattle snakes lurking under tree branches, or that a lot of rain can make for treacherous terrain, and thus the two men have to use all their wits to make it to the pre-arranged pick up. 

Which may include eating a rattle snake. Foraging for food. Sharing a sleeping bag for warmth. 

As for my niggles... no way is a single rattler, no matter how fat, enough sustenance for two grown man hiking over rugged terrain all day. Their food rations were so minimal that I had serious doubts either one of them would still be walking after the 2nd day without having more than half a cereal bar, with the exertion they were both putting out. Which may explain why Rock... nah, you read this for yourself.

Also, the blurb hints at dub-con - nah, I don't think so. This didn't feel like that to me. It felt more like Rock likes it rough, and Neal likes it rough, and their conversation beforehand was sufficient for me to not consider this dub-con. Now, the reason they had that first time sex was possibly because Neal hated Rock and vice versa, and possibly a bit because Neal felt like he had to be manly-man-assertive, but still not dub-con. YMMV. 

Anyway, after that first time, the two men get it on more often than not, and ew, ew, ew, you haven't showered in three days, and you've wiped your ass with leaves and moss, and ew. Not my kind of sexy, sorry.

I gave this book 3.5 stars for the tale it tells as the two men face adverse conditions time and again, and how both of them work toward a common goal, which is making it out of the mountains alive without any major injuries. Also, how feelings start to develop. And how often I was on the edge of my seat scared for their safety, because holy shit, some of that stuff is a little bit far out of my comfort zone. 

The book kept my interest; I didn't skim anything, and I loved how the two of them bonded. I also liked that Neal grew a pair with the ex-BF, and told him to fuck off. Well done, Neal. I do hope he'd have done that too if he hadn't already fallen for Rock, because Neal deserved better than to be dumped like that.

I do believe this might be the last in this series, and as such, it was a fitting ending. We got to visit with the three couple from the first three books and see them still super happy and in love, so that was nice. 

Solid writing. I enjoyed it.


** I received a free copy of this book via Indigo Marketing and Design as part of a blogtour. A positive review was not promised in return. **

Jenna works for a travel agency called eXtreme Adventures that puts together unusual vacations for wealthy people. While on one of these vacations, one of her clients and his family gets kidnapped in South America so Jenna calls Navy SEAL Mack Riley to rescue them. She didn't want to call him because he was her ex and he didn't want to agree to the mission because he was her ex. But they both tried to put the past behind them and find the clients.

I had mixed feelings about the characters. The SEAL team men were great. I loved the way they worked so well together. They were so good at their individual specialties that it makes you truly realize the training and skill the SEALs have. Jenna was not so likable and it was hard for me to figure out what Mack ever saw in her. She was like a spoiled princess expecting to always get her own way. She was the Admiral's daughter, which we were told so often it was annoying, but that seemed to make her believe she was privileged and should get whatever she wanted, not get hurt or kidnapped. Just living in a dream world. Jenna's personality was irritating when she would not listen to Mack's rescue suggestions and, thinking she knew better, did things he told her not to do. This almost got them all killed.

I liked this action-packed adventure. With sexy SEALs, who wouldn't? I recommend this suspenseful military romance.