BOOK REVIEW: Ice, Snow, & Mistletoe by Jocelynn Drake

Release Date: November 21, 2017

Length: Novella (156 pages)

Genre: M/M Holiday Romance

Cover Art: Design by Drake

Links: Amazon  Goodreads

Blurb:  John Sullivan is escaping to Denver. Even with a massive snow storm on his heels, he plans to hide away in his cabin in the mountains and ignore Christmas. It’ll be just him and a bottle of whiskey until the new year when he must return to Cincinnati for his best friend’s wedding.

At least, that’s the plan until he runs into Oz at the airport.

Oz … the man who should have been just a fling. The man who was fun and laughs but quickly turned into so much more before he completely kicked John out of his life.

Oz who desperately needs his help…

John is ready to leave Oz stranded at the Denver airport in the coming blizzard, but he finds himself possibly staring down at the reason Oz pushed him away, and John can’t say no.

Second chances don’t come around often, but John is willing to fight for one with Oz.

Review:

This is a classic second chance romance between a lawyer and a mechanic/single dad. A decent beginning to my Christmas reading. The heroes were eminently likable, John a bit more than Oz, and the overall plot was relatable with exactly the right amount of conflict for a novella.

There were a few things that prevented me from falling in love with this one. While the prologue was a good set-up for the rest of the story, the rest of the flashbacks were completely unnecessary. I skimmed them and didn’t miss a beat. The details are woven into the rest of the story well enough that they were superfluous.  I wish the story had been written in a more straightforward way. The smoke and mirrors about what happened between John and Oz the first go-round was unnecessary and deliberately confusing. The story was strong enough without obfuscating and the author would have had time to flesh out Oz’s daughter Elizabeth as something more than an adorable prop.

Your mileage may vary… flashbacks and kids who could be replaced by an animatronic cabbage patch doll are pet peeves of mine.

The cover isn’t a favorite. It’s depressing and nowhere near as heartwarming as the story. The first thing it makes me think of is some sort of Christmas in Narnia Fantasy novel. Part of me kept waiting for Mr. Tumnus to show up, and I don’t think that’s what was intended.

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