Frozen
Author: Meljean Brook
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: B
What I’m Talking About:
On way to visit her parents for the holiday vacation, Olivia Martin makes a supposedly quick detour to drop off important documents to her coworker (and boss’s son), Erik Gulbrandr. At one time, Olivia thought there could be something special between the two, but now Erik makes it perfectly clear that he does not want Olivia in his life. However, when a dangerous enemy decides to attack Erik through Olivia, Erik turns blue, grows claws, and protects her! Erik is cursed and therefore doomed to go after Olivia; however, he can’t get her to safety because of the moonhound sons who are attacking the pair. Now Olivia and Erik are stuck together for what could be the most treacherous few days of their lives.
The primary focus of Frozen deals with one’s internal struggles and demons which dance along a fine line between desire and something darker. Since the story is told solely from Olivia’s point-of-view, the reader only understands clearly Olivia’s trials; however, based on Olivia’s observations and desire to uncover the truth of the curse, one can piece together Erik’s struggles as well. I like that Olivia is extremely intelligent and uses her mind to riddle out not only what is happening, but how best to deal with the dangerous situation. However, it does seem that the pair may have been able to address some of the pain and hurt if they had only opened up and talked ahead of time! But with that said, there are a couple moments that truly tugged on my heartstrings.
In the end, I found Frozen to be an enjoyable short novel (longer than a novella). Based loosely on Norse mythology, it is a paranormal romance with one of the more unique worlds I’ve read. I was wrapped up in the story and although the origins of the curse were fairly obvious, it was fun watching Olivia trying to figure it out. I did get frustrated with the serious lack of communication and felt that much of the hurt feelings could have been resolved before things got out of hand. This is a fun, stand alone story with minimal world-building, but excellent character creation.
Potential Spoiler Warning:
The author cautions that the book contains what may be a trigger item for some, and the story does feature a curse that causes Erik to lose control. Per the author: “This story includes a scene of dubious consent, because the curse takes away choice (for both characters, though in different ways.)” While this is a true statement, personally I never felt that the story was out of control and actually was pretty tame. However, if you have concern, please visit the author’s website.
My Rating: B, Liked It
About the Book:
For a year and a half, Olivia Martin has tried to forget Erik Gulbrandr, the glacial man who’d scorched her mouth with a single kiss. But when Olivia finds herself snowbound with Erik on the winter solstice, she discovers that the man who set her body aflame is cursed by abominable needs — and a desire that might destroy them both…
Release Date: September 18, 2014
Publisher: self-published
Series: stand alone story
ISBN: #978-1490503097
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format(s): paperback (264 pages), e-book
Book Source: Author
Purchase Info:
Frozen
I love Meljean’s books and this one sounds interesting… but I’m tired of books with Norse mythology, so I don’t know if I’d enjoy it. 🙁
Oh… it is VERY loosely based in the mythology. It’s not a huge part of the story. It’s a good read and I recommend you try it out!
I like Meljean, so I’d try it 🙂
It’s different that her other work, but still shares her excellent storytelling and character development!