J.C. Martin, Fighter Writer

Touch of Frost is the latest paranormal romance by Jocelyn Adams. You may recall the interview I had with the author last week as part of her blog tour to promote the release of the novella. Well, I’ve since read Touch of Frost, and here are my views.

Blurb for Touch of Frost:

Even the simplest of touches between Will Frost and Lauren McLean are forbidden. 

To share love will surely mean death. 

Since her granddad’s passing, Lauren has existed a few steps out of sync with the world. Desperate to feel the love only he offered her as a child, Lauren returns to the haven they once shared — a snow-covered cabin at the foothills of the Rockies. 

It’s not the memory of her granddad that warms her ice-cold, frost-bitten body after being caught in a blizzard, though. It’s the man in whose bed she wakes. 

Along with bringing life to her soul, Will stirs deep-rooted memories in Lauren and brings out the love she seeks. 

What Will knows about himself — the secrets of his kind — he keeps hidden, forcing Lauren to search for answers, to question and ultimately put her life, and his own existence, in danger. 

In love, though, there is always a way. 

Can Will get around the rules? Or will Lauren give up her life simply to have one last touch from Will Frost?

Purchase links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

Jocelyn Adams grew up on a cattle farm in Lakefield and has remained a resident of Southern Ontario her entire life, most recently in Muskoka. She has worked as a computer geek, a stable hand, a secretary, and spent most of her childhood buried up to the waist in an old car or tractor engine with her mechanically inclined dad. But mostly, she’s a dreamer with a vivid imagination and a love for fantasy (and a closet romantic — shhh!). When she isn’t shooting her compound bow in competition or writing, she hangs out with her husband and young daughter at their little house in the woods.

Contact: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

BOOK REVIEW

The story starts with Lauren at her late grandfather’s cabin. After hitting a funk in life, she’s escaped to her childhood retreat, and is out hiking when a snowstorm blows up. Next thing she knows, she wakes up in a stranger’s bed, only that the stranger, a hunky mountain man named Will Frost, seems very familiar somehow. And Lauren is determined to find out why he stirs such feelings within her, even if it means putting her life in danger.

I like Will Frost’s character. In fact, I adore him. A handsome, mysterious, rugged stranger possessing immense powers, yet he is reduced to a stuttering wreck in front of the woman he loves, because he fears his secrets would endanger her. How he cares for Lauren and nurses her back to health is sweet, and his talent with charcoal drawing reveals another softer layer to his character. And what can I say? Any story featuring a charismatic animal character is a winner in my books! In this case, Will Frost’s lynx companion, Calla, steals the show on more than one occasion.

Sadly, I don’t feel as much of a connection with Lauren. After a string of failed relationships, she returns to the cabin feeling jaded, and upon feeling Will is “the one,” refuses to let him go without a fight. With the latter, her stubbornness and directness with Will belies her strong, willful character, and that I like, yet I couldn’t help feeling that the opening scene, where she broods over her lack of love and purpose in life, makes her out to be a bit whiney and woe-is-me. Most of all, I don’t appreciate how she treats her supposed best friend, brushing her off when she clearly wants to try and help make her feel better.

One person I’d have liked to learn more about, is Lauren’s grandfather, whose influence is present throughout the book. The wood carving of a lynx, the cabin, the suggestion that he may have known of Will… I would’ve enjoyed it if Adams had elaborated on this kind but absent old man.

All in all, the story is unique and intriguing, and the ending, although predictable, is definitely satisfying. However, I would have liked to have seen more investments in character development.

4 stars!

Touch of Frost is now available as an e-book! Visit the links below for purchase information.

Purchase links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble

Tags: Book review, Jocelyn Adams, Paranormal, Romance, Touch of Frost

This entry was posted by J.C. Martin on Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 7:45 AM and is filed under Books, Reading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.