Quick Stats:

Genre: Romance/Spicy Romance

Rating: 2.5/5

Smut: 4/5

Publisher & Year of Publication: Bloom Books (2013)

Page Count: 298 pages

How long did this take me to read? – 5 days, speedy and easy

3 words to describe this book: Spicy, Miscommunication, and Friendship

Brief Summary:

Sydney, a senior in college, goes on her annual winter break trip to a snowy cabin with her friends. She decides to drive up to the Winterland oasis with her childhood best friend, Kyler, with whom she is secretly in love with. She grew up believing that he didn’t see her as more than a friend.

Kyler, known for his charm and reputation with women, is clueless about Sydney’s secret. He too, is keeping his feelings for her hidden. As a kid, he grew up believing that Sydney was way out of his league and deserved more.

On the drive to the cabin, a monstrous blizzard hits the town the cabin is located. Not only are Sydney and Kyler’s entourage unable to make it to the cabin, but Sydney and Kyler are snowed in!

With no power and no way out, Sydney and Kyler must survive the ice over but also maintain the tension and emotions they have for each other. Being all alone for a week, how hard is it to keep a secret when the only way to keep warm is to share the same bed? This icy yet spicy romance hosts tropes of:

• Miscommunication
• Forced proximity
• Best friends to lovers
• Slow-burn
• Knight and damsel in distress

First Impressions:

From the first sentence, “I was in love with my best friend,” I immediately knew that this novel would be a coast. As readers we are placed quickly in the plot without any context to the background lives of the characters, other than already knowing that they are best friends and secretly in love with each other. From the inner monologue of Sydney, I was aware from chapter one that we were dealing with miscommunication. (Which is my least favorite trope) I had a feeling that this book wouldn’t be in my top favorite reads of 2025, but I tried to remain optimistic and gave the novel a shot. I initially noticed that the characters had some holes in their development and were emotionally immature, which we will get into in the next section of this post. I also noticed that there was a lack of ambience and imagery, which is what I usually expect from a novel that is set during the winter and is considered “cozy.” I didn’t get cozy vibes from the first few chapters. The first few chapters initiated topics of emotional conflict and lust.

If you are wanting/currently reading this book and don’t want spoilers, I suggest to stop reading this review HERE!

Characters

This novel is written in dual first-person through Sydney and Kyler’s POV. In regard to character development, readers dive right into the emotional conflicts of the characters alongside the plot of the novel.

Sydney

• Clumsy and fragile
• Deep feelings for Kyler but afraid to ruin their friendship
• Aspires to become a psychologist but is very emotionally immature and doesn’t know how to regulate her feelings properly. Ex: After attempting to kiss Kyler drunkenly, instead of talking about what happened with him, she decides to shovel the driveway in the middle of a blizzard.
• Sees the good in others despite their reputation. She is also very hopeful

Kyler

• Caring, he is always ready to protect Sydney. He also has a 6^th sense when something is wrong with Sydney.
• I felt that Kyler’s feelings and characteristics were more complex and round compared to Sydney’s. His reasoning for not communicating his emotions was that he believed Sydney deserved more and that he wasn’t good enough to be with her.
• Shows no passion for business management or taking over his mother’s company, so he decides that he wants to become a veterinarian. BUT shows no passion or care for animals. There were also no animals present in the story. So, I didn’t quite understand how his academic change came to be, especially when there were multiple scenes of him playing beautiful songs on the guitar for hours while trapped in the cabin.
• Some of Kyler’s internal dialogue at times was feminine
• Emotionally immature!! He got a tattoo for her…

Messages/Themes

A theme that is prevalent in this novel is: best friend to lovers. This relationship dynamic and change is emotionally conflicting and proposes juristic changes in one’s life. I feel that the author did a great job of showing the internal conflicts that Sydney and Kyler were going through by writing the inner monologue to be self-deprecatory and insecure. Which is what we often feel when we fear rejection and change, especially in a long-term relationship.

Strengths

• Great MMC
• The development of the plot was good. The plans to meet friends at a cabin, but they get snowed in. This setup effectively led to the emotional tension that had to be released and communicated between the two protagonists.
• The author did a wonderful job of proving to the readers that the protagonists were best friends and fond of each other, especially when Sydney and Kyler used similar slang and verbiage when not present with each other.
• The dialogue and banter were hilarious and cute.

Weaknesses

• Sydney’s character development, I felt that she was very lustful and didn’t genuinely show feelings of love and sacrifice for Kyler. It felt like she wanted to have what everyone else had.
• Level of winter coziness was disappointing! The cover of the book implies that this book will be in the winter, the novel was also set a few weeks before Christmas as well, but the author lacked in winter themed imagery. There was an obvious mention of snow. Well, hello, they were in a blizzard. But minimal Christmas lights and vibes; no winter food and drinks! The characters are trapped in a large cabin with expensive appliances and furniture, but 100 pages in no mention of hot cocoa or coffee. About 50 pages in, there was a mention of a hot cappuccino… that she dropped and never drank!

Quotes

“I could love someone so much, I’d accept whatever scraps they tossed my way.”

• This quote shows longing and desperation. To love someone so badly that you were willing to settle for whatever they chose to give you. Very hopeless romantic.

“What else do I deserve?”

“Everything, Sydney, you deserve everything.”

• I liked the dialogue between Sydney and Kyler. She shows feelings of insecurity, and he heals those wounds.

Takeaway

To be blunt… I felt that Sydney and Kyler’s relationship was problematic. Which is the point, because of the implemented theme of miscommunication. However, in a real-life supplication, I believe that the lack of communication skills between the protagonists shows that they may not be ready to handle a serious relationship and can find arguments and disagreements difficult to get over in the future. However, since this is fiction, it is relieving to read about love and making things work despite certain circumstances.

All in all, if you are looking to read this book, I would not, not recommend it to you. But I would tell you that this book is an acquired taste. If you are someone who enjoys: more smut than plot and miscommunication. Then this book is for you!

If you are looking for something more dense and emotionally complex, then I would shy away from this novel. Since this book is fast-paced and straight to the point, encourage you to form your own opinions and check out this read for yourself.